Victorian Era
Much of the development of the county was caused by the railway. By 1843 the Eastern Counties Railway had connected Bishopsgate station with Brentwood and Colchester, in 1856, they opened a branch to Loughton (later extended to Ongar) and by 1884 the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway had connected Fenchurch Street railway station in the City of London to Grays, Tilbury, Southend-on-Sea and Shoeburyness. Some of the railways were built primarily to transport goods but some (e.g. the Loughton branch) were deliberately planned to cater for commuter traffic; they unintentially created the holiday resorts of Southend, Clacton and Frinton-on-Sea.
County councils were created in England in 1889. Essex County Council was based in Chelmsford, although it met in London until 1938. Its control did not cover the entire county. The London suburb of West Ham and later East Ham and the resort of Southend-on-Sea became county boroughs independent of county council control.
Read more about this topic: History Of Essex
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