Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone

London - Pax Britannica

The Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone was a metropolitan borough of the County of London from 1900 to 1965. It was based directly on the previously existing civil parish of St Marylebone, which was incorporated into the Metropolitan Board of Works area in 1855, retaining a parish vestry, and then became part of the County of London in 1889.

It was that part of the current City of Westminster which is north of Oxford Street, and east of Maida Vale and Edgware Road. It included the areas Marylebone, Regent's Park, St John's Wood, and Lisson Grove, along with the western part of the district of Fitzrovia. In 1965 it was abolished and its former area was amalgamated with that of the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington and the Metropolitan Borough of Westminster to form the City of Westminster.

The name is derived from a chapel, dedicated to St Mary, and founded by Barking Abbey, the holders of the Manor of Tyburn. The chapel was named St Mary-le-Bourne, for the bourne, or River Tyburn. In the borough's coat of arms, the blue and white waves represent this stream; the lily and rose, derived from Barking Abbey, represent the legend that when the Virgin's tomb was opened it was found to contain lilies and roses.

The motto: Fiat Secundum Verbatum Tuum, is from the Gospel of Luke Ch.I v.38 and translates as Be it according to Thy Word.

The arms were granted by the College of Arms on 17 August 1901.