please note:
- the content below is remote from Wikipedia
- it has been imported raw for GetWiki
{{Short description|Borough or city independent of county council control}}{{for-multi|the pre-1880s definition|United Kingdom constituencies#County constituencies and borough constituencies|the similar county-level jurisdictions in the United States|List of boroughs and census areas in Alaska|and|Boroughs of New York City}}{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a
borough or a
city independent of
county council control, similar to the
unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent term used in Scotland was a
county of city. They were abolished by the
Local Government Act 1972 in
England and Wales, but continue in use for
lieutenancy and
shrievalty in
Northern Ireland. In the
Republic of Ireland they remain in existence but have been renamed
cities under the provisions of the
Local Government Act 2001.Local Government Act, 2001, with particular reference to section 10 (2) and 10 (4) (b).
www.environ.ie/en/LocalGovernment/LocalGovernmentAdministration/RHLegislation/FileDownLoad,1963,en.pdf {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320094248
www.environ.ie/en/LocalGovernment/LocalGovernmentAdministration/RHLegislation/FileDownLoad%2C1963%2Cen.pdf |date=20 March 2012 }} The
Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 re-introduced the term for certain “
principal areas” in Wales. Scotland did not have county boroughs but instead had
counties of cities. These were abolished on 16 May 1975. All four Scottish cities of the time—
Aberdeen,
Dundee,
Edinburgh, and
Glasgow—were included in this category. There was an additional category of
large burgh in the Scottish system (similar to a
municipal borough in England and Wales), which were responsible for all services apart from police, education and fire.
England and Wales
History
Initial creation
When
county councils were first created in 1889, it was decided that to let them have authority over large towns or cities would be impractical, and so any large incorporated place would have the right to be a county borough, and thus independent from the
administrative county it would otherwise come under. Some cities and towns were already independent
counties corporate, and most were to become county boroughs. Originally ten county boroughs were proposed;
Bristol,
Hull,
Newcastle upon Tyne and
Nottingham, which were already counties, and
Birmingham,
Bradford,
Leeds,
Liverpool,
Manchester, and
Sheffield, which were not. The
Local Government Act 1888 as eventually passed required a population of over 50,000 except in the case of existing counties corporate.Local Government Act 1888, s.31 This resulted in 61 county boroughs in England and two in Wales (
Cardiff and
Swansea). Several exceptions were allowed, mainly for historic towns, including
Bath and
Dudley, which would still remain below the 50,000 limit by the time of the 1901 census. Some of the smaller counties corporate—
Berwick upon Tweed,
Lichfield,
Poole,
Carmarthen and
Haverfordwest—did not become county boroughs, although
Canterbury, with a population under 25,000, did.
Growth
The county councils and county borough councils came into operation on 1 April 1889. Just seven months later, on 9 November 1889, the city of
Oxford was the first borough which had not been made a county borough by the 1888 Act to be elevated to county borough status.BOOK, Annual Report of the Local Government Board, 1890, Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, London, 324,
books.google.com/books?id=lRUwAQAAMAAJ, 21 December 2022, Various other new county boroughs were constituted in the following decades, generally as more boroughs reached the 50,000 minimum and then promoted Acts to constitute them county boroughs. The granting of county borough status was the subject of much disagreement between the large
municipal boroughs and the county councils. The population limit provided county councils with a disincentive to allow mergers or boundary amendments to districts that would create authorities with large populations, as this would allow them to seek county borough status and remove the tax base from the administrative county.County boroughs to be constituted in this era were a mixed bag, including some towns that would continue to expand such as
Bournemouth and
Southend-on-Sea. Other towns such as
Burton upon Trent and
Dewsbury were not to increase in population much past 50,000. 1913 saw the attempts of
Luton and
Cambridge to gain county borough status defeated in the
House of Commons, despite the approval of the
Local Government Board – the removal of Cambridge from Cambridgeshire would have reduced the income of Cambridgeshire County Council by over half.
Slowdown
missing image!
- RutlandRoadSignSmethwick.jpg -
Street nameplate on Rutland Road, Smethwick in April 2007, showing painted out “County Borough” lettering.
