The Select Committee of Parliament on Town Holdings ran for nearly six years, finally reporting in 1892. Its chair was

Lewis Fry Lewis Fry (16 April 1832 – 10 September 1921) was a Quaker, lawyer, philanthropist and a Liberal and later Liberal and Unionist politician who sat in the House of Commons in three spells between 1878 and 1900. Early life Fry was the son of ...

, a solicitor and town councillor from Bristol. The rapid expansion of the population of industrial cities and towns in the early years of the nineteenth century led to the growth of vast urban

slum A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily inh ...

s. The realization that overcrowded living conditions were a danger to public health resulted in several parliamentary investigations on town planning. Several

Select committee Select committee may refer to: *Select committee (parliamentary system), a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues *Select or special committee (United States Congress) *Select ...

s examined proposals for redeveloping parts of London. The Town Holdings Committee investigated the land tenure systems in force in towns throughout Great Britain and Ireland, landlord-tenant relations and municipal finance. The committee was appointed on 18 March 1886 with the membership of Mr. Mellor, Mr. Wodehouse, Lord William Compton, Viscount Wolmer, Mr. Asher, Mr. Lewis Fry, Mr. Edward Russell, Mr. Conybeare, Mr. Goschen, Sir Henry James, Mr. Lawson, Mr. Saunders, Mr.

Arthur Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, (, ; 25 July 184819 March 1930), also known as Lord Balfour, was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As F ...

, Mr. Gibson, Mr. Macartney, Mr. Tyssen Amherst, Viscount Folkestone, Mr. Sidney Herbert, Mr. Gregory, Sir John Ellis, Mr. Bartley, Mr. Crilly, Mr. O'Dogherty, and Colonel Nolan The 1897 report included a census of housing which includes details of leases and building operations in progress as well as of the number, quality and types of houses in two hundred and fifty large towns in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

Reports of the Select Committee

Irish Universities Press: Parliamentary papers on Planning series:Irish Universities Press: Parliamentary papers on Planning series website
/ref> *Volume 4: Report from the Select Committee on Town Holdings with minutes of evidence, appendix and index, 1886 *Volume 5: Report from the Select Committee on Town Holdings together with the proceedings of the Committee, minutes of evidence, and appendix 1887 *Volume 6: Report from the Select Committee on Town Holdings with minutes of evidence, appendix and index, 1888. *Volume 7: Report from the Select Committee on Town Holdings with an index, 1889 *Volume 8: Report from the Select Committee on Town Holdings with minutes of evidence, appendix and index, 1890. *Volume 9: Select Committee Reports on Town Holdings with proceedings, minutes of evidence, appendices and indexes, 1890-1892, *Volume 10: Reports from Select Committees on Town Improvements with minutes of evidence, appendix and index, 1890-1894

References

{{reflist 1886 establishments in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1886 Town and country planning in the United Kingdom Defunct Select Committees of the British House of Commons Arthur Balfour