| AdminHistory | In medieval times every town had a lord. Newcastle was part of the royal demesne so its lord was the monarch who exercised power through the Sheriff who presided over the town court, controlled the markets and collected fines, tolls and rents. Newcastle's inhabitants wished to control their own affairs and over a period of several centuries they achieved and then consolidated their autonomy in a series of charters. Privileges won included the right to hold a court of their own, choose their own officials, form guilds and hold an annual fair. This made Newcastle a borough with chartered status.
It is not known when Newcastle first became a chartered borough or when the right to have a Mayor was established, but the first recorded use of the title is 1216. In 1298 came the borough's first boundary extension - to include Pandon.
By 1300 Newcastle was governed by the Mayor and four bailiffs, and by 1350 these officers were regularly associated with a Council of Twenty - Four elected by the leading Guilds. This Council later became known as the Mayor's Brethren or Burgesses.
A major change occurred in 1400. A new charter was granted which separated the Borough (except the Castle and its precincts) from the County of Northumberland, creating Newcastle a County of itself, "The County of the Town of Newcastle upon Tyne" with its own sheriff instead of bailiffs. The Burgesses were granted the power to elect 6 Aldermen who, together with the Mayor, would be Justices of the Peace. The seat of Town government was the Town House, Sandhill and the adjoining Guildhall. In 1549 the Town and County was extended to include part of the Manor of Byker.
The next big change in Newcastle's local government came in 1600 when Elizabeth I granted a new charter which established the system which continued until the Municipal Corporations Act reformed it in 1835. The number of Aldermen was increased to 10. They held office for life and were responsible for electing the Mayor. Twenty-four electors from the 12 leading Guilds elected the municipal officials such as the Town Clerk and Treasurer. A Common Council was established as the main decision-making body, comprising the Mayor, Aldermen and 24 of "the more discreet and honest Burgesses".
The Municipal Corporations Act of 1835 reformed the government of all ancient boroughs. Newcastle, as an ancient Town and County, retained its own Sheriff under the Act. The main organ of municipal government from 1836 onwards was the Town Council (Common Council) consisting of the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors elected for a period of 3 years by the ratepayers. One third of the Councillors was elected each year and half the Aldermen every three years. Thus an element of genuine democracy was introduced to Newcastle's government for the first time. The number of Councillors in Newcastle was increased to 42 and the Aldermen to 14 to reflect the boundary changes. This Act also finally separated the administration of justice from responsibility for local government as the Mayor and Burgesses ceased to be JP's. The new Corporation was granted the right to levy general rates on local householders, and it took over responsibility for street lighting and policing the town from the Lamp and Watch Act Commissioners (see IC/LW1 and IC/LW2).
The boundaries of the Borough were widened at this time to take in Westgate, Elswick, Jesmond, Heaton and Byker civil parishes, making the Municipal Borough coterminous with the Parliamentary Borough established in 1832. Improvement Acts in 1853 and 1865 extended the Borough's jurisdiction over highways to the areas absorbed in 1835.
The Municipal Fire Brigade was founded in 1867.
Following the Public Health Acts, 1872 and 1875 Boroughs were obliged to appoint a Medical Officer of Health and an Inspector of Nuisances. Public health responsibilities were further widened in 1890 following the Public Health Acts Amendment Act and the adoption of the Infectious Disease (Prevention) Act, 1890.
The Borough of Newcastle was created a City by royal charter on 30 June 1882, and the Mayor became a Lord Mayor in 1906. The Town and County officially became a County Borough following the Local Government Act, 1888. Newcastle became a Local Education Authority following the 1902 Education Act and took over the functions of School Boards from 30 September 1903.
The next major boundary change came on 9 November 1904 when Walker Urban District and Benwell and Fenham Urban District were absorbed by Newcastle and part of Kenton Civil Parish was transferred from Castle Ward Rural District. For records of Walker UD and Benwell and Fenham UD see UD/WK and UD/BF). As new areas were incorporated the numbers of Councillors and Aldermen were increased.
On 1 April 1930 responsibility for the administration of the Poor Law was transferred to local authorities following the abolition of Boards of Guardians (see PU/NC). This made Newcastle responsible for the administration of several local hospitals, a function which it retained until the creation of the National Health Service in 1948 when responsibility for them passed to the newly created Newcastle Regional Hospital Board (see HA/NR).
1930 was also the date when local authorities acquired responsibilities for the registration of births, marriages and deaths under the Registration Acts.
The County of Northumberland Review Order, 1935 brought into the City of Newcastle part of East Denton Civil Parish (from Newburn Urban District), parts of Fawdon, Kenton and West Brunton Civil Parishes (from Castle Ward Rural District) and part of Longbenton Civil Parish (from Longbenton Urban District).
The next radical reorganisation of local government which affected Newcastle took place on 1 April 1974, as a result of the Local Government Act, 1972. The Metropolitan County of Tyne and Wear was created which included Newcastle. The City transferred a number of functions to the newly-created County Council including archives, bridges, civil defence, fire brigade, museums and galleries, refuse disposal, strategic planning, public transport, trunk roads and weights and measures. In addition, responsibility for the police force transferred to the newly-created Northumbria Police Authority (also run by Tyne and Wear County Council).
At the same time, the City merged with Gosforth Urban District and Newburn Urban District and absorbed 4 Civil parishes from Castle Ward Rural District (Dinnington, Woolsington, Hazlerigg, Brunswick and North Gosforth) to form the Metropolitan District Council of Newcastle.
Further local government reorganisation in 1986 abolished Tyne and Wear County Council and transferred its functions back to the Metropolitan Districts. Newcastle City therefore regained the responsibilities for highways, planning, refuse disposal and consumer affairs which it had lost in 1974. Services which still required a county-wide authority were operated by joint boards/committees comprising representatives from each District within the former Metropolitan County. The joint services were Archives, *Museums and Art Galleries, Fire and Civil Defence, Northumbria Police, and *Passenger Transport Authority. Newcastle City is the lead district for those marked * and administers these functions on behalf of all the Districts.
For one year, 1553-4, Gateshead was part of the Town and County of Newcastle. It was incorporated into it by an Act of Parliament, 6/7 Ed VI, but was restored to the County Palatine of Durham by Edward VI's successor, Mary I the following year.
This catalogue is arranged by function, rather than by the title of the officer or department which carried out the function. At the start of each function is a description of its development including notes on the officer/department who carried it out. Functions are arranged according to the structure of the authority.
A list of functions currently included in the list follows, arranged alphabetically.
COUNCIL AND COMMITTEES MINUTES
Although Newcastle was governed by a Common Council from 1600, a record of proceedings only begins in 1636. There is no evidence of a formal Committee structure before the Municipal Corporations Act reformed the Borough in 1835, although proceedings or reports of some special committees survive and there does seem to have been a system of delegating specific tasks to groups of Burgesses who would then report their findings to the whole Council.
The system of standing and special committees with specific powers delegated to them which is the basis of all modern local government was established in Newcastle in 1835. The committee structure has evolved since then to reflect changes in the powers exercised by Newcastle and changes in public opinion as to how local services should be delivered and the relative importance of each service. |