Upon recommendation of a commission chaired by the
Earl of Onslow, the population threshold was raised to 75,000 in 1926, by the
Local Government (County Boroughs and Adjustments) Act 1926, which also made it much harder to expand boundaries. The threshold was raised to 100,000 by the
Local Government Act 1958.The viability of the county borough of
Merthyr Tydfil came into question in the 1930s. Due to
a decline in the heavy industries of the town, by 1932 more than half the male population was unemployed, resulting in very high municipal rates in order to make public assistance payments. At the same time the population of the borough was lower than when it had been created in 1908.
Census data on population of Merthyr Tydfil A
royal commission was appointed in May 1935 to
“investigate whether the existing status of Merthyr Tydfil as a county borough should be continued, and if not, what other arrangements should be made”.{{London Gazette |issue=34159 |date=1 May 1935 |page=3041}} The commission reported the following November, and recommended that Merthyr should revert to the status of a non-county borough, and that public assistance should be taken over by central government. In the event county borough status was retained by the town, with the chairman of the Welsh Board of Health appointed as administrative adviser in 1936.Report of the Royal Commission on the status of the County Borough of Merthyr Tydfil (Cmd.5039)After the
Second World War the creation of new county boroughs in
England and Wales was effectively suspended, pending a local government review. A government
white paper published in 1945 stated that
“it is expected that there will be a number of Bills for extending or creating county boroughs” and proposed the creation of a boundary commission to bring coordination to local government reform. The policy in the paper also ruled out the creation of new county boroughs in
Middlesex “owing to its special problems”.
Local government in England and Wales during the period of reconstruction (Cmd.6579) The
Local Government Boundary Commission was appointed on 26 October 1945, under the chairmanship of
Sir Malcolm Trustram Eve,{{London Gazette |issue=37325 |date=26 October 1945 |page=5238}} delivering its report in 1947.Report of the Local Government Boundary Commission for the year 1947 The commission recommended that towns with a population of 200,000 or more should become one-tier “new counties”, with “new county boroughs” having a population of 60,000 – 200,000 being “most-purpose authorities”, with the county council of the administrative county providing certain limited services. The report envisaged the creation of 47 two-tiered “new counties”, 21 one-tiered “new counties” and 63 “new county boroughs”. The recommendations of the commission extended to a review of the division of functions between different tiers of local government, and thus fell outside its terms of reference, and its report was not acted upon.
Partial reform
The next attempt at reform was by the Local Government Act 1958, which established the
Local Government Commission for England and the
Local Government Commission for Wales to carry out reviews of existing local government structures and recommend reforms. Although the Commissions did not complete their work before being dissolved, a handful of new county boroughs were constituted between 1964 and 1968.
Luton,
Torbay, and
Solihull gained county borough status. Additionally, the
Teesside was formed from a merger of the existing county borough of
Middlesbrough, and the
municipal boroughs of
Stockton-on-Tees,
Redcar and
Thornaby;
Warley was formed from the county borough of
Smethwick and the non-county boroughs of
Oldbury and
Rowley Regis; and
West Hartlepool was merged with
Hartlepool. Following these changes, there was a total of 79 county boroughs in England. The Commission also recommended the downgrading of
Barnsley to be a non-county borough, but this was not carried out.
Abolition
The county boroughs of
East Ham,
West Ham and
Croydon were abolished in 1965 with the creation of
Greater London and went on to form parts of
London boroughs. The remaining county boroughs were abolished in 1974 under the
Local Government Act 1972, and replaced with
non-metropolitan districts and
metropolitan districts, all beneath
county councils in a two-tier structure. In Greater London and the metropolitan counties the lower tier districts retained a wider range of powers than in the non-metropolitan counties.
Revival
This situation did not persist long. In 1986 the metropolitan county councils and the
Greater London Council were abolished, returning the metropolitan boroughs to a status equivalent to the former county boroughs, but sharing some powers (police and transport for example). In the 1990s, many of the nonmetropolitan former county boroughs were reformed again as
unitary authorities – essentially the same as a county borough. As a result, by 2015, most former county boroughs were either metropolitan boroughs or unitary authorities with a status similar to the old county boroughs. In England, most of those former county boroughs that did not gain unitary authority status—
Barrow-in-Furness,
Burnley,
Canterbury,
Carlisle,
Chester,
Eastbourne,
Gloucester,
Great Yarmouth,
Hastings,
Ipswich,
Lincoln,
Northampton,
Norwich,
Oxford,
Preston, and
Worcester—have given their names to non-unitary
local government districts (in some cases coterminous with the old county borough, in other cases much larger).
