Cardiff County Borough Council

Last updated

Cardiff City Council
(Cardiff County Borough Council)
History
Founded1 April 1889
Disbanded1 April 1974
Preceded by Cardiff Town Council
Succeeded by Cardiff City Council
South Glamorgan County Council
Elections
First election
 1 November 1889
Last election
 4 May 1972
Meeting place
Cardiff City Hall, headquarters of the city council Cardiff City Hall (17120728176).jpg
Cardiff City Hall, headquarters of the city council
Cardiff's Victorian Town Hall Town Hall, Cardiff.jpeg
Cardiff's Victorian Town Hall
Cardiff Town Hall 1853-1906

Cardiff County Borough Council, known as Cardiff City Council after Cardiff achieved city status in 1905, was the elected local authority that administered the town (later city) and county borough of Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales between 1889 and 1974. The county borough council was replaced in 1974 by a district council, covering part of South Glamorgan and also known as Cardiff City Council.

Contents

Background

Cardiff had become a fully self-governing borough in 1835, with a new council becoming effective from 1 January 1836 (though it did not acquire a full-time salaried clerk until 1884). [1] The council elected a town mayor each year.

Local government in England and Wales was reorganised following the Local Government Act 1888 with the establishment of county councils and county borough councils. Initial proposals were to give county status to all counties and ten boroughs with a population greater than 150,000. According to the 1881 census, Cardiff had a population of 123,000 and was growing rapidly. They petitioned to be given county borough status too. On 11 June 1888 the town's Member of Parliament, Sir Edward J. Reed, sent a telegram confirming the population size restriction had been reduced to 50,000. [2]

Cardiff was given county borough status and its council became a county borough council, taking effect from 1 April 1889. The only noticeable change was the insertion of the word "County" into the council's title, Cardiff County Borough Council. The borough's municipal year began and ended each November, so legislation to increase their functions came later (this initially included education and the Poor Law). [2]

Cardiff County Borough Council had 40 members, 30 were councillors elected by Cardiff's voters and 10 were aldermen, elected by the councillors. This pattern remained the same till the abolition of the council in 1974. [3]

The first meeting of Cardiff County Borough Council took place at Cardiff Town Hall on Monday 8 April 1889, chaired by the Deputy Mayor (Mayor David Jones was in London on Parliamentary business). Five other Aldermen and 22 councillors were in attendance. [4] In his introductory remarks Deputy Mayor Lewis suggested (to laughter) that councillors should be paid for their duties. Amongst items discussed were a new train station for Roath, a proposed weir for the River Taff and a report compiled by the town clerk proposing extensions to the county borough's boundaries. [4]

City status

The Council Chamber at Cardiff City Hall Council Chamber - geograph.org.uk - 776681.jpg
The Council Chamber at Cardiff City Hall

The council petitioned unsuccessfully in 1897 and 1902 for Cardiff to be granted city status. It was finally granted on 23 October 1905, with Cardiff's mayor becoming Lord Mayor of Cardiff. [5] The county borough council became known as Cardiff City Council.

On Monday 29 October 1906, the new City Hall was officially opened by Lord Bute, with its new 48-seat council chamber, assembly hall and council offices. [6]

In 1922 parts of the parishes of Caerau, Llandaff, Llanishen, Michaelston-super-Ely, St Fagans and Whitchurch were incorporated into Cardiff, together with the creation of new wards of Penylan, Llandaff and Gabalfa. The numbers of councillors increased from 30 to 39 and the number of aldermen increased from 10 to 13, giving a total representation of 52. [7]

Elections

Wards of Cardiff, 1890 Electoral wards of Cardiff County Borough 1890.png
Wards of Cardiff, 1890

The first full council elections to the new county borough council took place on 1 November 1889, though contests took place in only the Canton and West electoral wards. [8]

In 1889 there were five electoral wards - Canton, East, Roath, South and West - each with six councillors who stood down for re-election in 3-yearly rotation. From July 1890 ten electoral wards were created, of Adamsdown, Canton, Cathays, Central, Grangetown, Park, Riverside, Roath, South, Splott. Six Liberals and four Conservatives were returned at the November 1891 elections, the same composition as prior to the election. [9]

The first elections after Cardiff's award of city status took place on 1 November 1906. Ten councillors were elected from the ten electoral wards, of Adamsdown, Canton, Cathays, Central, Grange, Park, Riverside, Roath, South and Splott. [10] Prior to the election, five of the seats were held by the Conservative Party, four by the Liberal Party and one by the Labour Party. [10] The new City Hall was officially opened three days beforehand.

At the local elections on 7 May 1970, Labour recovered some ground on the Conservative Party, winning back seats in Cathays and Grangetown. The Conservative Lady Mayoress, Mary Hallinan, was the most prominent casualty, losing in the Central ward. Labour also recovered a seat from Plaid Cymru in Plasmawr. [11]

Dissolution

Local government in England and Wales was again reorganised following the Local Government Act 1972. The old administrative county of Glamorgan was subdivided, with Cardiff and the Vale between Cardiff and Bridgend forming South Glamorgan.

