West Riding Boroughs
Municipal Boroughs
The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 reformed the structure of town government into a nationally uniform system. With the introduction of municipal boroughs came the first elected councils. These councils included a mayor, aldermen and councillors, who together with the citizens of the borough were collectively known as the 'corporation'.
The Act required all municipal corporations to be elected according to a standard franchise (or qualification) which was based on property ownership. Therefore lists of people eligible to vote in local elections were created and these became known as Burgess Rolls (Burgess being another name for 'citizen'). These Rolls were compiled by the town clerk and were a completely separate series to Electoral Registers which were lists of people eligible to vote in parlimentary elections compiled by the County Clerk of the Peace. As the qualification to vote in local elections was not as strict as those for parliamentary elections, some people can occassionally be found listed in Burgess Rolls but not in Electoral Registers for the same period.
County Boroughs
County Boroughs were introduced in 1889 as a form of local government for large incorporated cities independent of county council control. Initially for a town or city to be granted County Borough status it had to have a population over 50,000.
County Boroughs and Municipal Boroughs were abolished on 1st April 1974 following the changes in legislation brought about by the Local Government Act 1972.
Urban Districts
Urban Districts are a form of elected local government specifically developed for the administration of urbanised areas. Urban District Councils (UDCs) had less independent control than County Boroughs and shared power with the local county council. They were introduced along with Rural District Councils (RDCs) in 1894 as subdivisions of administrative counties and served to replace the functions of the earlier Urban and Rural sanitary districts.
Urban districts were usually created from smaller towns which generally had a population of less than 30,000. As urban districts were considered to have larger public health problems than rural areas UDCs received more funding and had greater powers than RCDs.
Key:
MB = Municipal Borough
CB = County Borough
UD = Urban District
| Borough | From | MB | CB | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barnsley | 1869 | 1869-1913 | 1913-1974 | - |
| Batley | 1868 | 1868-1974 | - | - |
| Bradford | 1847 | 1847-1889 | 1889-1974 | - |
| Brighouse | 1893 | 1893-1974 | - | - |
| Dewsbury | 1862 | 1862-1913 | 1913-1974 | - |
| Doncaster | 1835 | 1835-1927 | 1927-1974 | - |
| Halifax | 1848 | 1848-1889 | 1889-1974 | - |
| Harrogate | 1884 | 1884-1974 | - | - |
| Huddersfield | 1868 | 1868-1889 | 1889-1974 | - |
| Keighley | 1882 | 1882-1974 | - | - |
| Leeds | 1835 | 1835-1888 | 1888-1974 | - |
| Morley | 1885 | 1885-1974 | - | - |
| Ossett | 1890 | 1890-1974 | - | - |
| Pontefract | 1835 | 1835-1974 | - | - |
| Pudsey | 1894 | 1900-1974 | - | Pudsey was a UD from 1894-1900 |
| Ripon | 1835 | 1835-1974 | - | - |
| Rotherham | 1871 | 1871-1902 | 1902-1974 | - |
| Sheffield | 1843 | 1843-1889 | 1889-1974 | - |
| Todmorden | 1894 | 1896-1974 | - | Todmorden was a UD from 1894-1896 |
| Wakefield | 1848 | 1848-1915 | 1915-1974 | - |
For more information on unitary boundaries, local authority changes, population figures etc see A Vision of Britain.