County borough

From Academic Kids

County borough was a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom to refer to a borough or a city independent of county administration.

Contents

1 History 2 Current county boroughs 2.1 Republic of Ireland 2.2 Northern Ireland 2.3 Wales 3 Historical county boroughs

History

When the first county councils were created, it was decided that to let them have authority over the large towns in them would be impractical, and so any large incorporated place would have the right to be a county borough, and thus politically independent from the administrative county it would otherwise come under. Initially, a town had to have a population of over 50,000 to apply for county borough status, but this threshold was raised to 75,000 in 1926, and 100,000 later on.

After the Second World War, the creation of new county boroughs in England and Wales was effectively suspended, pending a local government review. In the 1960s, with no sign of this review being ready - Luton, Torbay and Solihull were allowed to be made county boroughs, Teesside formed from the merger of Middlesbrough and Stockton-on-Tees, and West Hartlepool expanded into Hartlepool, making a total of 80 in England.

The county boroughs of East Ham, West Ham and Croydon were abolished in 1965 with the creation of Greater London. The remaining county boroughs were abolished in 1974, and replaced with non-metropolitan districts and metropolitan districts, all in a two-tier structure with county councils.

This situation did not persist and many of the old county boroughs that were annexed, have now regained independence as unitary authorities - essentially the same as county boroughs, but renamed. In Wales some of the unitary authorities are called county boroughs.

Of the former English county boroughs, most are now either unitary authorities, or in unitary authorities. Barrow-in-Furness, Burnley, Canterbury, Carlisle, Chester, Eastbourne, Exeter, Gloucester, Hastings, Lincoln, Northampton, Oxford, Preston, Worcester and Yarmouth have given their names to local government districts (in some cases coterminous with the old county borough - in other cases much larger). One, Burton-upon-Trent, is now an unparished area in the East Staffordshire borough.

All of the former county boroughs in Wales are now unitary authorities.

In the Republic of Ireland, the relevant legislation remained still in force (although amended), and county boroughs on the original model existed prior to 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 city, is instead regarded as a town (and part of the county council area) for local government purposes. It is allowed to use the title "Borough Council" instead of "Town Council" however.

In Northern Ireland, local government has not used them since 1973, but the county boroughs remain in use for Lieutenancy.

In Scotland, they were not called "county boroughs" but instead "counties of cities". These were abolished in on May 16, 1975. All four Scottish cities of the time were included in this category - Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, and Glasgow. There was an additional category of "large burgh" in the Scottish system, these covered everything apart from police, education and fire.

Current county boroughs

Republic of Ireland

• Cork - Cork City Council (formerly Corporation)
• Dublin - Dublin City Council (formerly Corporation)
• Galway (since 1986)
• Limerick - Limerick City Council (formerly Limerick Corporation)
• Waterford

Northern Ireland

• Belfast
• Londonderry

Wales

• Merthyr Tydfil
• Caerphilly
• Blaenau Gwent
• Torfaen
• Vale of Glamorgan
• Bridgend
• Rhondda Cynon Taf
• Neath Port Talbot
• Wrexham
• Conwy

(Newport was a made a county borough again in 1996. In 2002 it acquired city status.)

For all practical purposes, county boroughs are exactly the same as the other principal areas of Wales called `counties' or `cities' as all these areas are run by unitary authorities (i.e.: have the functions of both boroughs and counties).

Historical county boroughs

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This table shows those county boroughs that existed in England and Wales between the Local Government Acts of 1888 (that created them) and 1974 (that abolished them). It also shows which of those places has become a unitary authority again since, either as-is or as part of a larger unitary authority.

County borough	From (1888)	Until	Unitary since
Barrow-in-Furness (10)		1974, to borough of Barrow, Cumbria
Barnsley (36)		1974, to borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire	1986
Bath (68)		1974, to Avon	1996, as Bath and North East Somerset
Birkenhead (28)		1974, to Wirral, Merseyside	1986, as Wirral
Birmingham (55)		1974, to West Midlands	1986
Blackburn (13)		1974, to borough of Blackburn, Lancashire	1998, as Blackburn with Darwen
Blackpool (11)	1904	1974, to Lancashire	1998
Bolton (19)		1974, to borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester	1986
Bootle (16)		1974, to borough of Sefton, Merseyside	1986, as Sefton
Bournemouth (73)	1900	1974, to Dorset	1997
Bradford (31)		1974, to borough of Bradford, West Yorkshire	1986
Brighton (77)		1974, to East Sussex	1998, as Brighton and Hove
Bristol (67)		1974, to Avon	1996
Burnley (14)		1974, to borough of Barnley, Lancashire
Burton-upon-Trent (49)		1974, to East Staffordshire, Staffordshire
Bury (20)		1974, to borough of Bury, Greater Manchester	1986
Canterbury (80)		1974, to borough of Canterbury, Kent
Cardiff		1974, to South Glamorgan	1996
Carlisle (9)		1974, to borough of Carlisle, Cumbria
Chester (43)		1974, to borough of Chester, Cheshire
Coventry (57)		1974, to West Midlands	1986
Croydon		1965, to borough of Croydon, Greater London	1986
Darlington (8)	1915	1974, to County Durham	1997
Derby (45)		1974, to Derbyshire	1997
Devonport		1914, to Plymouth	1998, as Plymouth
Dewsbury (34)		1974, to Kirklees, West Yorkshire	1986, as Kirklees
Doncaster (37)	1927	1974, to borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire	1986
Dudley (52)		1974, to borough of Dudley, West Midlands	1986
East Ham	1915	1965, to Newham, Greater London	1986, as Newham
Eastbourne (78)	1911	1974, to East Sussex
Exeter (69)		1974, to Devon
Gateshead (3)		1974, to borough of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear	1986
Gloucester (65)		1974, to Gloucestershire
Grimsby (42)		1974, to borough of Great Grimsby, Humberside	1996, as North East Lincolnshire
Halifax (31)		1974, to Calderdale, West Yorkshire	1986, as Calderdale
Hanley		1910, to Stoke-on-Trent	1997, as Stoke-on-Trent
Hartlepool (6)	1967	1974, to Cleveland	1996
Hastings (79)		1974, to East Sussex
Huddersfield (33)		1974, to borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire	1986, as Kirklees
Ipswich (61)		1974, to Suffolk
Kingston-upon-Hull (41)		1974, to Humberside	1996
Leeds (32)		1974, to borough of Leeds, West Yorkshire	1986
Leicester (46)		1974, to Leicestershire	1997
Lincoln (47)		1974, to Lincolnshire
Liverpool (27)		1974, to Merseyside	1986
Luton (63)	1964	1974, to Bedfordshire	1997
Manchester (25)		1974, to Greater Manchester	1986
Merthyr Tydfil	1908	1974, to Mid Glamorgan	1996
Middlesbrough		1968, to Teesside	1996
Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1)		1974, to Tyne and Wear	1986
Newport		1974, to Gwent	1996
Northampton (58)		1974, to Northamptonshire
Nottingham (46)		1974, to Nottinghamshire	1998
Norwich (59)		1974, to Norfolk
Oldham (22)		1974, to borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester	1986
Oxford (64)		1974, to Oxfordshire
Plymouth (70)		1974, to Devon	1998
Poole (72)		1974, to Dorset	1997
Portsmouth (75)		1974, to Hampshire	1997
Preston (12)		1974, to Lancashire
Reading (76)		1974, to Berkshire	1998
Rochdale (21)		1974, to borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester	1986
Rotherham (38)	1902	1974, to borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire	1986
Salford (24)		1974, to borough of Salford, Greater Manchester	1986
Sheffield (39)		1974, to borough of Sheffield, South Yorkshire	1986
Smethwick	1907	1966, to Warley	1986, as Sandwell
Solihull (56)	1963	1974, to borough of Solihull, West Midlands	1986
Southampton (74)		1974, to Hampshire	1997
Southend-on-Sea (62)	1914	1974, to Essex	1998
Southport (15)	1905	1974, to Sefton, Merseyside	1986, as Sefton
South Shields (4)		1974, to South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear	1986, as South Tyneside
St Helens (17)		1974, to borough of St Helens, Merseyside	1986
Stockport (26)		1974, to Greater Manchester	1986
Stoke-on-Trent (44)	1910	1974, to Staffordshire	1997
Sunderland (5)		1974, to borough of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear	1986
Swansea		1974, to West Glamorgan	1996
Teesside (7)	1968	1974, to Cleveland as Middlesbrough and Stockton	1996, as Middlesbrough and Stockton
Torbay (71)	1968	1974, to Devon	1998
Tynemouth (2)	1904	1974, to North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear	1986, as North Tyneside
Wakefield (35)	1915	1974, to borough of Wakefield, West Yorkshire	1986
Walsall (50)		1974, to borough of Walsall, West Midlands	1986
Wallasey (29)		1974, to Wirral, Merseyside	1986, as Wirral
Warley (54)	1966	1974, to Sandwell, West Midlands	1986, as Sandwell
Warrington (23)	1900	1974, to Cheshire	1998
West Bromwich (53)		1974, to Sandwell, West Midlands	1986, as Sandwell
West Ham		1965, to Newham, Greater London	1986, as Newham
West Hartlepool		1967, to Hartlepool	1996, as Hartlepool
Wigan (18)		1974, to borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester	1986
Wolverhampton (51)		1974, to West Midlands	1986
Worcester (66)		1974, to Hereford and Worcester
Yarmouth (60)		1974, to Norfolk
York (40)		1974, to North Yorkshire	1996

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