Sheriffs of the City of London Estlin and Alderman William Anthony Bowater Russell. The Sheriffs' jurisdiction covers only the square mile of the City of London. The High Sheriff of Greater London covers areas of London outside the City, which today incorporates parts of several old counties, most notably Middlesex. The title of sheriff, or shire reeve, evolved during the Anglo-Saxon period of English history. The reeve was the representative of the king in a city, town or shire, responsible for collecting taxes and enforcing the law. By the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066, the City of London had sheriffs, usually two at a
Central London However, districts at the outer edge of this subregion such as Streatham and Dulwich are not generally considered as Central London. The 1901 census defined Central London as the City of London and the metropolitan boroughs of Bermondsey, Bethnal Green, Finsbury, Holborn, Shoreditch, Southwark, Stepney, St Marylebone and Westminster. During the Herbert Commission and the subsequent passage of the London Government Bill, three unsuccessful attempts were made to define an area that would form a central London borough. The first two were detailed in the 1959 Memorandum of Evidence of the Greater London Group of the London School of Economics.