Breconshire

Breconshire County Council

Elected county councils were created in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888, taking over administrative functions which had previously been performed by unelected magistrates at the quarter sessions. The 1888 act also directed that urban sanitary districts which straddled county boundaries should be placed wholly in the county which had the majority of the population. Along Brecknockshire's southern border with Monmouthshire, there were four such urban sanitary districts which straddled the county boundary: Brynmawr, Ebbw Vale, Rhymney, and Tredegar. Brynmawr was placed entirely in Brecknockshire, whilst Ebbw Vale, Rhymney and Tredegar were placed entirely in Monmouthshire. Brecknockshire therefore gained the southern parts of Brynmawr, but ceded to Monmouthshire the Llechryd area (in Rhymney district), the Dukestown area (in Tredegar district) and the Beaufort and Rassau areas (in Ebbw Vale district).