Berkshire County Council
The Council of the Royal County of Berkshire, also known as the Berkshire County Council, was the top-tier local government administrative body for Berkshire 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, it was abolished and replaced by its six former districts, the unitary authorities of West Berkshire, Windsor  and Maidenhead, Wokingham, Bracknell Forest, Reading and Slough. History. Creation. The Local Government Act 1888 created County Councils to replace the Court of Quarter Sessions 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 courts 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 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 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 Court of Quarter Sessions 1887-1889) 1889-1905 Conservative Albert Richard Tull 1905-1906 William Hew Dunn 1906-1911 Sir Robert Gray Cornish Mowbray 1911-1916 James Herbert Benyon 1916-1926 Sir William Arthur Mount 1926-1930 Thomas Skurray 1931-1938 - Known by the famous poem: Alderman Arthur Thomas Loyd OBE 1938-1944 Conservative 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 Conservative Lt. Col. Richard Watt 1977-1980 Conservative Lewis David Moss 1980-1982 Conservative W.T. Timperley 1982-1983 Labour Ian Morgan 1983-1986 Conservative Frederick Gareth Robert Gimblett 1986-1989 Conservative William Anthony Wiseman (‘Tony Wiseman’) 1989-1992 Conservative Ronald James Day 1992-1995 Liberal Democrat C.C. Trembath 1995-1998  Liberal Democrat Abolition and creation of the Unitary Authorities. The 1990s led to the restoration of county boroughs under a new name, unitary authorities 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 were part of the final wave of changes in 1998, resulting from the act. The council was abolished, and the ceremonial county is now governed by the six unitary authorities: West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham, Bracknell Forest, Reading and Slough. The general secretary  of the National Association of Local Government Officers 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 (a combination of the Readingstoke Action Group and CPRE) with a number of other former members of the council. CRAG successfully opposed Wokingham borough council's plan for building of houses between Reading and Basingstoke (to create a conurbation dubbed Readingstoke). After the abolition and until the 2009 local government reforms, the ceremonial county of Berkshire was unique in England as being the only non-metropolitan  county to have no County Council throughout its entire area, with the entire county governed by unitary authorities. Powers and composition. As stated above, under the Local Government Act 1972 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 Local Government Act 1972 changed the structure of the council, and a large area around  Abingdon and the Vale of the White Horse became part of Oxfordshire while Slough, which had been within Buckinghamshire, 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, although two of the Chairmen (William George Mount and Arthur Loyd) went on to become Conservative 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 administration with the Conservatives then ran the Council until it was split into unitary authorities. 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 and Crest [the stag argent] granted 18 July 1947. Crest changed and supporters granted 7 April 1961. The coat of arms granted by the College of Arms to the Berkshire County Council are described as: From Civic Heraldry: Post 1974 (1974-1998). Again from Civic Heraldry: And from Berkshire History: