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The Local Government Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c. 41) was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1888 and established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales. It came into effect on 1 April 1889 except for the County of London which came into existence some days earlier at the request of the London County Council.
County councils
County councils were established for Administrative counties. These were based on the areas used by Quarter Sessions courts, much of whose administrative authority was taken over by the county councils.
Where towns which were urban sanitary districts lay across county boundaries, the whole town was included in the administrative county in which the largest population lay in the 1881 census. In all, 22 towns were effected, examples being Banbury (Oxfordshire/Northamptonshire), Mossley (Cheshire/Lancashire/Yorkshire), Peterborough (Huntingdonshire/Northamptonshire]], Tamworth (Staffordshire/Warwickshire) and Todmorden (Lancashire/Yorkshire).
A new County of London was also created matching the former area of the Metropolitan Board of Works. Boroughs with a population of more than 50,000 at 1 June 1888, or which had been counties corporate were excluded from the administrative counties, becoming county boroughs (see below).
The act also altered what it calls the "counties", ensuring that the boundaries used for what it terms "non-administrative purposes" would be synchronised with the borders between the administrative counties.
County boroughs
Towns which were municipal boroughs at 1 June 1888 and which had a population of more than 50,000, or certain towns which already constituted a county corporate became county boroughs.
List of administrative counties and county boroughs created in 1889
England
† In 1890 the Isle of Wight was separated from the County of Southampton to form an Administrative County.
Wales
| Traditional county | Administrative county | County boroughs |
|---|---|---|
| Anglesey | Anglesey | |
| Brecknockshire | Brecknockshire | |
| Carnarvonshire | Carnarvonshire | |
| Cardiganshire | Cardiganshire | |
| Denbighshire | Denbighshire | |
| Flintshire | Flintshire | |
| Glamorgan | Glamorgan | Cardiff, Swansea |
| Merioneth | Merioneth | |
| Monmouthshire | Monmouthshire | Newport† |
| Montgomeryshire | Montgomeryshire | |
| Pembrokeshire | Pembrokeshire | |
| Radnorshire | Radnorshire |
† Newport became a county borough in 1891, administratively removed from Monmouthshire
Sources
- The Local Government Act 1888, 51 & 52 Vict. c. 41
1888 in law | Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom | English laws | Local government of the United Kingdom
"Local Government Act 1888"