Southend-on-Sea was a local government district from 1866 to 1974 around the seaside resort of

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, England. Its origin was a local board formed for the parish of St John the Baptist, which had been split off from

Prittlewell Prittlewell is an inner city area of Southend-on-Sea in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. Historically, Prittlewell is the original settlement of the city, Southend being the ''south end'' of Prittlewell. ...

for ecclesiastical purposes in 1842. It was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1892. In 1889, when Essex County Council was formed, Southend-on-Sea was within the administrative county of Essex. However, through expansion in area and population by 1914 it was split off from the administrative county as a

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 ...

. The local authority was Southend Local Board from 1886 and Southend Corporation from 1892. The corporation changed the name of the town from Southend to Southend-on-Sea in 1893. In 1974 the county borough was reconstituted as a

non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially "shire districts", are a type of Districts of England, local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties (colloquially ''shi ...

with the same boundaries and some powers were transferred to Essex County Council.

Governance

Southend adopted the

Local Government Act 1858 Local boards or local boards of health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate environmenta ...

and a

local board Local boards or local boards of health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate environmenta ...

was established in 1866. In 1875 it became an

urban 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 ...

. The local board gained powers in 1875 to purchase

Southend Pier Southend Pier is a major landmark in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, United Kingdom. Extending into the Thames Estuary, it is the longest pleasure pier in the world. The bill to build the new pier, to replace a previous timber jetty, received Royal ...

and the legal right to change the name of the local board and therefore the town. It was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1892. The name was changed from Southend to Southend-on-Sea in 1893. It gained the status of

in 1914, which ended the jurisdiction of Essex County Council in Southend. Southend-on-Sea Borough Constabulary was created on 1 April 1914, split off from Essex Constabulary.

Expansion

The local government district originally consisted of the South End of the parish of

. This became a separate parish of St John the Baptist for ecclesiastical purposes in 1842. In 1877 the local government district was expanded to include all of the parish of Prittlewell, including the settlements of Westcliff and Chalkwell. The parish of

Southchurch Southchurch is an inner city area of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. England. In 1911 the parish had a population of 3954. History In 824 AD, a Saxon thegn, Leofstan pr ...

was absorbed by the borough of Southend-on-Sea on 1 November 1897. In 1913 the borough was expanded by gaining the former area of Leigh-on-Sea Urban District, consisting of the parish of Leigh (1527 acres) and part of the parish of Eastwood (383 acres) from

Rochford Rural District Rochford Rural District was a rural district with an area of 146.01 square kilometres in the county of Essex, England. It was created in 1894, in 1897 the parish of Leigh was removed to create the Leigh-on-Sea Urban District. In 1926 the paris ...

. The civil parishes within the borough were combined to form a single parish of Southend-on Sea. In 1933 the borough was expanded by gaining territory of

consisting of parts of the parishes of Eastwood (1342 acres),

Great Wakering Great Wakering is a village in the Rochford District in Essex, England. It is approximately four miles east of Southend. The village is well served with several historic public houses, a primary school, a Co-operative supermarket, post office, ...

(156 acres),

North Shoebury North Shoebury (once known as Shoebury Parva and Little Shoebury) is a suburb of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. North Shoebury was once an ecclesiastical parish. The 1870 ...

(499 acres) and Shopland (201 acres). At the same time, the former area of Shoeburyness Urban District, consisting of the parish of South Shoebury (1031 acres) was gained.

Transport

Using the powers secured in 1875, the local board took over

. The borough had

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

, trolleybus and bus undertakings that were operated by Southend Corporation Transport.

Replacement

On 1 April 1969 the separate borough police force was reincorporated into the Essex police as the Essex and Southend-on-Sea Joint Constabulary. The reform of local government outside Greater London which culminated in the Local Government Act 1972 eliminated county boroughs. In their place a two-tier system of counties and districts was created. The proposed reform for Essex was for Southend on Sea to become a

with many powers returning to Essex County Council. A new Thamesside metropolitan county was proposed covering north Kent and south Essex, which would have changed the status of Southend on Sea to a metropolitan district and retained many powers locally, but was unsuccessful. The County Borough of Southend on Sea was replaced by the Southend-on-Sea District on 1 April 1974. The council and corporation were replaced by Southend-on-Sea District Council and

Essex County Council Essex County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Essex in England. It has 75 councillors, elected from 70 divisions, and is currently controlled by the Conservative Party. The council meets at County Hall ...

, which were established as shadow authorities in 1973. The new district had the same boundaries as the county borough.

Coat of arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Southend-on-Sea, County Borough of County boroughs of England

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 ...