Mayor of Ipswich
| Ipswich Corporation | |
|---|---|
| History | |
| Founded | Ancient; Reformed 1835 |
| Disbanded | 1974 |
| Succeeded by | Ipswich Borough Council |
The Ipswich Corporation was a municipal corporation that owned property and government in the Borough of Ipswich. The corporation kept highly detailed accounts of their operation, a great deal of which survives to this day. After a successful period of four centuries, surviving plague and many other challenges governance of the borough descended into chaos after the restoration in 1660. This lasted until new structures were imposed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 which created the Municipal borough of Ipswich. Since the Local Government Act 1972 Ipswich has been a Non-metropolitan district with borough status.
King John granted a royal charter to the town in 1200. Unusually the immediately resolved to record proceedings in 'Great Domesday Book of Ipswich'. The original documents were stolen in 1272. Its contents were however already noted and a new copy was made later. In 1290 'The Little domesday book of Ipswich' was compiled based on what could be recollected at the time. A further copy was made in the 14th century.
In 1611 the corporation 'adventured', £100 towards the cost of ships to sail to Jamestown, in Virginia 13 years before The Mayflower.
Following the restoration in 1660 the governance of the corporation declined until the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 again brought order. The borough was both subject to disastrous manipulation by Charles II and James II and also by the rise of party politics. The town was strongly puritan and during the winter of 1662/63 Royal commissioners arrived to enforce the Corporation Act 1661 and ask all officeholders and freeman to renounce the 'Puritan Covenant'. Half of the assembly were purged. In 1684 the charter was then called in and replaced by another which named to new officeholders and for the first time in its history Portmen were imposed on the town many of whom were outsiders, Freemen were refused participation in the borough government. The aim was to create a compliant closed corporation. Control over the Holy Rood Fair which took place on St Margaret's Green was passed to the Corporation. A further charter was imposed by James II in 1688 without revoking the earlier charter and the result was confusion and chaos and permanent problems in 1835.
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