The Local Government (Boundaries) Act 1887 (50 & 51 Vict. c. 61) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act established boundary commissioners to reform the areas of administrative bodies in England and Wales in preparation for the creation of elected councils by the Local Government Act 1888. In the event, the recommendations of the commissioners were not carried out.
Background
By the 1880s the issue of county government had become a major political issue. Both the Liberal and Conservative party manifestos for the 1886 general election contained promises to introduce elected local authorities. Following the election the Conservatives formed an administration led by Lord Salisbury with the support of the breakaway Liberal Unionists. Charles Ritchie became President of the Local Government Board and responsible for carrying forward the reforms. One of the most pressing issues was the necessity of boundary changes: counties in many cases had very irregular boundaries, and the lower-level units such as boroughs, parishes, poor law unions and sanitary districts often lay in more than one county.
The Act
The Act received the royal assent on 16 September 1887. Section 2 of the Act constituted five named persons as The Boundary Commissioners for England and Wales. The commissioners were Earl Brownlow, Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice, Baon Basing, John Selwin-Ibbotsen, Bt, MP and John Tomlinson Hibbert, three of whom formed a quorum.
The commissioners were to proceed, as soon as the Act was passed, to inquire in respect of each county in England and Wales: To find the best mode of adjusting boundaries of counties and other local government areas so that no union, borough, sanitary district or parish lay in more than one county. To find the best mode of dealing with detached parts of counties. To find the best mode for making the boundaries of boroughs and sanitary districts coincide. To make administrative arrangements consequential to boundary changes and combination existing areas.
The commissioners were to have "due regard to financial and administrative considerations" in their recommendations. They were permitted to make local inquiries and appoint assistant commissioners to further their work. Their report was to be made to the Local Government Board and laid before parliament.
The area to be reviewed by the commissioners was the whole of England and Wales, except the part under the supervision of the Metropolitan Board of Works. The "counties" to be reviewed were not to include any county of a city or county of a town (also known as a county corporate), but each county, including a riding, division or part for which separate quarter sessions were held.
The commissioners were required to complete their work by 31 December 1888 unless extended by parliament.
The work of the boundary commissioners
It was anticipated that the commissioners would make substantial changes to county boundaries, with counties being formed by groupings of poor law unions which included towns and their rural hinterland. The commissioners were expected to face opposition to altering boundaries that were perceived to date back centuries and mark the limits of ancient entities such as the kingdoms of the heptarchy.