West Riding County Council
As county town of both the West Riding and the former Metropolitan County of West Yorkshire, Wakefield has inherited a huge quantity of records of former county authorities. Among these are the records of the West Riding County Council (1889-1974). Other bodies for which the county had responsibility such as the West Riding House of Correction (later Wakefield Prison), the West Riding Asylum (later Stanley Royd Hospital), West Yorkshire Metropolitan Police (and their predecessors), the West Riding Vehicle Registration authority and the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive are also represented.
The West Riding County Council (based at County Hall, Wakefield) administered public services in the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1889 to 1974. The major responsibilities of the West Riding County Council were education, health, welfare, highways, libraries, police and fire services, planning, smallholdings, West Riding Registry of Deeds.
The administrative county was formed by the Local Government Act 1888, and covered the historic West Riding except for the larger urban areas, which were county boroughs with the powers of both a municipal borough and a county council. Initially there were five in number: Bradford, Leeds, Huddersfield, Halifax, and Sheffield. The City of York (also a county borough) was included in the county for census and lieutenancy purposes. The number of county boroughs increased over the years; Rotherham gained this status in 1902, Barnsley and Dewsbury in 1913, Wakefield in 1915 and Doncaster in 1927. The boundaries of existing county boroughs were also widened.
The Local Government Act 1888 included the entirety of Todmorden with the West Riding administrative county, and also in its lieutenancy area ("county"). Other boundary changes in the county included the expansion of the county borough of Sheffield southward in areas historically in Derbyshire, such as Dore.
By 1971 1,924,853 people (or 50.85% of the West Riding's population) lived in the administrative county, against 1,860,435 (or 49.15%) in the ten county boroughs. The County Council was structured around committees and departments. The County Council committees were involved in policy and decision-making whereas the departments carried out the day-to-day administration. Some departments such as the Clerk’s Department and the Treasurer’s Departments carried out administrative work on behalf of a number of departments.
Barber, BJ and MW Beresford, The West Riding County Council 1889-1974: Historical studies, 1979 (West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council: Wakefield) is available from all WYAS offices for just £2.00 or by post for £2.00 plus £1 postage - for further information see our web site under publications.
West Riding County Council minutes
WRR Reports from Committees and Triennial Statements
WRA County Council Administration
WRM Council Meeting Papers
West Riding County Council Committee minutes
WRC1 Finance Committee and sub-committees
WRC2 Highways Committee and sub-committees
WRC3 Asylums Committee and sub-committees
WRC4 Diseases of Animals Act Committee
WRC5 General Purposes and sub-committees
WRC6 Health Committee and sub-committees
WRC7 Law and Parliamentary Committee and sub-committees
WRC9 Technical Instruction Committee
WRC10 Smallholdings and Allotments Committee
WRC13 Education Committee and sub-committee
WRC14 Smallholdings and Allotments Committee (est. 1907)
WRC15 Local Taxation Licences Committee
WRC16 Scalebor Park Committee and sub-committee
WRC17 Mental Deficiency Act Committee
WRC18 War Agricultural Committee
WRC19 Reconstruction Committee
WRC20 Land Drainage Act 1918 Committee
WRC21 Agricultural Committee and sub-committees
WRC22 County Valuation Committee and sub-committee
WRC23 County Supplies Committee
WRC24 Public Assistance Committee
WRC25 Blind Persons Act Committee
WRC26 Air Raid Precautions Committee
WRC28 Town and Country Planning Committee
WRC29 Fire Service Committee and sub-committees
WRC30 Childrens Committee and sub-committees
WRC31 Smallholdings Committee (est. 1969)
WRC32 Yorkshire Dales National Park (W.R.) Planning Committee
WRC33 County Library Committee
WRC36 Social Services Committee
West Riding County Council Joint Committees
WRC37 Standing Joint Committee and sub-committees
WRC40 West Riding of Yorkshire Mental Hospitals Board (est. 1912)
WRC41 Leeds and Bradford Airport Committee
WRC43 River Ouse (Yorks) Catchment Board and Committees
WRC44 West Yorkshire Police Authority (est. 1968)
West Riding County Council Departments
WRD1 Clerk’s Department* (Click here for sections of the department)
WRD8 Highways and Bridges Department
WRD12 Social Services Department
WRD14 Weights and Measures and Consumer Protection Department
WRD16 West Riding Registry of Deeds
WRD17 County Prosecuting Solicitor
Arrangement of the collection and cataloguing
In April 2009 the WYAS Collection Team began a project to list uncatalogued West Riding County Council records and re-structure the collection. At present the different committees and departments of the West Riding County Council are listed as seperate collections on the online catalogue. The above list is colour-coded to show which sections have been catalogued.