Burton upon Trent became an unparished area in the
East Staffordshire borough, and has now been divided into several parishes.In Wales, several
principal areas are county boroughs:
Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, Schedule 1, Part II
For all practical purposes, county boroughs are exactly the same as the other
principal areas of Wales called ”
counties” (including ”
cities and counties“) as all these areas are run by
unitary authorities (i.e.: have the functions of both
boroughs and counties). Although unitary authorities are functionally equivalent to county boroughs, only in Wales is the title given official recognition by Act of Parliament.
English county boroughs in 1973
missing image!
- England County Boroughs 1974.png -
Map of County Boroughs Prior to Abolition in 1974
The map depicts the county boroughs in England immediately prior to their abolition in 1974. County boroughs in Wales and Northern Ireland are not shown.This table shows those county boroughs that existed in England and Wales between the Local Government Acts of 1888 (that created them) and 1972 (that abolished them from 1974).{| class=“wikitable sortable”
|
!County borough!From!Associated county !1971 census pop!colspan=2|Successors in 1974
|
| County Borough of Barnsley>Barnsley|1913 | West Riding of Yorkshire>Yorkshire, West Riding|75,439 | Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley>Barnsley MB (part)|South Yorkshire |
|
| County Borough of Barrow-in-Furness>Barrow-in-Furness|1889|Lancashire|64,039 | Barrow-in-Furness (borough)>Barrow-in-Furness (part)|Cumbria |
|
| County Borough of Bath>Bath|1889|Somerset|84,686|Bath | County of Avon>Avon |
|
| County Borough of Birkenhead>Birkenhead|1889|Cheshire|137,889 | Wirral (borough)>Wirral MB (part)|Merseyside |
|
| County Borough of Birmingham>Birmingham|1889|Warwickshire|1,014,773 | City of Birmingham>Birmingham MD (part) | West Midlands (county)>West Midlands |
|
| County Borough of Blackburn>Blackburn|1889|Lancashire|101,802 | Blackburn with Darwen>Blackburn (part)|Lancashire |
|
| County Borough of Blackpool>Blackpool|1904|Lancashire|151,871|Blackpool|Lancashire |
|
| County Borough of Bolton>Bolton|1889|Lancashire|154,223 | Bolton (borough)>Bolton MB (part)|Greater Manchester |
|
| County Borough of Bootle>Bootle|1889|Lancashire|74,304 | Metropolitan Borough of Sefton>Sefton MB (part)|Merseyside |
|
| County Borough of Bournemouth>Bournemouth|1900|Hampshire|153,861|Bournemouth|Dorset |
|
| County Borough of Bradford>Bradford|1889|Yorkshire, West Riding|294,164 | City of Bradford>Bradford MB (part)|West Yorkshire |
|
| County Borough of Brighton>Brighton|1889|Sussex|161,350|Brighton|East Sussex |
|
| County Borough of Bristol>Bristol|1889 | Gloucestershire{{efn>name=corp | county corporate>counties corporate and were separate from the associated county for certain largely ceremonial purposes, principally shrievalty and administration of justice.ARNOLD-BAKER>FIRST=CHARLES | YEAR=2001 | ROUTLEDGE>ISBN=9780415185837 | AUTHOR-LINK=CHARLES ARNOLD-BAKER, 368, }}|426,653|Bristol | Avon (county)>Avon |
|
| County Borough of Burnley>Burnley|1889|Lancashire|76,489 | Burnley (borough)>Burnley (part)|Lancashire |
|
| County Borough of Burton upon Trent>Burton upon Trent|1901|Staffordshire|50,211 | East Staffordshire (part){{efn>This county borough had charter trustees.}}|Staffordshire |
|
| County Borough of Bury>Bury|1889|Lancashire|67,870 | Bury (borough)>Bury MB (part)|Greater Manchester |
|
| County Borough of Canterbury>Canterbury|1889 | name=corp}}|33,155 | City of Canterbury>Canterbury (part)|Kent |
