The Sun.
London, England, 1835-04-10 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 1835.

MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS.

FIRST REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS AP-
POINTED TO INQUIRE INTO THE MUNICIPAL
CORPORATIONS IN ENGLAND AND WALES.

REPORT.
TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.

Your Majesty having been pleased to issue a commission
under the Great Seal, authorizing and requiring the Com-
missioners therein named " to proceed with the utmost
despatch to inquire as to the existing state of the Munici-
pal Corporations in England and Wales, and to collect in-
formation respecting the defects in their constitution ; and
to make inquiry also into their jurisdictions and powers, and
the administration of justice, and in all other respects ; and
also into the mode of electing and appointing the members
and officers of such corporations, and into the privileges of
the freemen and other members thereof, and into the nature
and management of the income, revenues, and funds of the
said corporations, and into the several local jurisdictions
existing within the limits of all corporate towns in England
and Wales ; and signifying your Majesty's will and plea-
sure, that three or more of the said commissioners should,
under their hands and seals, certify to your Majesty what
the said commissioners should find touching or concerning
the premises upon such inquiry as aforesaid ;"
We, your Majesty's Commissioners, whose hands and
seals are hereunto set, do humbly certify unto your Majesty
the proceedings under the said commission, in furtherance
and execution of your Majesty's commands.
1. The commissioners directed their attention, in the first
instance, to ascertain the number of the several municipal
corporations of England and Wales.
They were unable to find any correct list of such Corpo- '
rations extant in any of your Majesty's offices of State, or
Courts of Record ; but from various sources of local in-
formation, they have found (as it appears to them) satis-
factory reasons for believing that there are 246 Corporations
in England and Wales, possessing or exercising municipal
functions. The total nr.r.^,aer of places where an inquiry
was instituted is 285 ; but some of these were found not
to contain Corporations of a municipal character.
2. These Corporations were classed according to their local
situation, into eleven districts, which were entitled respectively
as follows :-

I.—Midland Circuit, comprising the counties of Bucking-
ham, Gloucester, and Oxford, and parts of Berks, North-
ampton, Warwick, Wilts, and Worcester.
ll.—Western Circuit, comprising the counties of Brecon,
Cardigan, Carmarthen, Glamorgan, Hereford, Monmouth,
Pembroke, and Radnor.

lll.—South Western Circuit, comprising the counties of
Cornwall and Devon, and part of Somerset.
IV.—South Eastern Circuit, comprising the counties of
Sussex, Kent (with the exception of Gravesend), Surrey
(with the Oceeption of Guildford and Kingston), and part of
Southampton.
V.—Southern Circuit, comprising the county of Dorset,
and parts of Southampton, Somerset, and Wilts.
Vl.—Northern Circuit, comprising the counties of Cum-
berland, Durham, Northumberland, Westmoreland, York,
and part of Lancaster.
Vll.—North Midland Circuit, comprising the counties of
Derby, Leicester, Nottingham, and Stafford, and parts of Nor-
thampton, Salop, Warwick, and Worcester.
VI ll.—Eastern Circuit, comprising the counties of Bedford,
Cambridge, Huntingdon, Lincoln, Norfolk, Suffolk, and parts
of Essex and Northampton.
IX.—North Western Circuit, comprising the counties of
Anglesea, Carnarvon, Chester, Denbigh, Flint, Merioneth,
Montgomery, and parts of Lancaster and Salop.
X.—Home Circuit, comprising the towns in the immediate
neighbourhood of London—namely, St. Alban's, Guildford,
Gravesend, Hertford, Kingston, Maidenhead, Romford, and
Windsor.

Xl.—London and its dependencies, including its 84 Com-
panies.
Two Commissioners, in the first instance, undertook the
inquiry in each of the first nine districts. The borne circuit
was reserved for those Commissioners who should soonest
have completed the share of the investigation originally as-
signed to them. London, with its dependent Companies, was
made the subject of a distinct arrangement.
3. This scheme, however, was not uniformly adhered to.
After some experience of the business of the Commission, se-
veral Corporations appeared not to be sufficiently important to
require the presence of more than one Commissioner, and va-
rious other modifications of the original plan were made for the
purpose of expediting the inquiries, and bringing them as
nearly as possible to a simultaneous close. The names of the
Commissioners who assisted in the inquiry in every Corpora-
tion visited, appear in the following list. The cities and towns
which are counties are classed with those of the shires with
which they are locally most connected.
BEDFORDSHIRE.—Bedford, G. Long and J. Buckle.
BERKSHIRE.—Abingdon, P. Bingham ; Maidenhead and
Newbury, D. Jardine ; Oakingham and Reading, P. Bingham
and D. Jardine; Wallingford, P. Bingham; Windsor, P.
Bingham and D. Jardine.
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.—Buckingham and Chipping Wy-
combe, P. Bingham and D. Jardine.
CANIBRIDGESIIIRE.—Cambridge and Wisbech, G. Long and
J. Buckle.

