County Borough of Oldham

Oldham was, from 1849 to 1974, a local government district in the northwest of England coterminate with the town of Oldham.

History

Improvement Commissioners

Oldham was anciently a township in the large ecclesiastical parish of Prestwich-cum-Oldham. Prior to the nineteenth century the government of the town was divided between the parish vestry and the county magistrates of Lancashire. In 1828 the Oldham Police Act (7 Geo. IV, cap. 117) established a board of improvement commissioners. All landowners owning property worth more than £50 a year or paying an annual rent of £30 were entitled to become a commissioner. In 1848 there were 360 commissioners.

Municipal Borough

In December 1848 the inhabitant householders of the parliamentary borough of Oldham petitioned the Privy council for a charter of incorporation under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. The charter was granted on June 13, 1849, and the Municipal Borough of Oldham came into existence on November 1.

County Borough

Under the Local Government Act 1888 all municipal boroughs with a population of 50,000 or more were designated as "county boroughs" with the powers of both a municipal borough and a county council. In 1889, therefore, the town became the County Borough of Oldham.Local Government Act 1888 C.41,...
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