County Borough of Rochdale

In January 1856 the inhabitant householders of the Parliamentary Borough of Rochdale, Lancashire, petitioned the Privy Council for the grant of a charter of incorporation under the Municipal Corporations Act constituting the town as a municipal borough.[2] The petition was successful and the charter was granted in September 1856.[3] In 1858 the borough corporation took over the powers of the Rochdale Improvement Commissioners, which had been established by private act of parliament in 1825 to watch, light and cleanse the town. The borough was extended in 1872.[4]

The Local Government Act 1888 constituted all municipal boroughs with a population of more than 50,000 as "county borough"s. Accordingly, the County Borough of Rochdale came into existence in 1889, with the powers of both a borough and a county council. Rochdale remained within Lancashire for certain purposes such as lieutenancy and administration of justice.

In 1900 the county borough absorbed the bulk of the neighbouring Castleton Urban District by mutual agreement. [5] The borough boundaries were extended again in 1933 by a county review order.[6]

The county borough was abolished in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972. Its area formed part of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale in the new county of Greater Manchester.

Under the charter of 1856 the borough was governed by a town council consisting of a mayor, ten aldermen and thirty councillors. The borough was divided into three wards: Castleton and Wardleworth represented by twelve councillors and four aldermen each, and Spotland with six councillors and two aldermen.[4] One third of the councillors in each ward were elected annually by the burgesses or local government electors. The aldermen were elected to a six-year term by the council itself, with half the aldermanic bench retiring every three years. The mayor was elected annually by the council from among their membership.

When the borough was extended in 1872, the council seats were redistributed and the borough was divided into ten wards, each with three councillors and one alderman, with the size of the council remaining at forty.[4] When Castleton Urban District was absorbed in 1900, an eleventh ward of Castleton Moor was added, and the council increased to thirty-three councillors and eleven alderman.[4] In 1933 the bulk of Norden Urban District was added to the borough as a twelfth ward, and the council consisted of thirty-six councillors and twelve aldermen until its abolition in 1974.[7]

The coat of arms of the former Rochdale County Borough Council.

The Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of Rochdale were granted armorial bearings by letters patent dated 20 February 1857 sealed by Sir Charles George Young, Garter Principal King of Arms; James Pulman, Clarenceux King of Arms; and Robert Laurie, Norroy King of Arms.[41]

The blazon was as follows:

Argent a wool-pack encircled by two branches of the cotton-tree flowered and conjoined proper, a bordure sable, charged with eight martlets of the field. And for the Crest: Upon a wreath of the colours, a mill-rind sable, and above a fleece argent banded or.[41]

The emblems in the centre of the shield represented the industries of the borough: a fleece for the woollen industry; the cotton branches for the cotton industry; and the millrind for the iron industry. The black border bore six martlets or heraldic swallows. The martlets and black and silver colouring were derived from the arms of the Rashdale and Dearden families.[42] James Dearden purchased the manor of Rochdale from Lord Byron in 1823.[4]

The crest, placed on a helm above the shield, represented the wool and iron industries with a fleece and millrind.[42]

The Latin motto adopted was Crede Signo or "Trust in this sign". It was based on that of Baron Byron of Rochdale: Crede Byron.[42]

The coat of arms continue to appear on the crest of Rochdale A.F.C., the town's football club.

Rochdale, in common with many British municipalities, took over the ownership and provision of a number of utility services.

In 1881 the Board of Trade made an order under the Tramways Act 1870, giving Rochdale Corporation powers to construct a street tramway.[49] The line was opened on 7 May 1883 and was operated by the steam trams of the Manchester, Bury, Rochdale and Oldham Steam Tramways Company Limited. The company went into liquidation in 1887, but in the following year the service was restored under the auspices of the Bury, Rochdale and Oldham Steam Tramways Company Limited.[50]

In 1900 the Corporation obtained powers to operate the trams itself, and the borough council purchased and electrified the tram network, with the first Rochdale Corporation tram running on 22 May 1902. The last steam tram route was replaced in 1905. In 1911 Rochdale made agreements with two neighbouring municipalities, the borough of Bacup and Milnrow Urban District, to operate the tram networks they had constructed. In addition the corporation tracks reached as far as Littleborough and Whitworth, and ran joint operations with other municipal operators. In 1925 the county borough purchased the Middleton Electric Tramways Company jointly with the Municipal Borough of Middleton and Chadderton Urban District Council. The purchase allowed through running of Rochdale trams into Manchester city centre.[50]

The corporation began operating motorbus services in 1926, initially in addition to the tram network. 1930 saw the first replacement of trams with buses, and the last tram service ran on 12 November 1932. The borough's bus services expanded as new estates were built on the edge of the town.[50]

On 1 November 1969 the corporation ceased to operate buses, with its transport department merged with those of a number of other municipalities to form the new SELNEC Passenger Transport Executive. Rochdale contributed 130 vehicles to the new undertaking's fleet of 2,526.

• A vision of Rochdale CB/MB, visionofbritain.org.uk.