Dorset County Council

Elected county councils were created in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888, taking over many administrative functions that had previously been performed by unelected magistrates at the quarter sessions. The borough of Poole had been a county corporate since 1568, independent from the Sheriff of Dorset, but it was not considered large enough to take on county-level functions under the 1888 Act. Poole was therefore included in the county council's area, which was termed the administrative county, whilst remaining a county corporate for judicial purposes, retaining its own sheriff. The first elections were held in January 1889. The county council formally came into being on 1 April 1889,…