Middlesex County Council was the principal local government body in the

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 1973 in Northern Ireland, 2002 in the Republic of Ireland. They are now abolished, although most Northern ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

from 1889 to 1965. The county council was created by the

Local Government Act 1888 The Local Government Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c. 41) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales. It came into effect ...

, which also removed the most populous part of the county to constitute the

County of London The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government A ...

Elections and political control

The county council consisted of elected councillors and co-opted county aldermen. The entire body of county councillors was elected every three years. Aldermen were additional members, there being a ratio of one alderman to three councillors. Aldermen had a six-year term of office, and one half of their number were elected by the councillors immediately after the triennial elections. The first elections were held in January 1889. The first meeting of the "provisional" county council was held on 14 February 1889 at Westminster Town Hall. Although the council did not use political labels, among the aldermen elected were members of the parliamentary Conservative Party. From 1919, the scarcely political composition of the council was challenged by the election of members of the Labour Party. The 1922 and 1925 elections were, for the most part, not run on party lines. In 1928, the majority of the council were described as "Moderate", with Labour forming an opposition. Labour continued to make advances at the 1931 election, and this led to the formation of a Middlesex Municipal Association "representative of all anti-Socialist members". The association was supported by the various Conservative Party organisations of the county although it was not officially affiliated to the party, and controlled the council until 1946. In 1946, Labour took control of the county council for the first time. Following this, the Conservative Party contested elections to the county council, winning control in 1949 and holding it at the 1952 and 1955 elections. In 1958 Labour regained control. At the elections held in 1961, the Conservatives were returned to power. These were to be the final elections to the county council: under the

London Government Act 1963 The London Government Act 1963 (c. 33) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which created Greater London and a new local government structure within it. The Act significantly reduced the number of local government districts in the ...

the elections due in 1964 were cancelled, with the elections to the shadow

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

being held instead.

Chairmen of the Middlesex County Council

The chairman of the county council chaired its meetings and also represented it in a ceremonial manner, in a similar fashion to the mayor of a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

. Twenty-nine people served as chairmen over the council's existence.

Functions, powers and responsibilities

Middlesex County Council's main responsibilities were: *Highways and bridges: including the construction or widening of the Great West Road, Western Avenue, North Circular Road, Great Cambridge Road and the Chiswick Flyover. A joint committee with Surrey County Council had responsibility for bridges over the Thames. Among bridges constructed or reconstructed were Kew Bridge, Hampton Court Bridge, Twickenham Bridge and Chiswick Bridge. *Education: In 1891 the county council began providing technical education. In 1902 it was given responsibility for secondary education throughout the county and for primary education in some areas. Under the

Education Act 1944 The Education Act 1944 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 6. c. 31) made major changes in the provision and governance of secondary schools in England and Wales. It is also known as the Butler Act after the President of the Board of Education, R. A. Butler. Histori ...

it became the education authority for all purposes. At the time of its abolition, Middlesex County Council maintained 622 primary schools, 232 secondary schools, 12 nursery schools and 29 special schools. There were 14 technical colleges, colleges of art or commerce and two teacher training colleges. The technical colleges were the forerunners of the present University of Middlesex and

Brunel University London Brunel University of London (BUL) is a Public university, public Research universities, research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian era, Victorian engineer and pione ...

. *County Library Service *Public Hospital Service: following the abolition of the poor law system in 1930, the county council took over a number of hospitals. Examples were Chase Farm Hospital, the North Middlesex Hospital and Edgware General Hospital. These passed to the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

in 1948. *Middlesex Fire Service from 1948. *Middlesex Ambulance Service from 1948. *Main drainage and sewage disposal. *Motor taxation from 1909. *Planning from 1948. *Various regulatory and licensing functions includes weights and measures. *The division of the county into coroner's districts and the appointment of coroners.

Principal officers

The principal officers of the county council over its 76 year existence were:

Clerk of the County Council

*1889-1909: Sir Richard Nicholson *1909-18: Walter George Austin *1919-35: Ernest Walter Sidney Hart (knighted 1935) *1935-54: Clifford Walter Radcliffe (knighted 1953) *1955-65: Kenneth Goodacre - became Deputy Clerk of the

1964.

County Engineer and Surveyor

*1889-98: Frederick Hyde Pownall *1898-1920: Henry Titus Wakelam *1920-32: Alfred Dryland *1932-49: William Henry Morgan *1949-65: Henry Stuart Andrew

Chief Education Officer

*1945-52: Thomas Benjamin Wheeler *1952-65: Cecil Ernest Gurr

Chief Officer of Fire and Ambulance Service / Chief Fire Officer

*1948-63: Alfred Wooder *1963-65: Frank Stephen Mummery

Replacement

The number of homes in Middlesex, an area static in size, rose from 236,266 to 665,347 in the forty years to 1961.Middlesex AdmC through time : Housing Statistics : Total Houses, A Vision of Britain through Time, GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10061441/cube/HOUSES The chart of this rise, which tapered off, shows that by 1951 Middlesex formed part of the London conurbation, and in 1965 the council was abolished on the creation of the

. All but four electoral divisions of the council's closing 87 became part of the brand-new

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

; the rest were transferred to

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

as to the two parts of Staines plus

Sunbury-on-Thames Sunbury-on-Thames, known locally as Sunbury, is a town on the north bank of the River Thames in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, England, southwest of central London. Historically part of the county of Middlesex, in 1965 Sunbury and other su ...

, or to

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

as to

Potters Bar Potters Bar is a town in Hertfordshire, England,in the historic County of Middlesex Hertsmere Borough Council – Community Strategy First Review (PDF) north of central London. In 2011, it had a population of 21,882.History of local government in Middlesex Former county councils of England 1889 establishments in England 1965 disestablishments in England Former local authorities in London