County Borough of Rochdale

Rochdale was, from 1856 to 1974, a local government district coterminate with the town of Rochdale in the northwest of England. In January 1856 the inhabitant householders of the Parliamentary Borough of Rochdale, Lancashire, petitioned the Privy Council for the grant of a charter of incorporation under the Municipal Corporations Act constituting the town as a municipal borough. The petition was successful and the charter was granted in September 1856. In 1858 the borough corporation took over the powers of the Rochdale Improvement Commissioners, which had been established by private act of parliament in 1825 to watch, light and cleanse the town. The borough was extended in 1872. The Local Government Act 1888 constituted all municipal boroughs with a population of more than 50,000 as "county borough"s. Accordingly, the County Borough of Rochdale came into existence in 1889, with the powers of both a borough and a county council. Rochdale remained within Lancashire for certain purposes such as lieutenancy and administration of justice. In 1900 the county borough absorbed the bulk of the neighbouring Castleton Urban District by mutual agreement. The borough boundaries were extended again in 1933 by a county review order. The county borough was abolished in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972. Its area formed part of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale in the new county of Greater Manchester. Under the charter of 1856 the borough was governed by a town council consisting of a mayor, ten aldermen and thirty councillors. The borough was divided into three wards: Castleton and Wardleworth represented by twelve councillors and four aldermen each, and Spotland with six councillors and two aldermen. One third of the councillors in each ward were elected annually by the burgesses or local government electors. The aldermen were elected to a six-year term by the council itself, with half the aldermanic bench retiring every three years. The mayor was elected annually by the council from among their membership.