County Borough of West Ham

West Ham was a borough in the far south west of Essex from 1886 to 1965. It was immediately north of the River Thames and east of the River Lee.

It was first created a municipal borough in 1886 and gained further status, becoming a county borough, in 1888.

The area did not become officially part of London until 1965, which allowed dangerous and polluting industry to be set up in the area which was otherwise prohibited from operating in the metropolis whose boundary in the east was the Lee. After rapid growth the area earned the name "London over the border". Most of the workers of the local industry lived in slum conditions close to where they worked.

The borough included Plaistow, West Ham, Stratford, Canning Town and Silvertown - all of the current-day London Borough of Newham west of Green Street. The borough ran its own tram services until they became the responsibility of the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933. The borough ran its own fire brigade which was absorbed into the London Fire Brigade in 1965.

The county borough, along with the County Borough of East Ham, was abolished and became part of the London Borough of Newham in 1965 when Greater London was created.

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• Population density of county borough in 1939