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The lists below include those perfin users engaged in local governance found in the Gault-2 Catalogue of GB Perfins, plus more detail where known. It is by no means complete so I am hoping collectors can send me scans (300dpi) of their holdings or supply details. If anyone would rather send the actual items, please email me first to arrange. I will reimburse postage and will return the items as soon as possible.
Each English council is listed in its historic county, with Scotland & Wales having their own heading then divided by county.
For example, Inverness authorities appear under "Scotland, Invernessshire".
Cleveland County Council formed in 1974 covering parts of Durham & Yorkshire get its own entry, but the towns within it remain in their historic county. There is a separate name index showing what county each local authority is listed in.
Early municipal governance was split so you would have a Borough Council responsible for certain things but Guardians of the Poor, Vestries dealing with the remainder. It was not until 1930 that those duties were all amalgamated into the one body. There are some bodies that encompass more than one council area but governed by councillors so are included in the list, for example the Metropolitan Board of Works, the Inner London Education Authority etc.
I have attempted to include everything that was under full municipal control, so Gas, Electric, Transport, Water, with health such as Asylums that are harder to establish who controlled them being added later.
I consider that every legal change of council is a new council, so for example we have Luton Borough Council formed 1876 that ceased in 1964, replaced by Luton County Borough council that ceased in 1974, became Luton District Council with Borough status until 1997 when it retained its name but became a Unitary Authority (similar to the old County Borough council) and all used die LC L0960.02M. As a result I am looking for all dates to cover earliest and latest use of a particular council as well as issues & postmarks. In addition there were many council’s that used the same perfin so dates taken from identified covers or pieces are the only accurate record, though loose stamps with a town name can assist where the councils are geographically in different parts of the country.
The question of what name to use, corporation or council as both are in common use, so to keep it simple they will all be named as a council.
The law, for those with more interest:
The ancient boroughs of England and Wales were typically incorporated by a royal charter, though some were boroughs by prescription. The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 and Municipal Corporations Act 1882 abolished the corporations of rotten boroughs and other small rural areas. The Local Government Act 1888 aligned the powers of the remaining borough corporations with those of the new urban district councils. All borough corporations were replaced under the Local Government Act 1972 with councils not designated as "corporations", with the exception of the City of London Corporation.
The corporations of the burghs of Scotland were similar in origin and were reformed or replaced in the nineteenth century before being abolished by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. The Irish borough corporations within what is now Northern Ireland were reformed by the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840 and Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 and replaced by the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972.
The Municipal Corporations 1882 Act says: Constitution of council.
The municipal corporation of a borough shall be capable of acting by the council of the borough, and the council shall exercise all powers vested in the corporation by this Act or otherwise. The council shall consist of the mayor, aldermen, and councillors.
I look forward to receiving information and will update the list as more information becomes known.
Last update February 2024
Stephen Steere
Abbreviations used
BC = Borough Council
CBC = County Borough Council
CC = County Council
DC = District Council
MBC = Metropolitan Borough Council
RDC = Rural District Council
UDC = Urban District Council