Huntingdon and Peterborough was a short-lived administrative and geographical county in

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. It existed from 1965 to 1974, when it became part of

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to t ...

Formation

The Local Government Act 1888 created four small neighbouring administrative counties in the east of England: Cambridgeshire, Isle of Ely, Huntingdonshire and the Soke of Peterborough. Following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, a Local Government Boundary Commission was formed to review county-level administration in England and Wales. The commission was of the opinion that counties needed to have a population of between 200,000 and one million in order to provide effective services. Accordingly, they recommended the amalgamation of all four counties into a single entity. The commission's recommendations were not carried out, however. The reform of local government was returned to in 1958, with the appointment of a Local Government Commission for England. The four counties were included in the East Midlands General Review Area, and the LGCE made its draft proposals in 1960. The commission identified particular problems in the administration of the Soke of Peterborough, where 80% of the population of the county lay within the City of Peterborough, which was itself seeking

county borough 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 te ...

status. The LGCE concluded that the Soke was too small to continue as a separate county, and needed to become part of a larger authority. Accordingly, the draft proposals were to combine the Isle of Ely, Huntingdonshire and the Soke of Peterborough with Cambridgeshire (less the City of Cambridge). There was considerable opposition to the draft proposals, and the LGCE instead opted in its final report in 1961 to create two counties:

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cr ...

and Peterborough, and

Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely was, from 1965 to 1974, an administrative and geographical county in East Anglia in the United Kingdom. In 1974 it became part of an enlarged Cambridgeshire. Formation The Local Government Act 1888 created four ...

. The Huntingdon and Peterborough Order was made on 14 February 1964, and placed before the House of Commons on 9 March 1964. The amalgamation was welcomed by

David Renton David Lockhart-Mure Renton, Baron Renton, (12 August 1908 – 24 May 2007) was a British politician who served for over 60 years in Parliament, 34 in the House of Commons and then 28 in the House of Lords. Renton was Member of Parliament fo ...

, the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for Huntingdonshire, who felt that "The new county will have very good communications and a great community of interest. It will be a compact and convenient local government unit." The order was approved by 143 votes to 83. The new county was formed on 1 April 1965 from the areas of the administrative counties of Huntingdonshire and Soke of Peterborough (with minor boundary changes) and Thorney Rural District from the Isle of Ely. As well as becoming an administrative county, Huntingdon and Peterborough also became a county for other statutory purposes. Accordingly, the

Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire This is a list of people who served as Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire. Huntingdonshire became part of Huntingdon and Peterborough in 1965; see Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdon and Peterborough. From 1672 until 1965, all Lords Lieutenant were a ...

became Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdon and Peterborough, with Peterborough ceasing to be part of the geographical county of Northamptonshire. A High Sheriff was also appointed to the new county, and a single commission of peace and court of quarter sessions established. The county's population, as recorded at the ten-yearly census, was 202,622 in 1971.

Emergency services

On the creation of the county an order under the Police Act 1964 came into force creating the Mid-Anglia Constabulary by merging the Cambridge City Police, Cambridgeshire County Constabulary, Isle of Ely Constabulary, Huntingdonshire Constabulary, and the Peterborough Combined Police Force (created in 1947 from the

Liberty of Peterborough Constabulary Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

and the

Peterborough City Police The Peterborough City/Borough Police force was responsible for law enforcement in Peterborough, England, from 16 June 1874 to 1 April 1947, at which point it was merged with the Liberty of Peterborough Constabulary to form the Peterborough Com ...

). On further local government reform in 1974, the present

Cambridgeshire Constabulary Cambridgeshire Constabulary is the local territorial police force that covers the county of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough unitary authority. It provides law enforcement and security for an area of and population of 856,000 people, in a pred ...

was formed with the same boundaries. The Huntingdon and Peterborough Fire Brigade was formed on the same date by the merger of Huntingdonshire Fire Brigade and the Soke of Peterborough Fire Brigade. Since 1974 this has formed part of Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Districts

The county was divided into thirteen local government districts: three

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 ...

s, three

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 and seven rural districts. Each of these existed as subdivisions of the predecessor counties. † Formerly in Huntingdonshire ‡ Formerly in Soke of Peterborough ¶ Formerly in Isle of Ely Source: Vision of Britain

Coat of arms

Huntingdon and Peterborough County Council was granted armorial bearings 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 ...

on 3 April 1965. The blazon was as follows: ''Barry argent and azure on a fess embattled vert a cornucopia between two garbs or; and for a crest issuant from a mural crown or a demi lion gules gorged with a collar flory counterflory and supporting a staff or, flying therefrom a banner vert charged with two keys in saltire or; mantled azure, doubled argent. And for supporters on the dexter side a pikeman of the New Model Army supporting with the exterior hand a pike, and on the sinister side a nitred abbot in processional vestments for st Peter's Day supporting with the exterior hand a crosier and sudarium all proper. Badge: Two keys in saltire surmounted by a buglehorn or the strings azure interlaced with the keys.'' The arms and crest were a combination of the arms previously used by Huntingdonshire and Soke of Peterborough County Councils. To these were added

supporters In heraldry, supporters, sometimes referred to as ''attendants'', are figures or objects usually placed on either side of the shield and depicted holding it up. Early forms of supporters are found in medieval seals. However, unlike the c ...

: a pikeman of the New Model Army for the Cromwellian associations of Huntingdonshire, and a

mitred abbot The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in ...

for the origins of the Soke as territory administered by Peterborough Abbey. The

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. M ...

adopted by the council ''Cor Unum'', or ''One Heart'', was formerly that of the Soke.

Abolition

The county only had a nine-year existence. In 1974 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 ...

completely reformed administrative structures throughout England and Wales excluding Greater London. A system of metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties, each divided into districts was introduced. Huntingdon and Peterborough was merged with neighbouring Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely to form the new enlarged non-metropolitan county (and

lieutenancy A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ...

) of Cambridgeshire, first proposed in 1947.

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire unti ...

and

became two of the county's six districts and in 1984, following a resolution of the council, the latter district was renamed Huntingdonshire.

The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972 ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

(SI 1972/2039) Part 5: County of Cambridgeshire, see

Local Government Boundary Commission for England The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) is a parliamentary body established by statute to conduct boundary, electoral and structural reviews of local government areas in England. The LGBCE is independent of government and pol ...

Legacy

There is now a Hunts & Peterborough County Rugby Union that takes all the teams from each area and has representative teams for Youth rugby.