Under the Local Government Act 1888, the Soke of Peterborough
became a separate administrative county, distinct from the rest of
Northamptonshire. The County Council took over many of the
administrative responsibilities of the Quarter Sessions Court; but
this formal change hid a great deal of continuity, as Justices of
the Peace were often elected Councillors, the Clerk of the Peace
became the Clerk to the County Council and so on. The County
Council came into being on 1, April 1889 and expired on 31, March
1965, after which it was replaced by Huntingdon and Peterborough
County Council.
During its life the County Council gradually acquired more and
more powers, such as taking over the functions of school boards in
1902, Boards of Guardians in 1930, various town planning and
housing responsibilities from 1949. The easiest way to get a grasp
on all these functions is to read The Jubilee of County Councils
1889-1939, which summarises County Council responsibilities in a
readable and informative manner. Other secondary sources worth
consulting are Philip Riden, Record Sources for Local History
(Batsford 1987) and R M Jackson, The Machinery of Local Government
(Macmillan 1965).
The County Council exercised its various functions through
committees which frequently had their names and powers changed.
Huntingdon Record Office holds the main series of Council minutes
1889-1965 and notices of motion 1889-1963 as well as committee and
sub-committee minutes on:
- Agriculture (1920-1965)
- Education (1903-1965)
- Emergency services and public protection (1889-1965)
- Finance and organisation (1889-1965)
- Health and Social Services (1919-1965)
- Planning (1947-1965)
- Roads and bridges (1889-1965)
Huntingdon Record Office also holds a large series of Clerk's
Department files (1889-1965), civil defence papers, treasurers
records, inclosure records and many education department records
including those of Peterborough Joint Education Board.
Northamptonshire Record Office also has material relating to the
Soke of Peterborough County Council and its predecessors
including:
Peterborough Standing Joint Committee of County Councillors and
Magistrates
- 1889-1912: Draft minutes of meetings
Copies of Agendas and Minutes for:
- County Council 1926-1940
- Agriculture 1928-1940
- Education 1926-1940
Files of Correspondence about National Schools:
- Barnack 1903-1904
- Castor, 1903-1904
- Dogsthorpe 1903-1904
- Eye 1903-1904
- Werrington 1903-1904
- Wittering 1903-1904
Files of correspondence re Council Schools:
- Helpston, 1903-1904
- Maxey, 1903-1904
- Northborough 1903-1904
- Thornhaugh, 1903-1904
Files of Correspondence re ex Church of England or Independent
Schools:
- Bainton Ashton and Ufford, 1903-1904
- Castor Infants Church School, 1903-1904
- Deacons School, Peterborough, 1903-1906
- Longthorpe Parochial School, 1903-1905
- Marholm Church School, 1903-1905
- Newark Hamlet St Mary's Church School, 1903-1905
- Newborough Parochial School, 1903-1904
- Miscellaneous education files and volumes 1903-1910.
- Wartime correspondence and papers 1939-1945.
- Financial statements 1890-1903.
- Peterborough Corporation, Abstracts of Audited Accounts of the
City and Borough, 1888-1898, 1921.
- Reports and Estimates on Improvement of navigation of the River
Nene, 1837.
- Posters relating to the Disease of Animals Acts.
Copies of Soke of Peterborough County Council Minutes are
available for consultation at Peterborough Central Library.
See also schools and school boards
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