Cardiff became a second-tier district of South Glamorgan, with a district council, known as Cardiff City Council. [12]

Sources

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Splott</span> Area of Cardiff, Wales

Splott is a district and community in the south of the city of Cardiff, capital of Wales, just east of the city centre. It was built up in the late 19th century on the land of two farms of the same name: Upper Splott and Lower Splott Farms. Splott is characterised by its once vast steelworks and rows of tightly knit terraced houses. The suburb of Splott falls into the Splott electoral ward.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Butetown</span> District and community in Cardiff, Wales

Butetown is a district and community in the south of the city of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. It was originally a model housing estate built in the early 19th century by the 2nd Marquess of Bute, for whose title the area was named. Commonly known as "Tiger Bay", this area became one of the UK's first multicultural communities with people from over 50 countries settled here by the outbreak of the First World War, working in the docks and allied industries. Some of the largest communities included the Somalis, Yemenis and Greeks, whose influence still lives on today. A Greek Orthodox church still stands at the top of Bute Street. It is known as one of the "five towns of Cardiff", the others being Crockherbtown, Grangetown, Newtown and Temperance Town. The population of the ward and community taken at the 2011 census was 10,125. It is estimated that the Butetown's population increased to 14,094 by 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adamsdown</span> Area and community in Cardiff, Wales

Adamsdown is an inner city area and community in the south of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. Adamsdown is generally located between Newport Road, to the north and the mainline railway to the south. The area includes Cardiff Prison, Cardiff Magistrates' Court, Cardiff Royal Infirmary, a University of South Wales campus, and many streets of residential housing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cardiff Council</span> Local government of Cardiff

Cardiff Council, formally the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. The principal area and its council were established in 1996 to replace the previous Cardiff City Council which had been a lower-tier authority within South Glamorgan. Cardiff Council consists of 79 councillors, representing 28 electoral wards.

Cardiff South East was a parliamentary constituency in Cardiff, Wales. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Splott (electoral ward)</span> Electoral ward in Wales

Splott is the name of an electoral ward in the south of Cardiff, capital city of Wales. It covers the communities of Splott and Tremorfa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathays (electoral ward)</span> Electoral ward in Wales

The Cathays electoral ward of Cardiff, created in 1890, which since 1974 has covered the Cathays and Castle communities. There is no community council for the area and it has elected three Cardiff councillors from the outset.

Politics of Cardiff refers to the political representation of the city of Cardiff, capital of Wales. Cardiff is represented politically at a local, Wales and United Kingdom level and previously at the European level.

The 1890 Cardiff County Borough Council election was held on Saturday 1 November 1890 to elect councillors to Cardiff County Borough Council in Cardiff, Wales. These were the second all-Cardiff elections since the creation of the county borough. They were first to take place since the increase in number of electoral wards from four to ten.

South was the name of an original electoral ward in the south of the town and city of Cardiff, Wales. It elected representatives to Cardiff Town Council, Cardiff County Borough Council and the post-1974 Cardiff City Council. The ward ceased to exist in 1983.

The 1891 Cardiff County Borough Council election was held on Monday 2 November 1891 to elect councillors to Cardiff County Borough Council in Cardiff, Wales. These were the third all-Cardiff elections since the creation of the county borough. The previous elections were in November 1890 and the next elections were in November 1892

The 1888 Cardiff Town Council election was held on Thursday 1 November 1888 to elect councillors to Cardiff Town Council in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales. They took place on the same day as other local elections in Wales and England.

The 1887 Cardiff Town Council election was held on Tuesday 1 November 1887 to elect councillors to Cardiff Town Council in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales.

The 1919 Cardiff City Council election was held on Saturday 1 November 1919 to elect councillors to Cardiff City Council in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales.

The 1920 Cardiff City Council election was held on Monday 1 November 1920 to elect councillors to Cardiff City Council in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales. It took place on the same day as many other local elections in Wales and England.

The 1892 Cardiff County Borough Council election was held on Tuesday 2 November 1892 to elect councillors to Cardiff County Borough Council in Cardiff, Wales. These were the fourth all-Cardiff elections since the creation of the county borough. The previous elections were in November 1891 and the next elections were in November 1893.

The 1966 Cardiff City Council election was held on Thursday 12 May 1966 to elect councillors to Cardiff City Council in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales. It took place on the same day as several other county borough elections in Wales and England.

References

  1. ↑ Prof. William Rees (1969), "The Reformed Borough, 1836-1914", Cardiff - A History Of The City, The Corporation of the City of Cardiff, pp. 258–259
  2. 1 2 Cardiff 1889-1974 - The Story of the County Borough, pp. 13-15
  3. ↑ Cardiff 1889-1974 - The Story of the County Borough, p. 16
  4. 1 2 "The County Borough of Cardiff - First Meeting of the Council in its New Form". South Wales Daily News. 9 April 1889. p. 2 – via Welsh Newspapers Online.
  5. ↑ Cardiff 1889-1974 - The Story of the County Borough, pp. 36-37
  6. ↑ "Cardiff City Hall and Law Courts - The Opening Ceremonies". The Cardiff Times . Cardiff. 3 November 1906. pp. 4–5 – via Welsh Newspapers Online.
  7. ↑ Cardiff 1889-1974 - The Story of the County Borough, p. 42
  8. ↑ "The Municipal Elections - Cardiff". South Wales Daily News. 2 November 1889. p. 6 – via Welsh Newspapers Online.
  9. ↑ "Municipal Election At Cardiff". The South Wales Star. 6 November 1891. p. 7 – via Welsh Newspapers Online.
  10. 1 2 "Municipal Elections". Evening Express and Evening Mail. Cardiff. 1 November 1906. p. 3 – via Welsh Newspapers Online.
  11. ↑ "Labour whoop for joy on poll triumph". South Wales Echo . 8 May 1970. p. 13.
  12. ↑ Stewart Williams (Ed.), The Cardiff Book: Volume I., Stewart Williams Publishers (1973), p. 8. ISBN   0-900807-05-9.
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