History of local government in Bristol facts for kids
Bristol City Council, formerly known as The Bristol Corporation (and colloquially as "The Corporation"), is the local government authority governing the city of Bristol, England. Following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, successive royal charters granted increasing rights of local governance to Bristol. County status was attained in 1373 and city status in the early sixteenth century. Bristol Corporation was established in the nineteenth century and the office of Lord Mayor was created in 1888. Following a brief period as part of the county of Avon in the late twentieth century, Bristol regained its status as a city and county in 1996.
Origins
The exact date of establishment of a [[Town council
County and city status
In 1373, Edward III granted a charter to Bristol stating that:
We have conceded to our beloved burgesses of our town of Bristol and to their heirs and successors in perpetuity that the town of Bristol with its suburbs and precincts shall henceforth be separate from the counties of Gloucester and Somerset and be in all things exempt both by land and by sea, and that it should be a county by itself, to be called the county of Bristol in perpetuity, and that the burgesses and their heirs and successors should have in perpetuity within the town of Bristol and its suburbs and precincts certain liberties and exemptions and enjoy them fully and use them as is more fully contained in the said charter.
Bristol was the first provincial town to be given this status.
Bristol was first described as a city in a charter of Elizabeth I in 1581, but this document suggests that Bristol had been granted city status at the time of Henry VII. The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 established Bristol Corporation, which consisted of 48 councillors and 18 aldermen. The term Corporation of Bristol or Bristol Corporation, encompassing the mayor and common council, had been in use since the eighteenth century at least. Bristol became a county borough in 1888 and the boundaries were extended into Gloucestershire and Somerset.
Avon and after
From 1974 to 1996, Bristol was subsumed into the new county of Avon following the Redcliffe-Maud Report. Avon was abolished in 1996 and the city became a unitary authority, styled as the City and County of Bristol.
