County corporate

A county corporate or corporate county was a type of subnational division used for local government in England, Ireland, and Wales.

Counties corporate were created during the Middle Ages, and were effectively small self-governing counties. They usually covered towns or cities which were deemed to be important enough to be independent from their counties and a county corporate could also be known as a county of itself.

While they were administratively distinct counties, with their own sheriffs and lieutenancies, most of the counties corporate remained part of the "county at large" for purposes such as the county assize courts. From the 17th century the separate jurisdictions of the counties corporate were increasingly merged with that of the surrounding county, so that by the late 19th century the title was mostly a ceremonial one.

History

By the 14th century, the growth of some towns had led to strong opposition to their government by local counties. While charters giving various rights were awarded to each borough, some were awarded complete effective independence including their own sheriffs, Quarter Sessions and other officials, and were sometimes given governing rights over a swathe of surrounding countryside. They were referred to in the form "Town and County of ..." or "City and County of ...", and so became known as the counties corporate. Other counties corporate were created to deal with specific local problems, such as border conflict (in the case of Berwick-upon-Tweed) and piracy (in the cases of Poole and Haverfordwest).