History of local government in Bristol facts for kids
The Bristol City Council is the main group that runs the city of Bristol, England. It used to be called The Bristol Corporation. For a long time, Bristol has had special rights to govern itself. This started after the Norman conquest of England in 1066. Bristol became its own county in 1373 and a city in the early 1500s. The Bristol Corporation was officially set up in the 1800s, and the important job of Lord Mayor began in 1888. After being part of the county of Avon for a short time in the late 1900s, Bristol became its own city and county again in 1996.
How Bristol's Government Started
It's not clear exactly when Bristol's local government first began. But we know that by the 1100s, Bristol had a group of important people called a common council. This council helped the king's representative, known as the reeve, manage the town.
Becoming a County and City
In 1373, King Edward III gave Bristol a special document called a charter. This charter said:
We have conceded to our beloved burgesses of our town of Bristol and to their heirs and successors in perpetuity that the town of Bristol with its suburbs and precincts shall henceforth be separate from the counties of Gloucester and Somerset and be in all things exempt both by land and by sea, and that it should be a county by itself, to be called the county of Bristol in perpetuity, and that the burgesses and their heirs and successors should have in perpetuity within the town of Bristol and its suburbs and precincts certain liberties and exemptions and enjoy them fully and use them as is more fully contained in the said charter.
This meant Bristol and its surrounding areas would no longer be part of Gloucestershire or Somerset. Instead, it would be its own county, called the County of Bristol. Bristol was the very first town outside of London to get this special status!
Bristol was first officially called a city in a charter from Elizabeth I in 1581. However, this document suggests that Bristol had already been given city status by the time of King Henry VII.
In 1835, a new law called the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 created the Bristol Corporation. This group included 48 councillors and 18 aldermen (who were like senior councillors). The name "Corporation of Bristol" had actually been used since the 1700s. In 1888, Bristol became a "county borough," which meant it was a large town with its own local government, and its borders grew into parts of Gloucestershire and Somerset.
Bristol and the County of Avon
From 1974 to 1996, Bristol became part of a new, larger county called Avon. This change happened because of a report called the Redcliffe-Maud Report. But in 1996, the county of Avon was removed. Bristol then became a "unitary authority," which means it's a single council that handles all local government services for the city and county of Bristol.