|
| County Borough of Cardiff>Cardiff|1889|Glamorgan|279,046 | Cardiff (district)>Cardiff (part)|South Glamorgan |
|
| County Borough of Carlisle>Carlisle|1915|Cumberland|71,580 | City of Carlisle>Carlisle (part)|Cumbria |
|
| County Borough of Chester>Chester|1889 | name=corp}}|62,923 | Chester (district)>Chester (part)|Cheshire |
|
| County Borough of Coventry>Coventry|1889|Warwickshire|335,260 | City of Coventry>Coventry MB (part) | West Midlands (county)>West Midlands |
|
| County Borough of Darlington>Darlington|1915 | County Durham>Durham|85,916 | Darlington (borough)>Darlington (part) | County Durham>Durham |
|
| County Borough of Derby>Derby|1889|Derbyshire|219,578|Derby|Derbyshire |
|
| County Borough of Dewsbury>Dewsbury|1913|Yorkshire, West Riding|51,354 | Kirklees (borough)>Kirklees MB (part)|West Yorkshire |
|
| County Borough of Doncaster>Doncaster|1927|Yorkshire, West Riding|82,671 | Doncaster (borough)>Doncaster MB (part)|South Yorkshire |
|
| County Borough of Dudley>Dudley|1889|Worcestershire to 1966then Staffordshire|185,592 | Dudley (borough)>Dudley MB (part) | West Midlands (county)>West Midlands |
|
| County Borough of Eastbourne>Eastbourne|1911|Sussex|70,949|Eastbourne|East Sussex |
|
| County Borough of Exeter>Exeter|1889 | name=corp}}|95,711|Exeter|Devon |
|
| County Borough of Gateshead>Gateshead|1889|Durham|94,464 | Gateshead (borough)>Gateshead MB (part)|Tyne and Wear |
|
| County Borough of Gloucester>Gloucester|1889 | Gloucestershire{{efn>name=corp}}|90,223|Gloucester|Gloucestershire |
|
| County Borough of Grimsby>Grimsby|1891|Lincolnshire|95,502|Grimsby|Humberside |
|
| County Borough of Halifax>Halifax|1889|Yorkshire, West Riding|91,263 | Calderdale>Calderdale MB (part)|West Yorkshire |
|
| County Borough of Hartlepool>Hartlepool|1967|Durham|97,082 | Hartlepool (borough)>Hartlepool (part) | Cleveland (county)>Cleveland |
|
| County Borough of Hastings>Hastings|1889|Sussex|72,414|Hastings|East Sussex |
|
| County Borough of Huddersfield>Huddersfield|1889|Yorkshire, West Riding|131,188 | Kirklees>Kirklees MB (part)|West Yorkshire |
|
| County Borough of Ipswich>Ipswich|1889|Suffolk|123,297|Ipswich|Suffolk |
|
| County Borough of Kingston upon Hull>Kingston upon Hull|1889 | East Riding of Yorkshire>Yorkshire, East Riding{{efn|name=corp}}|285,965|Kingston upon Hull|Humberside |
|
| County Borough of Leeds>Leeds|1889|Yorkshire, West Riding|496,036 | City of Leeds>Leeds MB (part)|West Yorkshire |
|
| County Borough of Leicester>Leicester|1889|Leicestershire|284,208|Leicester|Leicestershire |
|
| County Borough of Lincoln>Lincoln|1889 | name=corp}}|77,077 (1961)|Lincoln|Lincolnshire |
|
| County Borough of Liverpool>Liverpool|1889|Lancashire|610,114|Liverpool|Merseyside |
|
| County Borough of Luton>Luton|1964|Bedfordshire|161,400|Luton|Bedfordshire |
|
| County Borough of Manchester>Manchester|1889|Lancashire|543,741 | City of Manchester>Manchester MB (part)|Greater Manchester |
|
| County Borough of Merthyr Tydfil>Merthyr Tydfil|1908|Glamorgan|55,283|Merthyr Tydfil|Mid Glamorgan |
|
| County Borough of Newcastle upon Tyne>Newcastle upon Tyne|1889 | Northumberland{{efn>name=corp}}|222,172 | City of Newcastle upon Tyne>Newcastle upon Tyne MB (part)|Tyne and Wear |
|
| County Borough of Newport>Newport|1891 | Monmouthshire (historic)>Monmouthshire|112,298 | Newport (district)>Newport | Gwent (county)>Gwent |
|
| County Borough of Northampton>Northampton|1889|Northamptonshire|126,597 | Borough of Northampton>Northampton (part)|Northamptonshire |
|
| County Borough of Nottingham>Nottingham|1889 | Nottinghamshire{{efn>name=corp}}|300,675|Nottingham|Nottinghamshire |
