Billinge (from 1927 Billinge and Winstanley) was, from 1872 to 1974, a local government district in the

administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...

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 Lancas ...

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 ...

. The district was created in 1872 as a

local government district The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...

, governed by a local board. It covered three separate parishes:

Billinge Chapel End Billinge may refer to: England *Billinge, Merseyside in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens *Billinge Higher End in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester *Billinge and Winstanley Urban District, a former parish and urban district * ...

, Billinge Higher End and Winstanley. These had all previously been townships within the larger parish of

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington ...

, but as they appointed their own overseers of the poor they had each become separate civil parishes in 1866 with the passing of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1866. When

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 ...

s were established in August 1872 the three parishes were briefly included in the Wigan Rural Sanitary District. A public meeting was held at the Stork Inn at Billinge Chapel End on 24 October 1872 where it was decided that the three parishes would form a group called the Billinge Local Government District, allowing them to establish their own board and become a separate urban sanitary district, independent of the Wigan Rural Sanitary District. The Local Government Board confirmed the creation of the district on 16 December 1872. 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 ...

, local boards became

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) (his ...

s with effect from 31 December 1894. The 1894 Act also created parish councils for rural parishes, but the three parishes in the Billinge district were all classed as urban parishes and so did not have their own parish councils, being instead directly administered by Billinge Urban District Council. The three parishes were merged into a single parish called Billinge and Winstanley on 1 April 1924, covering the same area as the urban district, although the former parish areas continued to be used as wards for the election of councillors. The urban district was renamed Billinge and Winstanley on 5 May 1927. The urban district was abolished in 1974 by 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 ...

. It was one of only eleven urban districts or boroughs in England to be split between new districts under the 1972 Act. The Billinge Chapel End ward became a parish again, and was included in the

Metropolitan Borough of St Helens The Metropolitan Borough of St Helens is a local government district with borough status in Merseyside, North West England. The borough is named after its largest settlement, St Helens but also includes neighbouring towns and villages such as ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wir ...

. The rest of the urban district, covering Billing Higher End and Winstanley wards, became an

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unpa ...

in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

References

{{reflist, 1 Districts of England created by the Local Government Act 1894 Districts of England abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 Local government in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan Local government in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens Urban districts of England