Markyate Rural District was a short-lived

rural district Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of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

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

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 1897, on the borders with

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 ...

. The district was created 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 ...

from the parts of the

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

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 ...

which were within Hertfordshire. The rest of the Luton Rural Sanitary District became 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 ...

. Prior to the 1894 Act the parishes of

Caddington Caddington () is a village and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It is between the Luton/Dunstable urban area (to the north), and Hertfordshire (to the south). The western border of the parish is Watlin ...

and

Studham Studham is a village and civil parish in the county of Bedfordshire. It has a population of 1,128. The parish bounds to the south of the Buckinghamshire border, and to the east is the Hertfordshire border. The village lies in the wooded south ...

had both straddled the county boundary, and they were each split into separate parishes for the parts in each county, with the Caddington (Hertfordshire) and Studham (Hertfordshire) parishes being included in the Markyate Rural District. The Markyate Rural District was not a single contiguous area, but two separate blocks of land. The western part comprised the parish of Studham (Hertfordshire) and a detached part of Whipsnade parish. The eastern part comprised the parishes of Caddington (Hertfordshire) and Kensworth. The population of these areas in 1891 had been 1,808. Although the district took its name from the village of

Markyate Markyate is a village and civil parish in north-west Hertfordshire, close to the border with Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Geography The name of the village has had several former variants, including ''Markyate Street'', ''Market Street'' and ...

, only the north-eastern part of the village was actually in the Markyate Rural District, with the southern part being in

Flamstead Flamstead is a village and civil parish in north-west Hertfordshire, England, close to the junction of the A5 and the M1 motorway at junction 9. The name is thought by some historians to be a corruption of the original ''Verulamstead''. Flams ...

parish in the

Hemel Hempstead Rural District Hemel Hempstead Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974. Evolution The district had its origins in the Hemel Hempstead Rural Sanitary District. This had been created in 1872, giving public health and lo ...

and the north-western part of Markyate being in the parishes of Humbershoe and

Houghton Regis Houghton Regis is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Bedfordshire, East of England. The parish is located in Central Bedfordshire, which includes the hamlets of Bidwell, Bedfordshire, Bidwell, Thorn, Bedfordshire, Th ...

in the Luton Rural District. This gave rise to confusion, with one candidate's nomination at the election in December 1894 being invalid for assuming that Humbershoe was in the Markyate district, when it was in the Luton district. All the councillors on the Markyate Rural District Council were also guardians on the Luton

Board 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 ...

, and the Markyate Rural District Council was administered from the workhouse in Luton rather than any premises within the district itself. The first meeting of the Markyate Rural District Council was held on 7 January 1895 at the board room of the Luton Union Workhouse. Frederick William Partridge, a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

, was appointed the chairman of the council. He would serve as chairman for the whole of the council's existence. The Markyate Rural District was effectively created as a temporary measure to comply with the Local Government Act 1894 pending an anticipated rationalisation of boundaries in the area. Proposals had been put forward under the

Local Government (Boundaries) Act 1887 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 t ...

, but had not been implemented at the time. Discussions on what changes might be acceptable continued after the Markyate Rural District was created. An inquiry was held in February 1896 into a proposal to transfer most of the Markyate Rural District into the Luton Rural District in Bedfordshire, with the exception of the detached part of Whipsnade, which would be added to Flamstead, and the part of Caddington (Hertfordshire) that was within the ecclesiastical parish of St John Markyate, which would become part of a new civil parish of Markyate in the Hemel Hempstead Rural District in Hertfordshire. This was the same proposal as had been put forward under the 1887 act. There were objections from Kensworth, which wanted to stay in Hertfordshire, and from Hertfordshire County Council, which felt that it was losing too much rateable value in the proposed transfers. There was general agreement that the village of Markyate should be brought into a single parish, but disagreement as to whether that parish should be placed in Hertfordshire or Bedfordshire. Eventually the scheme as originally proposed was accepted, with the necessary order being presented to Parliament in May 1897. The changes took effect on 30 September 1897.

Parishes

Markyate Rural District contained the following areas:

References

{{Reflist Districts of England created by the Local Government Act 1894 Rural districts of England Local government in Hertfordshire