Eaton Bray was a

rural district Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the Ad ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

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 ...

from 1894 to 1933.

History

The district had its origins in the

Leighton Buzzard Leighton Buzzard ( ) is a market town in Bedfordshire, England, in the southwest of the county and close to the Buckinghamshire border. It lies between Aylesbury, Tring, Luton/Dunstable and Milton Keynes, near the Chiltern Hills. It is northwes ...

Rural Sanitary District Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1872 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures: *Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies *Rural sanitary dis ...

. This had been created under the

Public Health Acts Public Health Act is a stock short title used in the United Kingdom for legislation relating to public health. List *The Public Health Act 1848 (11 & 12 Vict c 63) *The Sanitary Act 1866 (29 & 30 Vict c 90) is sometimes called the Public Health Ac ...

of 1872 and 1875, giving public health and local government responsibilities for rural areas to the existing

Boards of Guardians Boards of guardians were ''ad hoc'' authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930. England and Wales Boards of guardians were created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, replacing the parish overseers of the poor ...

of Poor Law Unions. Under the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...

, Rural Sanitary Districts became Rural Districts from 28 December 1894, and rural sanitary districts which straddled county boundaries were to be split so that separate rural districts were created for the parts in each county. The Bedfordshire part of the Leighton Buzzard Rural Sanitary District became the Eaton Bray Rural District, whilst the

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

part became the Linslade Rural District (renamed Wing Rural District in 1897 after

Linslade Linslade is a town in the Central Bedfordshire unitary authority area of Bedfordshire, England. It borders the town of Leighton Buzzard, with which it forms the civil parish of Leighton-Linslade (where the 2011 Census population was included). ...

itself was made an

urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...

). The link with the Poor Law Union continued, with all the elected councillors of both Eaton Bray and Linslade Rural District Councils being ''ex officio'' members of the Leighton Buzzard Board of Guardians. The first meeting of the new Eaton Bray Rural District Council was held on 28 December 1894 at the Leighton Buzzard Union Workhouse, immediately after a meeting of the Board of Guardians. The council's first chairman was John Britten of

Heath and Reach Heath and Reach is an English village and civil parish near the Chiltern Hills in Bedfordshire. It is north of Leighton Buzzard and south of Woburn and adjoins the county boundary with Buckinghamshire. Nearby places are Leighton-Linslade, ...

. The district was enlarged by the addition of the parishes of Chalgrave, Hockliffe and Tilsworth in 1900, which had all been part of the neighbouring Woburn Rural District, which was abolished.

Parishes

The rural district contained the following

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

es:

Premises

Whilst the district was named after the parish of

Eaton Bray Eaton Bray is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is situated about three miles south-west of the town of Dunstable and is part of a semi-rural area which extends into the parish of Edlesborough. In the 2011 United Kingdom c ...

, the council was never based there. From its formation until 1929 the council met at the Union Workhouse on Grovebury Road, Leighton Buzzard, with administrative functions carried out at 30 High Street, Leighton Buzzard, which was the office of the solicitor who acted as clerk to the council. In 1929 the

Linslade Urban District Linslade was an urban district in the administrative county of Buckinghamshire, England from 1897 to 1965. Origins When parish and district councils were established in December 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894, the parish of Linslade wa ...

Council's offices at 6 Leighton Road in Linslade were extended to allow them to serve as the offices and meeting place for Linslade Urban District Council, Wing Rural District Council and Eaton Bray Rural District Council. The council then remained based at 6 Leighton Road, Linslade until its abolition in 1933.

Abolition

Eaton Bray Rural District was abolished in 1933 under a

County Review Order The Local Government Act 1929 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made changes to the Poor Law and local government in England and Wales. The Act abolished the system of poor law unions in England and Wales and their boar ...

being merged into the

Luton Rural District Luton Rural District was a local authority in Bedfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974. It covered an area which almost surrounded but did not include the towns of Luton and Dunstable. Formation The district had its origins in the Luton Rural ...

apart from a small area of Heath and Reach parish which was transferred to

Leighton Buzzard Urban District The town of Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire, England was administered as a Local board of health, Local Government District from 1891 to 1894 and an Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland), Urban District from 1894 to 1965. Formation Prior ...

instead. These changes took effect on 1 April 1933.

References

External links

Eaton Bray Parish Council
{{Bedfordshire administrative county History of Bedfordshire Local government in Bedfordshire Districts of England created by the Local Government Act 1894 Rural districts of England