County Borough of Huddersfield

In 1868, Huddersfield was incorporated as a municipal borough.

CountyBorough1880s.svg

When the West Riding County Council was formed under the terms of the Local Government Act of 1888 on 1 April 1889, the municipal borough became the County Borough of Huddersfield. The Huddersfield County Borough Council held their inaugural meeting on Wednesday 17 April 1889 with the Mayor (Alderman Joseph Brooke) presiding.

The borough initially had 12 electoral wards:

  1. Almondbury & Newsome Ward
  2. Dalton, Bradley & Deighton Ward
  3. Fartown Ward
  4. Huddersfield Central Ward
  5. Huddersfield East Ward
  6. Huddersfield North Ward
  7. Huddersfield South Ward
  8. Huddersfield West Ward
  9. Lindley cum Quarmby Ward
  10. Lockwood Ward
  11. Marsh Ward
  12. Moldgreen Ward

Longwood Local Board District was added to the county borough under the Borough of Huddersfield Order of 1890, creating a thirteenth ward — Longwood Ward — which was initially allocated three local councillors on the Town Council.

Prior to 1908, the North and West wards both had 6 councillors whilst the remaining 11 wards had 3 councillors each. Along with the 45 elected councillors, the town council also included 15 alderman.

CountyBorough1908.svg

For the municipal elections held on 2 November 1908, the 13 wards were restructured to create 15 wards which each had three councillors.[1]

  1. Almondbury Ward
  2. Birkby Ward
  3. Crosland Moor Ward
  4. Dalton, Bradley & Deighton Ward
  5. Fartown Ward
  6. Huddersfield North Central Ward
  7. Huddersfield South Central Ward
  8. Huddersfield West Central Ward
  9. Lindley Ward
  10. Lockwood Ward
  11. Longwood Ward
  12. Marsh Ward
  13. Moldgreen Ward
  14. Newsome Ward
  15. Paddock Ward

In early 1914, a small portion of uninhabited land outside of the borough on Lindley Old Moor was acquired by the Corporation for use as a recreation park and this resulted in a minor boundary change.

The county borough was considerably expanded in 1937 when it incorporated the following (mostly due to the abolition of various urban districts on 1 April 1937):[2]

By 1946, the borough comprised the following wards which were subsequently allocated as follows to the new Parliamentary constituencies of Huddersfield East (E) and Huddersfield West (W) prior to the 1950 General Election:[3]

  1. Almondbury Ward (E)
  2. Birkby Ward (W)
  3. Crosland Moor Ward (W)
  4. Dalton Ward (E)
  5. Deighton Ward (E)
  6. Fartown Ward (E)
  7. Huddersfield North Central Ward (E)
  8. Huddersfield South Central Ward (E)
  9. Lindley Ward (W)
  10. Lockwood Ward (W)
  11. Longwood Ward (W)
  12. Marsh Ward (W)
  13. Milnsbridge Ward (W)
  14. Newsome Ward (E)
  15. Paddock Ward (W)

The following map (also available as a Google Map) shows the ward boundaries as marked on the 1960 O.S. 1:2,500 map, with the colour denoting the two Parliamentary constituencies.

CountyBorough1960.svg

The County Borough of Huddersfield was abolished on 1 April 1974 and became part of the new Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees.

Further Reading

Notes and References

  1. "Municipal Elections: Huddersfield" in Yorkshire Post (03/Nov/1908).
  2. http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10166937
  3. Yorkshire Post (23/Oct/1946).