|
| County Borough of Norwich>Norwich|1889 | Norfolk{{efn>name=corp}}|122,093|Norwich|Norfolk |
|
| County Borough of Oldham>Oldham|1889|Lancashire|105,922 | Oldham (borough)>Oldham MB (part)|Greater Manchester |
|
| County Borough of Oxford>Oxford|1889|Oxfordshire|108,834|Oxford|Oxfordshire |
|
| County Borough of Plymouth>Plymouth|1889|Devon|239,467|Plymouth|Devon |
|
| County Borough of Portsmouth>Portsmouth|1889|Hampshire|197,453|Portsmouth|Hampshire |
|
| County Borough of Preston>Preston|1889|Lancashire|98,091 | City of Preston, Lancashire>Preston (part)|Lancashire |
|
| County Borough of Reading>Reading|1889|Berkshire|132,978|Reading|Berkshire |
|
| County Borough of Rochdale>Rochdale|1889|Lancashire|91,461 | Rochdale (borough)>Rochdale MB (part)|Greater Manchester |
|
| County Borough of Rotherham>Rotherham|1902|Yorkshire, West Riding|84,800 | Rotherham (borough)>Rotherham MB (part)|South Yorkshire |
|
| County Borough of St Helens>St Helens|1889|Lancashire|104,326 | St Helens (borough)>St Helens MB (part)|Merseyside |
|
| County Borough of Salford>Salford|1889|Lancashire|131,006 | City of Salford>Salford MB (part)|Greater Manchester |
|
| County Borough of Sheffield>Sheffield|1889|Yorkshire, West Riding|520,308 | City of Sheffield>Sheffield MB (part)|South Yorkshire |
|
| County Borough of Solihull>Solihull|1964|Warwickshire|107,086 | Solihull (borough)>Solihull MB (part) | West Midlands (county)>West Midlands |
|
| County Borough of Southampton>Southampton|1889 | name=corp}}|215,131|Southampton|Hampshire |
|
| County Borough of Southend-on-Sea>Southend-on-Sea|1914|Essex|162,735|Southend-on-Sea|Essex |
|
| County Borough of Southport>Southport|1905|Lancashire|84,524 | Metropolitan Borough of Sefton>Sefton MB (part)|Merseyside |
|
| County Borough of South Shields>South Shields|1889|Durham|100,676 | South Tyneside>South Tyneside MB (part)|Tyne and Wear |
|
| County Borough of Stockport>Stockport|1889|Cheshire|139,598 | Metropolitan Borough of Stockport>Stockport MB (part)|Greater Manchester |
|
| County Borough of Stoke on Trent>Stoke on Trent|1910|Staffordshire|265,258|Stoke-on-Trent|Staffordshire |
|
| County Borough of Sunderland>Sunderland|1889|Durham|217,075 | City of Sunderland>Sunderland MB (part)|Tyne and Wear |
|
| County Borough of Swansea>Swansea|1889|Glamorgan|173,355 | Swansea (district)>Swansea (part)|West Glamorgan |
|
| County Borough of Teesside>Teesside|1968|Yorkshire, North Riding|396,233 | Middlesbrough (borough)>Middlesbrough (part)Stockton-on-Tees (borough) | (part)Redcar and Cleveland>Langbaurgh (part) | Cleveland (county)>Cleveland |
|
| County Borough of Torbay>Torbay|1968|Devon|109,260|Torbay|Devon |
|
| County Borough of Tynemouth>Tynemouth|1904|Northumberland|69,339 | North Tyneside>North Tyneside MB (part)|Tyne and Wear |
|
| County Borough of Wakefield>Wakefield|1915|Yorkshire, West Riding|59,591 | City of Wakefield>Wakefield MB (part)|West Yorkshire |
|
| County Borough of Wallasey>Wallasey|1913|Cheshire|97,216 | Wirral (borough)>Wirral MB (part)|Merseyside |
|
| County Borough of Walsall>Walsall|1889|Staffordshire|184,734 | Walsall (borough)>Walsall MB (part) | West Midlands (county)>West Midlands |
|
| County Borough of Warley>Warley|1966|Worcestershire|163,567 | Sandwell>Sandwell MB (part) | West Midlands (county)>West Midlands |
|
| County Borough of Warrington>Warrington|1900|Lancashire|68,322 | Borough of Warrington>Warrington (part)|Cheshire |
|
| County Borough of West Bromwich>West Bromwich|1889|Staffordshire|166,592 | Sandwell>Sandwell MB (part) | West Midlands (county)>West Midlands |
