Sanitary districts were established in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

in 1872 and in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures: *Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies *Rural sanitary districts in the remaining rural areas of poor law unions. Each district was governed by a sanitary authority and was responsible for various public health matters such as providing clean drinking water, sewers, street cleaning, and clearing slum housing. In England and Wales, both rural and urban sanitary districts were replaced in 1894 by the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...

by the more general rural districts and urban districts. A similar reform was carried out in Ireland in 1899 by the

Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 (61 & 62 Vict. c. 37) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that established a system of local government in Ireland similar to that already created for England, ...

England and Wales

Sanitary districts were formed under the terms of the Public Health Act 1872. Instead of creating new bodies, existing authorities were given additional responsibilities. The sanitary districts were created on 10 August 1872, when the act received royal assent, and the existing authorities were able to exercise their new powers from their first meeting after that date. The powers and responsibilities initially given to sanitary authorities in 1872 were relatively limited. They had to appoint a medical officer, but other powers were generally permissive rather than compulsory. Three years later the Public Health Act 1875 substantially broadened the scope of powers and expectations on sanitary authorities. Urban sanitary districts were formed in any

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 ...

governed under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, in any improvement commissioners district formed by private act of parliament, and in any

local government district The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...

formed under the

Public Health Act 1848 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 environment ...

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 ...

. The existing governing body of the town (municipal corporation, improvement commissioners or local board of health) was designated as the urban sanitary authority. When sanitary districts were formed there were approximately 225 boroughs, 575 local government districts and 50 improvement commissioners districts designated as urban sanitary districts. Over the next nineteen years the number changed: more urban sanitary districts were formed as towns adopted legislation forming local boards and as additional boroughs were incorporated; over the same period numerous urban sanitary districts were absorbed into expanding boroughs. Rural sanitary districts were formed in all areas without a town government. They followed the boundaries of existing poor law unions, less the areas of urban sanitary districts. Any subsequent change in the area of the union also changed the sanitary district. At the time of abolition in 1894, there were 572 rural sanitary districts. The rural sanitary authority consisted of the existing poor law guardians for the rural parishes involved. The

brought an end to sanitary districts in England and Wales. In boroughs, the corporation was already the sanitary authority. All other urban sanitary districts were renamed as urban districts, governed by an urban district council. Rural sanitary districts were replaced by rural districts, for the first time with a directly elected council. It was a requirement that whenever possible a rural district should be within a single

administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...

, which led to many districts being split into smaller areas along county lines. A few rural districts with parishes in two or three different counties persisted until the 1930s. The Local Government Act 1972 made district councils, London borough councils, the

City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

, and

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

and

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

sanitary authorities.

Ireland

A system of sanitary districts was established in Ireland by the

Public Health (Ireland) Act 1878 The Public Health (Ireland) Act 1878 (41 & 42 Vict c 52) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which introduced a comprehensive code of sanitary law in Ireland. See also *Public Health Act *Irish Poor L ...

, modelled on that in England and Wales. Urban sanitary districts were established in the following categories of towns: * Boroughs with

municipal corporation A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally ...

s (under the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840) * Towns having

town commissioners Town commissioners were elected local government bodies that existed in urban areas in Ireland from the 19th century until 2002. Larger towns with commissioners were converted to urban districts by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, with ...

under private acts of parliament * Towns having town commissioners under public acts and having a population exceeding 6,000 The existing corporation or commissioners became the urban sanitary authority. The

Local Government Board for Ireland The Local Government Board for Ireland was an agency of the Dublin Castle administration that liaised with the various local authorities in Ireland. It was created in 1872 and lasted until Partition in 1921–22. History The Board was created u ...

, created by the same act, could designate other towns with commissioners as urban sanitary districts. Rural sanitary districts were formed in the same way as those in England and Wales, from the poor law unions with the boards of guardians as the rural sanitary authorities. The urban and rural sanitary districts were superseded in 1899, under the

, by urban and rural districts. Unlike rural sanitary districts, rural districts could not cross county boundaries: so for instance, Ballyshannon rural sanitary district was split into Ballyshannon No. 1, Ballyshannon No. 2 and Ballyshannon No. 3 rural districts in Counties Donegal, Fermanagh and Leitrim respectively. The Local Government Act 1925 abolished rural districts in the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...

, creating a single rural sanitary district for the non-urban portion of each county, called the "county health district". The Local Government (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 1934 allowed this district to be split on request of the county council; this happened only in

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...

, the largest county, which was split into three health districts.

Scotland

Sanitary districts were not formed in Scotland. By the Public Health (Scotland) Act 1867 public health duties were given to the town councils, commissioners or trustees of burghs, and to parochial boards. In 1890 the public health duties of parochial boards were allocated to the newly created

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irel ...

s, administered by district committees.

Sources

*''Local Government Areas 1834 - 1945'', V D Lipman, Oxford, 1949 *''Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England'' (2 vols.) F A Youngs, London, 1991 *Public Health Act 1872 (35 & 36 Vict. c.79) *Public Health Act 1875 (38 & 39 Vict. c.55) *Public Health (Ireland) Act 1878 (41 & 42 Vict. c.52)
Status details for Rural Sanitary District
visionofbritain.org.uk

References

{{Terms for types of country subdivisions Sanitary districts of the United Kingdom 1870s establishments in the United Kingdom 1890s disestablishments Defunct types of subdivision in the United Kingdom