Brighton

Brighton was a non-metropolitan district with borough status of East Sussex, England covering the town of Brighton. Formed in 1854 as a municipal borough, in 1889 it became a county borough independent of the newly formed East Sussex County Council, and from 1974 until its dissolution in 1997 it was a non-metropolitan district within the county of East Sussex. In 1961, the district had a population of 163,159. History Both Charles II, in 1684, and the Prince Regent (Prince of Wales), in 1806, favoured the incorporation of Brighton as a borough, but both of these suggestions came to nothing – the latter because it was likely to cost too much. In 1773 an Act of Parliament resulted in the formation of the Brighton Town Commissioners, 64 men who had control of certain municipal and administrative affairs and who were elected by the townspeople. Their powers were extended in 1810. More attempts to incorporate as a borough were made in 1848 and 1852 without success, but another petition to the Privy Council and subsequent inquiry in August 1853 found favour, and on 19 January 1854 the Municipal Borough of Brighton was awarded a charter. The borough was then officially incorporated on 1 April 1854 under the terms of the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. At that time the borough had six wards, each returning six councillors; the first elections were held on 30 May 1854. The Town Commissioners were dissolved the following year and all "property, powers, privileges and liabilities" were passed over to the Borough Council, including Brighton Town Hall and the Royal Pavilion. Following the passing of the Local Government Act 1888, Brighton became a county borough independent of the newly formed East Sussex County Council with effect from 1 April 1889. On 1 April 1952 the district gained parts of Falmer and Stanmer parishes from Chailey Rural District, having previously been expanded in 1873 with territory taken from the parish of Preston. Changes to the composition of, and additions to the number of, wards took place at various times, not just when the borough boundaries expanded: the original six wards became seven in 1873 with the creation of a new Preston ward, then these seven were divided into 14 in 1894; from 1928 there were 19, and this number remained until 1983 despite changes to ward boundaries in 1952 and 1955. The changes of 1983 resulted in there being 16 wards in the borough.