Formation
The Local Government Act 1888 created four small neighbouring administrative counties in the east of England: Cambridgeshire, Isle of Ely, Huntingdonshire and the Soke of Peterborough. Following the Second World War, a Local Government Boundary Commission was formed to review county-level administration in England and Wales. The commission was of the opinion that counties needed to have a population of between 200,000 and one million in order to provide effective services. Accordingly, they recommended the amalgamation of all four counties into a single entity. The commission's recommendations were not carried out, however.
The reform of local government was returned to in 1958, with the appointment of a Local Government Commission for England. The four counties were included in the East Midlands General Review Area, and the LGCE made its draft proposals in 1960. The commission identified particular problems in the administration of the Soke of Peterborough, where 80% of the population of the county lay within the City of Peterborough, which was itself seeking county borough status. The LGCE concluded that the Soke was too small to continue as a separate county, and needed to become part of a larger authority. Accordingly, the draft proposals were to combine the Isle of Ely, Huntingdonshire and the Soke of Peterborough with Cambridgeshire (less the City of Cambridge).
There was considerable opposition to the draft proposals, and the LGCE instead opted in its final report in 1961 to create two counties: Huntingdon and Peterborough, and Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely. The Huntingdon and Peterborough Order was made on 14 February 1964, and placed before the House of Commons on 9 March 1964. The amalgamation was welcomed by David Renton, MP for Huntingdonshire, who felt that "The new county will have very good communications and a great community of interest. It will be a compact and convenient local government unit." The order was approved by 143 votes to 83.
The new county was formed on 1 April 1965 from the areas of the administrative counties of Huntingdonshire and Soke of Peterborough (with minor boundary changes) and Thorney Rural District from the Isle of Ely. As well as becoming an administrative county, Huntingdon and Peterborough also became a county for other statutory purposes. Accordingly the Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire became Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdon and Peterborough, with Peterborough ceasing to be part of the geographical county of Northamptonshire. A High Sheriff was also appointed to the new county, and a single commission of peace and court of quarter sessions established.
The county's population, as recorded at the ten-yearly census, was 202,622 in 1971.
Read more about this topic: Huntingdon And Peterborough
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