Buckinghamshire County Council was the upper-tier

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

for the

administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...

and later the

non-metropolitan county A non-metropolitan county, or colloquially, shire county, is a county-level entity in England that is not a metropolitan county. The counties typically have populations of 300,000 to 1.8 million. The term ''shire county'' is, however, an unoffi ...

of Buckinghamshire, in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

established in 1889 following the

Local Government Act 1888 Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

. The county council's offices were in Aylesbury. The county council borders changed several times, most notably in 1974 when the council lost the territory of Colnbrook, Datchet, Eton, Horton, Slough and Wraysbury to Berkshire. In 1997 it lost the

Borough of Milton Keynes A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

, which became a

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

remaining within the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire. The council consisted of 49 councillors. It had been controlled by the Conservatives since the reorganisation of local government in 1974. For the 2013 elections, the number of seats was reduced from 57 to 49 following the 2012 changes in division boundaries. In March 2018

Sajid Javid Sajid Javid (; born 5 December 1969) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from June 2021 to July 2022, having previously served as Home Secretary from 2018 to 2019 and Chancellor of the Exchequer ...

, the

Communities Secretary The secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, also referred to as the levelling up secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the overall leadership and strategic direction o ...

at the time, backed proposals to replace the county council and the four district councils (Aylesbury Vale, Chiltern, South Bucks, and Wycombe) with a single

, named

Buckinghamshire Council Buckinghamshire Council is a unitary local authority in England, the area of which constitutes most of the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire. It was created in April 2020 from the areas that were previously administered by Buckinghamshire Cou ...

. As of January 2019, Chiltern, South Bucks and Wycombe district councils had launched legal action against the "undemocratic" plans for how the unitary authority was to be set-up. Nevertheless, the Buckinghamshire Structural Changes Order 2019 was enacted, which as of 1 April 2020 abolished the County Council and the four district councils and created a single district council as a unitary authority, called '

History

On 12 March 2020, the last meeting of the County Council took place, during which the council celebrated 131 years of service. County architect

Fred Pooley Fred Bernard Pooley CBE (18 April 1916 – 11 March 1998) is best known as the county architect of Buckinghamshire, and his futuristic monorail proposals for a new town in north Bucks that eventually became Milton Keynes. Pooley was born in We ...

designed the council's headquarters building, New County Hall, a 12-storey tower block at Aylesbury built in 1966 which became known as "Fred's Fort"''The Guardian'' dated 24 March 1998, p. 14 and less flatteringly as "Pooley's Folly".

Notable members

Frederick Verney Frederick William Verney (26 February 1846 – 26 April 1913) was a younger son of the long-established Verney family in Buckinghamshire. He became a Church of England clergyman, a barrister, a Siamese diplomat, and a Liberal Party politician, se ...

(1846–1913), member from 1889 to 1907 *

Tonman Mosley, 1st Baron Anslow Tonman Mosley, 1st Baron Anslow, (16 January 1850 – 20 August 1933) was a British businessman, judge and politician. Family Tonman Mosley was born at East Lodge, Anslow, Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, and baptized at Rolleston-on-Dove ...

(1850–1933), Chairman from 1904 to 1921 * Sir William Carlile, 1st Baronet (1862–1950) *

William Joseph Ashby Dr William Joseph Ashby (6 November 1885 – 1 December 1953) was an Irish rugby union international who was part of the first official British and Irish Lions, British Isles team that 1910 British Lions tour to South Africa, toured South Africa ...

(1885–1953) *

Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, 6th Baronet Major Sir Henry Lancelot Aubrey-Fletcher, 6th Baronet (10 September 1887 – 30 May 1969), also known by his pen name Henry Wade, was Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire from 1954 to 1961. He was also one of the leading authors during the Golden ...

(1887–1969) * Sir Aubrey Ernest Ward (1899–1987), Chairman from 1963 to 1974 *

Edward Curzon, 6th Earl Howe Edward Richard Assheton Penn Curzon, 6th Earl Howe, (7 August 1908 – 29 May 1984), styled Viscount Curzon from 1929 to 1964, was a British peer. Early life and background Curzon was born in St George Hanover Square, London, Middlesex, the ...

(1908–1984), Vice-Chairman 1974 to 1978 *

John Darling Young Major John Darling Young, JP (1910 – 1988) was Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire from 1969 to 1984. He served in the Second World War with the Life Guards. In addition to the Lord Lieutenancy, he also served as High Sheriff of Buckingham ...

(1910–1988) * Sir Ralph Verney, 5th Baronet (1915–2001) *

Guthrie Moir George Guthrie Moir MA (30 October 1917 - 29 November 1993), was a British television producer, Liberal Party politician, prominent Christian and writer who was one of the founders of Independent Television. Background He was the son of James Will ...

(1917–1993), member from 1949 to 1975 * Brian White (1957–2016), later member of parliament for Milton Keynes

References

External links

* {{Authority control Local government in Buckinghamshire Former county councils of England 1889 establishments in England 2020 disestablishments in England Local authorities in Buckinghamshire Major precepting authorities in England Leader and cabinet executives