<P> 1890 London had 5,728 street accidents, resulting in 144 deaths . </P> <P> Prime minister Robert Peel established the Metropolitan Police as a police force covering the entire urban area . The force gained the nicknames of "bobbies" or "peelers" named after Robert Peel . </P> <P> London's urban area grew rapidly, spreading into Islington, Paddington, Belgravia, Holborn, Finsbury, Shoreditch, Southwark and Lambeth . With London's rapid growth, towards the middle of the century, an urgent need arose to reform London's system of local government . </P> <P> Outside of the City of London, which resisted any attempts to expand its boundaries to encompass the wider urban area, London had a chaotic local government system consisting of ancient parishes and vestries, working alongside an array of single - purpose boards and authorities, few of which co-operated with each other . To address this problem, in 1855 the Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was created to provide London with adequate infrastructure to cope with its growth . The MBW was London's first metropolitan government body . </P>

What happened to the population of many british cities in the 19th century