Green - Listed on online catalogue
Amber - Part listed/Currently being listed by Collections Team
Red - Unlisted, awaiting listing by Collections Team
- Clerk's dept box lists can be consulted by WYAS staff on Calm (not available on online catalogue)
Items of interest
This section contains details of items which the Collections Team feel may be of particular interest.
West Riding in general -
WRCC Architects Department, WRD4
WRD4/50 Reports on police stations in the West Riding, 1934
These reports made from notes made on visits to police stations and court houses during 1934 include notes on the police buildings including site, age of buildings, notes on the exterior and interior of the buildings and building uses (see below for an example entry)
The notes relate to: Barnsley, Bingley, Doncaster, Goole, Harrogate, Keighley, Knareborough, Otley, Pontefract, Ripon, Rotherham, Sherburn, Shipley, Snaith, Tadcaster, Thorne, Wetherby
Barnsley
Police division – Barnsley
Petty Sessional Division – Staincross
Notes made on Saturday, 11th August, 1934 when divisional headquarters were visited by Alderman Newton and Major Moore.
The Court House and Divisional Headquarters are situated in the middle of the police division, but in the borough of Barnsley which is policed by the Borough Police.
The buildings were erected about 1870 and are fine large lofty buildings, well lit, fitted with electric light. There are two court rooms similar to one another in general features; and while not designed on modern lines they look good rooms and we gather they serve the purpose well.
Access to the Court House is easy from all parts of the petty sessional division and the surroundings to the Court House are open.
The acoustics of the courts are good; and while there is no independent waiting room for the witnesses there is ample adjacent accommodation for witnesses and the general public. The buildings are away from the main road and the proceedings of the court are in no way hampered by the noise of traffic. The proceedings in the second court are occasionally interrupted by traffic noises.
The Borough Courts are held in the same building, which results in a Court being held practically every day of the week.
There is ample space in the yard for the large number of motor cars which are usually found about the Court on Court days – the police cars, magistrates’ cars, and the cars of the public.
The Clerk to the Justices is the same for both the Borough and the County. He has offices in the building and a staff permanently there.
There is a great deal of public traffic though many parts of the building and the cleaning is done by civilians.
There is a good sized yard attached to the premises. At one end and near the entrance the Superintendent lives, on the left hand side there is a row of some ten cells; beyond them a garage, as well as a garage across the far end of the yard. There is sufficient accommodation in these garages for four small cars, and one of the garages, which will hold two cars and a cycle combination with ease, is heated with hot water installation. The fourth side of the yard is the lower storey of the Court House buildings, and the room fronting on the yard has windows throughout its entire length and is used as a parade room. It is really a good room with concrete floor. It is an unusually large parade room.
The range of cells is ample but the modern trend is for more bailing out to be done than used to be the case: the number of “drunks and disorderlies” has fallen away and if buildings were being put up to-day there would not be nearly the same accommodation for prisoners.
The majority of the rooms are good and so are the administrative offices for the police. The whole place looks well and is evidently well cared for.
There is robot control at two junctions.
(1) Allott’s Corner, Hoyland Common
(2) Church Street and High Street, Wombwell
Further reading
The Jubilee of County Councils 1889-1939 Fifty Years of Local Government, 1939 (Evans Brothers Ltd: London)
Barber, BJ and MW Beresford, The West Riding County Council 1889-1974: Historical studies, 1979 (West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council: Wakefield)
This publication is available from all WYAS offices for just £2.00 or by post for £2.00 plus £1 postage - for further information see our web site under publications
Updated Oct 2009
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