Gillingham Urban District Council | |
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Houses | Unicameral |
| History | |
| Disbanded | 1903 |
| Preceded by | Gillingham Board of Health |
| Succeeded by | Gillingham Borough Council |
| Leadership | |
Chairman | John Robert Featherby |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 15 |
| Authority | Local Government Act 1894 |
| Meeting place | |
| Gardiner Street, New Brompton | |
Gillingham Urban District Council was the local government authority for Gillingham, Kent, England, created under the Local Government Act 1894. It took over from the earlier Gillingham Board of Health (established 1873) and governed the rapidly growing town until 1903. In 1903 Gillingham was incorporated as a municipal borough; at that time the council’s chairman, John Robert Featherby, became the town’s first mayor.
Prior to 1894, local government in Gillingham was conducted by parish vestry and the Court Leet, and from 1873 by a local Board of Health. [1] By 1891 the parish covered about 5,000 acres with a population of roughly 21,000. [2] Under the 1894 Act the Board of Health was replaced by the Gillingham Urban District Council, an elected body responsible for local services [3] (often termed the “urban sanitary authority”). [4]
According to an 1898 directory, the new UDC consisted of 15 members and met at offices on Gardiner Street in New Brompton. [5] At that time R. H. Cock was serving as council chairman [6] and F. C. Boucher as the council clerk. [7] The council had three wards – Old Brompton, New Brompton and Gillingham – each electing several councillors (for example, a published list shows J. R. Featherby as one of the Gillingham-ward members). [8]
A notable figure was the brickmaker George Featherby, who had served on the Board of Health and the UDC. In 1897 he retired from the council and was succeeded by his son, John Robert (J. R.) Featherby. [9] John R. Featherby became council chairman in 1899 [10] and led the push for borough status. When Gillingham’s charter was granted in 1903 he was elected as the first mayor of the new municipal borough. [11] At that point the short-lived Urban District Council was dissolved in favour of the borough corporation.
The records of Gillingham’s local councils survive in the Medway archives. The Medway Archives & Local Studies Centre holds the archives of Gillingham Borough Council and its predecessors, explicitly including the former Urban District Council. [12]
In Gillingham, the population of which was half or less than that of Chatham until after 1850, local administration was carried out by Boards appointed at Vestry Meetings and the court Leet. Gillingham Board of Health took over the responsibility of local government in 1873
Gillingham covers an area of over 5,000 acres, and the population at the census of 1891 was 21,183.
this Board was replaced in 1894 by Gillingham Urban District Council with directly elected Councillors, and, in 1903, Gillingham was created a Municipal Borough.
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This, the Urban Sanitary Authority of the District, consists of 15 members, and holds its meetings at its Offices, Gardiner-street, New Brompton.
and R. H. Cock (Chairman of the District Council).
Clerk, F. C. Boucher.
Councillors - (Gillingham Ward) - T. G. Simmons, J. A. Corbett, J. R. Featherby, J. Barnes
member of the Gillingham Urban District Council until six years ago, when his place was taken by his son, the present Chairman of the Council, Mr J. R. Featherby.
Urban district Council in 1897, and was appointed chairman of that body in 1899
until the borough was incorporated in 1903, when he was chosen as Charter Mayor.
Our core holdings are the records of our predecessor local government authorities, namely …. Gillingham Urban District Council.
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