The Council of the Royal County of Berkshire, also known as the Berkshire County Council, was the top-tier

local government 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-loc ...

administrative body for

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

from 1889 to 1998. The local authority had responsibilities for education, social services, public transport, planning, emergency services and waste disposal, and had 87 members. Berkshire County Council shared power with six lower-tier district councils, each of which directed local matters. On 1 April 1998, under the provisions of the

Local Government Act 1992 The Local Government Commission for England was the body responsible for reviewing the structure of local government in England from 1992 to 2002. It was established under the Local Government Act 1992, replacing the Local Government Boundary C ...

, it was abolished and replaced by its six former districts, the

unitary authorities 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 governme ...

West Berkshire West Berkshire is a local government district in Berkshire, England, administered from Newbury by West Berkshire Council. History The district of Newbury was formed on 1 April 1974, as a merger of the borough of Newbury, Bradfield Rural Dist ...

Windsor and Maidenhead The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is a Royal Borough of Berkshire, in South East England. It is named after both the towns of Maidenhead and Windsor, the borough also covers the nearby towns of Ascot and Eton. It is home to Windsor ...

Wokingham Wokingham is a market town in Berkshire, England, west of London, southeast of Reading, north of Camberley and west of Bracknell. History Wokingham means 'Wocca's people's home'. Wocca was apparently a Saxon chieftain who may ...

Bracknell Forest Bracknell Forest is a unitary authority area in Berkshire, southern England. It covers the two towns of Bracknell and Sandhurst and the village of Crowthorne and also includes the areas of North Ascot, Warfield and Winkfield. The borough bor ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

and

Slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the ...

History

Creation

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 ...

created

County Council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

s to replace the

Court of Quarter Sessions The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388 (extending also to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535). They were also established in ...

and elections in 1888 brought about the county council's launch. From ''A History of the first Berkshire County Council'': Berkshire County Council established its meeting place in the

assize court The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...

s in Reading. Meanwhile the administrative staff and committee rooms of the County Council were accommodated in the shire hall next door. Following the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, the council found a need to move to bigger premises at Shire Hall in Shinfield Park in the winter of 1980/1981, at an estimated cost of £27.5 million.

List of chairmen

Berkshire County Council had both a council leader and the mostly ceremonial role of chairman (no women are known to have been chair during the council’s existence). Chairmanships were unlimited in duration or number of times (e.g. Sir George Robert Mowbray held the chairmanship twice in – 1944-1946 and 1960-1965). In 1965, Chairman Sir Louis Dickens changed the term of office to 3 years, to be changed one year before elections. In 1974, the

Local Government Act Local Government Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Ireland and the United Kingdom, relating to local government. The Bill for an Act with this short title may have been known ...

changed the size of and nature of the council, hence the distinction between 'Old' and 'New' County Councils.

Old Berkshire County Council (1889-1974)

William George Mount (Chairman of the preceding

1887-1889) 1889-1905

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Albert Richard Tull 1905-1906 William Hew Dunn 1906-1911 Sir Robert Gray Cornish Mowbray 1911-1916

James Herbert Benyon James Herbert Benyon (born Fellowes; 1849–1935) was an early 20th-century Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire. Early life Born James Herbert Fellowes, he was the son of James Fellowes of Kingston Maurward House near Dorchester, Dorset who was the ...

1916-1926 Sir William Arthur Mount 1926-1930 Thomas Skurray 1931-1938 - Known by the famous poem:

Alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members ...

Arthur Thomas Loyd Arthur Thomas Loyd (19 April 1882 – 8 November 1944) was a Conservative Party politician in England. Early life Born in Northampton, Loyd belonged to a Welsh family, several members of which settled in Berkshire. His uncle, Archie Kirkman Lo ...

OBE 1938-1944

Sir George Robert Mowbray 1944-1946 Henry Arthur Benyon 1946-1947 Herbert James Thomas 1947-1954 William John Cumber 1954-1957 Colonel Granville Watson 1957-1960 Sir George Robert Mowbray (As above) 1960-1965 Air Commodore Sir Louis Walter Dickens (Instituted 3 year Chairmanships)1965-1968 Derrick Aylmer Frederick Henry Howard Hartley Russell 1968-1971 Richard Henry Carilef Seymour 1971-1974

New Berkshire County Council (1974-1998)

Frederick Derwent Pickering 1974-1977

Lt. Col. Richard Watt 1977-1980

Lewis David Moss 1980-1982

W.T. Timperley 1982-1983 Labour Ian Morgan 1983-1986

Frederick Gareth Robert Gimblett 1986-1989

William Anthony Wiseman (‘Tony Wiseman’) 1989-1992

Ronald James Day 1992-1995

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

C.C. Trembath 1995-1998

Abolition and creation of the Unitary Authorities

The 1990s led to the restoration of

county boroughs County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent ...

under a new name, "

", which radically changed the administrative map of England. The Banham Review of 1992 sought to consolidate local authorities where possible and abolish unnecessary tiers of government. The changes to Berkshire County Council in 1998 were part of the final wave of changes resulting from the act. The council was abolished, and the ceremonial county is now governed by the six unitary authorities:

and

. The general secretary of the

National Association of Local Government Officers The National and Local Government Officers' Association was a British trade union representing mostly local government "white collar" workers. It was formed in 1905 as the National Association of Local Government Officers, and changed its full ...

described the re-organisation as a "completely cynical manoeuvre".

