Little Bolton was a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

of the

civil Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

and

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish priest ...

Bolton le Moors Bolton le Moors (also known as Bolton le Moors St Peter) was a large civil parish and ecclesiastical parish in Salford (hundred), hundred of Salford in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Lancashire, England. It was administered f ...

in the

Salford hundred The Salford Hundred (also known as Salfordshire) was one of the subdivisions of the historic county of Lancashire, in Northern England (see: Hundred (county division). Its name alludes to its judicial centre being the township of Salford (the ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England. Besides the main part of Little Bolton, it had three detached parts which were separated by areas of Lower Sharples and Higher Sharples. Despite its name, Little Bolton had a larger acreage than its southern neighbour

Great Bolton Great Bolton was a township of the civil and ecclesiastical parish of Bolton le Moors in the Salford hundred of Lancashire, England. Despite its name, Great Bolton had a smaller acreage than its northern neighbour Little Bolton from which it was ...

, from which it was separated by the

River Croal The River Croal is a river located in Greater Manchester, England. It is a tributary of the River Irwell. Rising at the confluence of Middle Brook and Deane Church Brook, it flows eastwards through Bolton, collecting ''Gilnow Brook'' and t ...

Governance

Historically, Little Bolton formed part of the

Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

, a judicial division of southwest Lancashire. It was one of the townships that made up the ancient

. Under provisions of the

Poor Relief Act 1662 The Poor Relief Act 1662 (14 Car 2 c 12) was an Act of the Cavalier Parliament of England. It was ''an Act for the Better Relief of the Poor of this Kingdom'' and is also known as the Settlement Act or the Settlement and Removal Act. The purpose ...

townships A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

replaced

civil parishes 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. ...

as the main units of local administration in Lancashire. Little Bolton became one of the eighteen autonomous townships of the civil parish of Bolton le Moors. The township appointed

overseers of the poor An overseer of the poor was an official who administered poor relief such as money, food, and clothing in England and various other countries which derived their law from England such as the United States. England In England, overseers of the poo ...

who administered

poor relief In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

to those in need and Highway surveyors who maintained the roads, all of which was funded by levying a rate from the inhabitants of the township. In 1792, the first of the Bolton Improvement Acts was passed by the Houses of Parliament which established the Little Bolton Police Commissioners (or Trustees) who took responsibility for improving the township. St George's Church, the township's first place of worship, was completed in 1796, and

Little Bolton Town Hall Little Bolton Town Hall is a municipal building in All Saints Street, Little Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. The structure, which was the meeting place of the trustees of Little Bolton, is a Grade II listed building. History The town hall ...

was built in 1826. The Little Bolton Improvement Act of 1830 converted the Trustees into an elected

Corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

. Under the

Municipal Corporations Act 1835 The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 (5 & 6 Will 4 c 76), sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales. The legisl ...

, the

Municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

of Bolton was established in 1838 as a

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 ...

, which comprised most of Little Bolton, the whole of Great Bolton, and the Haulgh area of the township of

Tonge with Haulgh Tonge with Haulgh was a township of the civil and ecclesiastical parish of Bolton le Moors in the Salford hundred of Lancashire, England. History Toponymy The first part of the township, Tonge, as its name implies, is located on the tongue o ...

. The northern detached parts of Little Bolton were included in the area of

Astley Bridge Astley Bridge is predominantly a residential district of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. It is north of Bolton town centre, south of Blackburn, and northwest of Manchester. History Astley Bridge is quite a modern place name and onl ...

Local Board of Health in 1864. In 1866, Little Bolton became a civil parish. Although part of the Municipal Borough of Bolton from 1838, Little Bolton was used for the

censuses A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

until the civil parish was abolished in 1895. For recording births, marriages, and deaths, Little Bolton continued as a sub-district of the Bolton Registration district until 1947.

Demography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Little Bolton Local government in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton History of Bolton Former civil parishes in Greater Manchester

Governance

Demography

See also

References