|
| County Borough of Wigan>Wigan|1889|Lancashire|81,144 | Wigan (borough)>Wigan MB (part)|Greater Manchester |
|
| County Borough of Wolverhampton>Wolverhampton|1889|Staffordshire|269,112|Wolverhampton MB | West Midlands (county)>West Midlands |
|
| County Borough of Worcester>Worcester|1889 | name=corp}}|73,454 | City of Worcester>Worcester (part)|Hereford and Worcester |
|
| County Borough of Great Yarmouth>Yarmouth|1889|Norfolk|50,236 | Great Yarmouth (borough)>Great Yarmouth (part)|Norfolk |
{{notelist}}Only four districts with more than one county borough were formed: Wirral, Sandwell, Sefton and Kirklees. Elsewhere, county boroughs usually formed the core or all of a district named after the county borough – with the exceptions of Halifax, whose metropolitan district was named Calderdale, Burton upon Trent, which became part of the East Staffordshire district, and Teesside, which was split up between three non-metropolitan districts. Previous county boroughs
County boroughs to be abolished prior to 1974 were:{| class=“wikitable sortable“!County borough!County!Created!Abolished!Successor|
| County Borough of Croydon>Croydon|Surrey|1889|1965|Greater London: London Borough of Croydon |
|
| County Borough of Devonport>Devonport|Devon|1889|1914|County Borough of Plymouth |
|
| County Borough of East Ham>East Ham|Essex|1915|1965|Greater London: London Borough of Newham |
|
| County Borough of Hanley>Hanley|Staffordshire|1889|1910|County Borough of Stoke on Trent |
|
| County Borough of Middlesbrough>Middlesbrough | North Riding of Yorkshire>Yorkshire, North Riding|1889|1968|County Borough of Teesside |
|
| County Borough of Smethwick>Smethwick|Staffordshire|1907|1966|County Borough of Warley |
|
| County Borough of West Ham>West Ham|Essex|1889|1965|Greater London: London Borough of Newham |
Northern Ireland
The county boroughs of Belfast and Derry were created by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898.In Northern Ireland, local government has not used county boroughs since 1973, but they remain in use for lieutenancy.For administrative purposes the two county boroughs in Northern Ireland were replaced with two larger districts (Belfast and Londonderry).Republic of Ireland
The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 created county boroughs in Ireland. Under the Act, four former counties corporate (Cork, Dublin, Limerick and Waterford) became county boroughs.Galway became a county borough in 1986.In the Republic of Ireland, the relevant legislation remained in force (although amended), and county boroughs on the original model existed until 2001. Under the Local Government Act 2001 (which replaced most existing local government legislation in Ireland), the term “County Borough” was abolished and replaced with “City” (and hence, “Corporation” with “City Council“). However Kilkenny, while a traditional city, was never a county borough. Under the Local Government Reform Act 2014, the borough of Kilkenny was abolished, but the municipal district containing the administrative area of the former borough of Kilkenny would be known as the Municipal District of Kilkenny City. See also
References
{{reflist}}{{Borough status in the United Kingdom}}{{Terms for types of administrative territorial entities|state=collapsed}}
- content above as imported from Wikipedia
- "county borough" does not exist on GetWiki (yet)
- time: 10:18am EDT - Wed, May 22 2024
[ this remote article is provided by Wikipedia ]
© 2024 M.R.M. PARROTT | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