Aftermath

One of the last Chairmen of Berkshire County Council, Tony Wiseman, went on to found

CRAG Crag may refer to: * Crag (climbing), a cliff or group of cliffs, in any location, which is or may be suitable for climbing * Crag (dice game), a dice game played with three dice * Crag, Arizona, US * Crag, West Virginia, US * Crag and tail, a ...

(a combination of the Readingstoke Action Group and

CPRE CPRE, The Countryside Charity, formerly known by names such as the ''Council for the Preservation of Rural England'' and the ''Council for the Protection of Rural England'', is a charity in England with over 40,000 members and supporters. Form ...

) with a number of other former members of the council. CRAG successfully opposed Wokingham borough council's plan for building of houses between

and

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

(to create a

conurbation A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most cas ...

dubbed Readingstoke). After the abolition and until the 2009 local government reforms, the

ceremonial county The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...

was unique in England as being the only

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 ...

to have no

throughout its entire area, with the entire county governed by

Powers and composition

As stated above, under the

the chief responsibilities of Berkshire County Council, in common with other non-metropolitan county authorities, included education, social services, public transport, planning, emergency services and waste disposal. It served to provide a strategic county-wide framework within which the differing plans of its six district councils could be harmonised. As with many County Councils, the

changed the structure of the council, and a large area around Abingdon and the Vale of the White Horse became part of

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primaril ...

while Slough, which had been within

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-e ...

, became part of Berkshire. The former County Borough of Reading - which had been part of the historic assize and ceremonial county - also became part of the administrative county.

Elections to the Berkshire County Council

Elections were held to Berkshire County Council every 3 years, with chairmen being selected in the second year of each term (in all years after 1965). After the 1974 re-organisation elections were held every four years, the last full election taking place in 1993.

Political Composition

Between 1889 and 1945, the Council was fairly

apolitical Apoliticism is apathy or antipathy towards all political affiliations. A person may be described as apolitical if they are uninterested or uninvolved in politics. Being apolitical can also refer to situations in which people take an unbiased po ...

, although two of the Chairmen ( William George Mount and

Arthur Loyd Arthur Thomas Loyd (19 April 1882 – 8 November 1944) was a Conservative Party politician in England. Early life Born in Northampton, Loyd belonged to a Welsh family, several members of which settled in Berkshire. His uncle, Archie Kirkman Lo ...

) went on to become

MP's. Following the 1945 General election, the Labour Party won 17 councillors in 1945. Despite this win, Labour were still a minority and party politics didn't really come to the fore until 1974, with the Local Government Act 1972. This Act also brought representatives of the former County Borough of Reading on to the County Council for the first time and brought the Borough of Slough into the County from Buckinghamshire while the northern part of the county was transferred to Oxfordshire. The council was then dominated by the Conservatives, until 1990 when they lost overall control but continued to run the Council's administration. In 1992 a Lib Dem coalition with Labour took majority control of the Council and, following the 1993 elections, dominated the council until the coalition fractured in 1996. A Lib Dem minority administration with

support then ran the council until it was split into unitary authorities. The final

leader of the council In England, local authorities are required to adopt one of three types of executive arrangements, having either an "elected mayor and cabinet", a "leader and cabinet", or a "committee system". The type of arrangement used determines how decisions ...

, from July 1996 to March 1998, was Bob Mowatt, a Liberal Democrat, although for the final couple of months his deputy, Jeff Brooks, was serving as acting leader.

Coat of arms

Owing to the reorganisation of the council under the Local Government Act 1972, the coat of arms for Berkshire County Council is different before and after 1974.

Pre 1974 (1947-1974)

Arms of Berkshire County Council 1961-1974

Arms and Crest he stag argentgranted 18 July 1947. Crest changed and supporters granted 7 April 1961. The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

granted by the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the British Sover ...

to the Berkshire County Council are described as: From

Civic Heraldry Civic heraldry is heraldry used by municipalities. Cities, towns, boroughs and other civic bodies often use heraldic arms as symbols for themselves and their authority. The traditions differ somewhat from one country to the other, but some simil ...

Post 1974 (1974-1998)

Arms of Berkshire County Council 1974-1998

Again from Civic Heraldry: And from Berkshire History:

In popular culture

* The main setting for BBC comedy show "

The Wrong Mans ''The Wrong Mans'' is a British BBC Television comedy-drama series, co-produced with the American online television provider Hulu. It premiered on BBC Two on 24 September 2013 and in the United States on 11 November 2013. Considered a critica ...

" and the workplace for the main two characters.

Notes

External links

Civic Heraldry
{{Authority control History of Berkshire Local authorities in Berkshire 1998 disestablishments in England 1974 establishments in England Former county councils of England