Type details for Administrative County

Full Description:

A new scheme of Administrative Counties and their constituents units were created by Local Government Act in 1888 (51 & 52 Vict, c41) introduced in 1889 and abolished in 1974. These counties were composed of Municipal Boroughs, Urban and Rural Districts. The layout of Administrative Counties did not always follow the old geographical county divisions of England and Wales. In 1888 they numbered sixty-two, ten new counties were created by the division of; Yorkshire into three (known as North, East and West Ridings), Lincolnshire into three (known as Lindesy, Kesteven and Holland parts), Suffolk into two (East and West), Sussex into two (East and West), the separating of the Isle of Ely, Isle of Wight, and Soke of Peterborough, and the creation of the Administrative County of London. These units came under the governship of the County Councils and dealt with non-judicial duties previously carried out by Justices of the Peace; supervision of asylums, reformatories, issuer of licences for public events etc, though the functions and constitution of the London County Council were slightly different. By 1965 the total number had decreased to fifty-eight; the Soke of Peterborough amalgamated with Huntingdonshire, Isle of Ely with Cambridgeshire and the counties of London and Middlesex were merged into Greater London.