Status details for County of Itself

Full Description:

The status of 'county of itself' was allocated to a number of important cities and towns in England and Ireland, for instance Chester or Kingston Upon Hull from the twelfth century onwards. This ancient unit was separated from the ancient county or shire in which it was situated, and became administratively independent, though not politically or judicially independent, of the county in which it had been situated, and gained the privilege of appointing its own Sheriff, at a time when the Sheriff was pre-eminently the County officer. In the drafting of the Local Government Act of 1889, it was intended to keep a few of the counties of themselves out of county council rule, however, this did not occur and 61 boroughs achieved county status within the new Administrative Counties. The status of 'county of itself' disappeared with the creation of the County Boroughs in 1889.