CHESHlRE.—Altringham, Chester, Congleton, Macclesfield,
Over, and Stockport, G. H. Wilkinson and T. J. Hogg.
CORNWALL.—Bodmin, H. Roscoe and E. Rushton ; Bos-
siney and Camelford, H. Roscoe ; Falmouth, H. Roscoe and
E. Rushton ; Fowey, H. Roscoe ; Grampound, H. Roscoe
and E. Rushton : Helston, H. Roscoe ; Launceston, E. Rush-
ton ; Liskeard, H. Roscoe and E. Rushton ; East and West
Looe, H. Roscoe ; Lostwithiel, E. Rushton ; Marazion, H.
Roscoe ; Penryn, E. Rushton ; Penzance and Saltash, H.
Roscoe and E. Rushton ; St. Ives, E. Rushton ; Tregony,
H. Roscoe; Truro, H. Roscoe and E. Rushton.
CUMBERLAND.—CarIisIe, F. Dwarris and S. A. Rumball.
DERBYSHlRE.—Chesterfield, E. Rushton ; Derby, A. E.
Cockburn and E. Rushton.
DEVONSIIIRE.—BarnstapIe, H. Roscoe and E. Rushton;
Bideford, 11. Roscoe ; Bradninch, Dartmouth, and Exeter,
H. Roscoe and E. Rushton ; Okehampton, E. Rushton ;
Plymouth and Plymouth Earle, H. Roscoe and E. Rushton ;
Southmolton, E. Rushton ; Tiverton, H. Roscoe and E.
Rushton; Torrington, H. Roscoe; Totnes, H. Roscoe and
E. Rushton.

DORSETSIIIRE.—BIandford, Bridport, Corfe Castle, Dor-
chester, Lyme Regis, Poole, Shaftesbury, Wareham, Wey-
mouth, and Melcombe Regis, E. J. Gambier.

DURHAM.—Durham, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Stockton, and
Sunderland, F. Dwarris and S. A. Rumball.

ESSEX.—Colchester, T. J. Hogg ; Dunmov, Harwich, and
Maldon, J. Buckle ; Romford and Saffron Waldon, T. J. Hogg.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE.—BerkeIey, Chipping Sodbury, and
Dursley, P. Bingham ; Gloucester and Tewkesbury, P. Bing-
ham and D. Jardine ; Thornbury, Wickwar, and Wotton-
under-Edge, P. Bingham.
HAMPSIIIRE.—Andover, E. J.- Gambier and J. E. Drink-
water ; Basingstoke, E. Rushton ; Brading, T. F. Ellis ;
Christchurch, E. J. Gambier ; Lymington, D. Maude ; New-
port, T. F. Ellis and D. Maude ; Newtown and Petersfield,
D. Maude; Portsmouth, T. F. Ellis and D. Maude ; Rom-
say, E. Rushton; Southampton and Winchester, T. F. Ellis
and D. Maude ; Yarmouth, D. Maude.

lIEREFORDSIIIRE.—Hereford, Leominster, and Weobly, J.
Booth and C. Austin.

HERTFORDSHIRE.—Hertford, D. Jardine and H. Roscoe;
St. Alban's, C. Austin.

HUNTINGDONSIIIRE.—Godmanchester and Huntingdon, G.
Long and J. Buckle.
KENT.—Canterbury, Deal, Dover, Feversham, D. Maude;
Folkestone, P. Bingham; Fordwich, D. Maude; Gravesend,
Elythe and Lydd, P. Bingham - Maidstone, T. F. Ellis and
D. Maude; New Romney, P. Bingham; Queenborough, D.
Maude; Rochester, T. F. Ellis and D. Maude; Romney
Marsh, P. Bingham ; Sandwich and Tenterden, D. Maude.
LANCASHIRE.—Ashton-under-Line, Clitheroe, Garstang,
F. Dwarris and S. A. Rumball ; Lancaster, J. Blackburne,
T. F. Ellis, and E. J. Drinkwater ; Liverpool and Newton,
G. H. Wilkinson and T. J. Hogg ; Preston, F. Dwarris and
S. A. Rumball ; Wigan, G. H. Wilkinson and T. J. Hogg.
LEICESTERSHIRE.—Leicester, R. Whitcombe, and A. E.
Cockburn.

LlNcoLNsitiaz.—Boston, Grantham, Grimsby, Lincoln,
Louth, and Stamford, G. Long and J. Buckle.
MIDDLESEX.—London, Sir F. Palgrave, 'l'. F. Ellis, D.
Jardine, and J. E. Drinkwater, Companies—Apothecaries,
armourers and braziers, bakers, barbers, blacksmiths, basket-
makers, bowyers, brewers, butchers, carmen, carpenters,
clockmakers, clothworkers, coach and coach-harness-makers,
coachmakers, cooks, coopers, cordwainers, curriers, cutlers,
distillers, drapers, dyers, embroiderers, fan-makers, farriers,
feltmakers, fishmongers, fletchers, founders, framework-
knitters, fruiterers, girdlers, gardeners, glass-sellers, glaziers,
glovers, goldsmiths, gold and silver wiredrawcrs, grocers,
gunmakers, haberdashers, homers, and bottlemen, innholders,
joiners, ironmongers, leather-sellers, long-bow-string-makers,
lorimers, masons, mercers, makers of playing-cards, merchant
tailors, musicians, needle-makers, painter-stainers, parish-
clerks, patten-makers, paviours, pewterers, plasterers, plumbers,
poulterers, pinmakers, saddlers, salters, scriveners, ship_
wrights, silk-throwsters, skinners, spectacle-makers, stationers,
tallow-chandlers, tinplate workers, tobacco-pipe-makers, tur-
ners, tilers, and bricklayers, upholders, vintners, watermen,
wax-chandlers, weavers, wheelwrights, and woolmen.
MONMOUTIISHIRE.—Monmouth, Newport, and Usk, J. Booth
and C. Austin.

