Municipal Borough of Chorley

Municipal Borough of Chorley
Chorley Town Hall from St Laurence's Churchyard.
Area
• 1911	3,614 acres (14.6 km2)
• 1961	4,283 acres (17.3 km2)
Population
• 1881	19,478
• 1961	31,315
History
• Created	1881
• Abolished	1974
• Succeeded by	Borough of Chorley
Status	Municipal borough (1881–1974)
• HQ	Chorley Town Hall

The Municipal Borough of Chorley was a local government district in the administrative county of Lancashire, England, with municipal borough status and coterminate with the town of Chorley.

Lying within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire since the early 12th century, Chorley was originally a township in the ancient parish of Croston until 1793 when it became a civil and ecclesiastical parish in its own right. Following the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, Chorley joined with other townships (or civil parishes) in the area to become head of the Chorley Poor Law Union on 26 January 1837 which took responsibility for the administration and funding of the Poor Law within that Union area.

Although Chorley had been an independent civil parish since 1793, the old-fashioned government by a chief and deputy parish constables, with assistants, continued until 1853, when a Board of Improvement Commissioners was formed. Ten years later, the Commissioners held a meeting on 29 October 1863 and they duly adopted portions of the Public Health Act 1848 and the Local Government Act 1858.

In 1881, under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, a charter of incorporation was obtained for the town. The Municipal Borough of Chorley was governed by a mayor and council of eight aldermen and twenty-four councillors, chosen equally from four wards — North, East, South and West. The borough's population remained roughly static in the 20th century, with the 1911 census showing 30,315 people and the 1961 census showing 31,315. It was enlarged by gaining 669 acres (2.7 km²) from parts of the civil parishes of Duxbury, Euxton and Heath Charnock in 1934.