County Borough of Salford - History - County Borough and City

County Borough and City

Under the Local Government Act 1888 all municipal boroughs with a population of 50,000 or more were designated as "county boroughs" with the powers of both a municipal borough and a county council. In 1889, therefore, the town became the County Borough of Salford. Although independent of Lancashire County Council, Salford remained part of the county for certain purposes such as lieutenancy, shrievalty, custos rotulorum and administration of justice.

The size of the borough council did not change, although the wards were reorganised in 1921. The wards, which remained until the borough's abolition were as follows: No.1 or Charlestown, No.2 or Kersal, No.3 or Mandley Park, No.4 or Albert Park, No.5 or St Matthias's, No.6 or Trinity, No.7 or Crescent, No.8 or Regent, No.9 or Ordsall Park, No.10 or Docks, No.11 or St. Thomas's, No.12 or St Paul's, No.13 or Langworthy, No.14 or Seedley, No.15 or Weaste and No.16 or Claremont.

Following a campaign supported by William Joynson-Hicks, Home Secretary and MP for a neighbouring constituency of Manchester, city status was granted to the county borough by letters patent dated 21 April 1926. This was in spite of the opposition of civil servants in the Home Office who dismissed the borough as "merely a scratch collection of 240,000 people cut off from Manchester by the river".

The City and County Borough of Salford was abolished in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 and its territory transferred to Greater Manchester to form part of the metropolitan borough and City of Salford. At abolition the county borough was surrounded by the City and county Borough of Manchester to the east, the Municipal Borough of Swinton and Pendlebury to the northwest, the Municipal Borough of Eccles to the southwest, and the Municipal Borough of Stretford to the south.

The corporation progressively accumulated increased powers and responsibilities through government legislation and by the promotion of private parliamentary bills. The range of activities in which it was involved can be ascertained by the large number of committees of the borough council in 1909: Buildings and Bridges; Cemeteries; Education; Electricity; Health; Highways and Paving; Improvement; Lighting and cleaning; Museums, Libraries and Parks; Parliamentary and Public Trusts; River Irwell Consevancy; Town Halls and Markets; Tramways; Watch (police) and Water.