52°24′54″N 0°09′40″E / 52.415°N 0.161°E / 52.415; 0.161

Ely Rural District
Rural district
Area
 • 190163,999 acres (259.0 km2)
 • 1961[1]66,082 acres (267.4 km2)
Population
 • 190112,383
 • 1971[1]14,820
History
 • Created28 December 1894
 • Abolished31 March 1974
 • Succeeded byEast Cambridgeshire
 • HQEly
Position within Isle of Ely, 1935

Ely Rural District was a rural district in England from 1894 to 1974. It was named after Ely, but did not include the city itself, instead covering the rural area to the west and north of it. It formed part of the administrative county of the Isle of Ely from 1894 to 1965, when this was merged into Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely.[1]

History

The district had its origins in the Ely Poor Law Union, which had been created in 1836, covering Ely and several surrounding parishes. In 1872 sanitary districts were established, giving public health and local government responsibilities for rural areas to the existing boards of guardians of poor law unions. The Ely Rural Sanitary District therefore covered the area of the poor law union except for Ely itself, which already had a local board of health and so formed its own urban sanitary district. The Ely Rural Sanitary District was administered from Ely Union Workhouse, which had been built in 1837 at Tower Road in Ely.[2][3]

Ely Union Workhouse: Council's meeting place until 1940s.

Under the Local Government Act 1894, rural sanitary districts became rural districts from 28 December 1894. The act also specified that rural sanitary districts which straddled county boundaries should be split into separate rural districts for the part in each county. Whilst most of the Ely Rural Sanitary District was in the Isle of Ely, it also contained Redmere, a small parish in Norfolk which had a population of about 40.[4] An inquiry was held and it was decided to amend the county boundary to transfer Redmere from Norfolk into the Isle of Ely.[5] In the event the change of county boundary did not take effect until 30 September 1895, a few months after Ely Rural District had come into being, and Redmere was therefore briefly a rural district on its own.[6][7] However, the act allowed for such small rural districts to be temporarily administered by the district from which they had been separated, as long as separate accounts were kept. In practice therefore, Redmere Rural District was an accounting distinction; it was always administered by Ely Rural District.[8][9]

Ely Rural District Council held its first meeting on 3 January 1895 at the workhouse, when James Luddington of Littleport, a Conservative, was appointed the first chairman of the council.[10][11]

In 1974 Ely Rural District was abolished, and its area made part of the new East Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire.[12]

Parishes

The district comprised the parishes of:[1]

Statistics

Year Area (ha)
[13] 		Population
[14] 		Density
(pop/ha)
1911 25,900 12,916 0.50
1921 12,883 0.50
1931 13,532 0.52
1951 26,743 14,717 0.55
1961 14,442 0.54

Premises

11 Lynn Road, Ely: Council's headquarters c. 1921–1974

The council continued to meet at the workhouse, later called Tower House, until the late 1940s.[15] Tower House became Tower Hospital following the creation of the National Health Service in 1948, after which the council moved its meeting place to the council chamber at its neighbour Ely Urban District Council's offices at 6 Lynn Road in Ely.[16] From the early 1920s until the council's abolition in 1974, Ely Rural District Council's staff were based at offices at 11 Lynn Road in Ely.[17][18]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Ely Rural District". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  2. ^ Higginbotham, Peter. "Ely Workhouse". The Workhouse. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  3. ^ Historic England. "Tower Hospital, Cambridge Road (Grade II) (1252456)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  4. ^ "Redmere Extra-Parochial Area / Civil Parish". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Ely and the Parish Councils Act". Cambridge Chronicle and University Journal. 13 July 1894. p. 6. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  6. ^ Youngs, Frederic A. (1979). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Volume 1: Southern England. London: Royal Historical Society. pp. 53, 793. ISBN 0-901050-67-9.
  7. ^ "Redmere Rural District". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  8. ^ "Local Government Act 1894", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1894 c. 73, retrieved 20 September 2022 Section 24(5)
  9. ^ "Ely Rural District Council and Redmere District Council: Audit and deposit of accounts". Cambridge Chronicle and University Journal. 15 November 1895. p. 5. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  10. ^ "Ely Rural District Council". Cambridge Independent Press. 4 January 1895. p. 5. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  11. ^ "A fen farming pioneer: Death of Mr. J. L. Luddington". Peterborough Standard. 13 September 1935. p. 4. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  12. ^ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 21 September 2022
  13. ^ "Ely RD through time: Population Statistics: Area (acres)". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  14. ^ "Ely RD through time: Population Statistics: Total Population". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  15. ^ Municipal Year Book and Public Utilities Directory. 1949. p. 662. Retrieved 20 September 2022. Meeting: The Board Room, Tower House, Ely...
  16. ^ Municipal Year Book and Public Utilities Directory. 1959. p. 1360. Retrieved 20 September 2022. Meeting: The Council Chamber, Ely Urban District Council Offices, Ely
  17. ^ Telephone Directory, 1920, Ely Rural District Council and Board of Guardians offices at Egremont Road, Ely / Telephone Directory, 1922, Ely Rural District Council and Board of Guardians offices at 11 Lynn Road, Ely
  18. ^ "No. 46250". The London Gazette. 29 March 1974. p. 4208.
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