The Municipal Corporations Act of 1835 had given elected corporations to the large towns but rural administration remained in the hands of the justices of the peace. In the Act of 1888, Lord Salisbury's government created 62 county councils in England and Wales, some of the larger shires being subdivided. Sixty‐one towns of over 50,000 inhabitants were given county borough status and London was given its own county council. In England there was great continuity of personnel, many JPs being elected, and several lords‐lieutenant becoming chairmen. But in Wales, nonconformist liberals swept the board at the expense of the gentry.
Subjects: British History.