NORFOLK.—Castlerising, G. Long ; Lynn, Norwich, Thet-
ford, G. Long and J. Buckle; Yarmouth, T. J. Hogg and
J. Buckle.

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE. Brackley, D. Jardine ; Daventry,
R. Whitcombe and A. E. Cockburn; Higham Ferrers, G.
Lorg ; Northampton, R. Whitcombe and A. E. Cockburn.
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE. Newark, A. E. Cockburn and E.
Rushton ; Nottingham, R. Whitcombe and A. E. Cockburn;
Retford, A. E. Cockburn and E. Rushton.
NORTHUMBERLAN D.-Alnwick, F. Dwarris ; Berwick-upon-
Tweed, F. Dwarris and S. A. Rumball; Morpeth, S. A.
Rumball; Newcastle-upon-Tyne, F. Dwarris and S. A. Rum-

OXFORDSHIRE. Banbury, P. Bingham and D. Jardine ;
Chipping Norton, D. Jardine; Henley-upon-Thames and Ox-
ford, P. Bingham and D. Jardine; Woodstock, D. Jardine.
SHROPSlllRF..—Bridgenortli, A. E. Cockburn and E. Rush-
ton ; Bishop's Castle, G. H. Wilkinson and T. J. Hogg ;
Clun and Ludlow, G. H. Wilkinson ; Newport, A. E. Cock-
burn ;. Oswestry, G. H. Wilkinson and T. J. Hogg ;''Ruy.
ton, G. H. Wilkinson ; Shrewsbury and Wenlock, A. E.
Cockburn and E. Rushton.

SOMERSETSIIIRE.—Axb7idge, J. E. Drinkwater; Bath and
Bristol, E. J. Gambier and J. E. Drinkwater; Bridgewater,

H. Roscoe and Mishten ; Chard, Glastonbury, Ilchester, and
Langport, E. J. Gambier; Wells, E. J. Gambier and J. E.
Drinkwater; Yeovil, E. J. Gambier.
STAFFORDSHIRE.—Burton-011-Trent, E. Rushton • Lich-
field, Newcastle-under-Lyme, and Stafford, A. E. Cockburn
and E. Rushton ; Tamworth and Walsall, A. E. Cockburn.
SUFFOLK.—Aldeburh and Beccles, J. Buckle; Bury, G.
Long and J. Buckle; bunwich, J. Buckle; Eye, G. Long;
Ipswich, T. J. Hogg and J. Buckle; Orford and Southwold,
J. Buckle ; Sudbury, T. J. Hogg.
SURREY.—Farnham, T. F. Ellis ; Godalming, T. F. Ellis
and D. Maude; Guildford, P. Bingham; Kingston, C. Austin.
SUSSEX.—Arundel, D. Maude ; Chichester, T. F. Ellis
and D. Maude; Hastings, P. Bingham ; Pevensey and Rye,
D. Maude ; Seaford, P. Bingham ; Winchelsea, D. Maude.
WARNVICKSHIRE.—Coventry, R. Whitcombe and A. E.
Cockburn • Stratford-on-Avon, P. Bingham and D. Jardine;
Sutton, doldfieid, A. E. Cockburn ; Warwick, R. Whit-
combe and A. E. Pailkirri.
WESTMORELAND.—AppIeby and Kirby Kendal, F. Dwar-
ris and S. A. Rumball.

WILTSHIRE.—CaIne, Chippenham, and Devizes, E.
Cambier and J. E. Drinkwater ; Malmesbury, P. Bingham ;
Marlborough, P. Bingham and D. Jardine ; Salisbury, E. J,
Gambier ; Westbury, E. J. Gambier and J. E. Drinkwater ;
Wilton, E. J. Gambier; Wootten Bassett, P. Bingham.
WORCESTERSHIRE.—BewdIey, A. E. Cockburn ; Droit-
wich and Evesham, P. Bingham and D. Jardine ; Kidder.
minster, A. E. Cockburn ; Worcester, P. Bingham and D.
Jardine.

YORKSHIRE—BeverIey, F. Dwarris and S. A. Runiball ;
Doncaster, S. A. Rumball ; Hedon and Kingston-upon- Hull,
F. Dwarris and S. 'A. Rumball ; Leeds, F. Dwarris; Ponte-
fract, Richmond, Ripon, Scarborough, and York, F. Dwar-
ris and S. A. Rumball.