Collection MS 299 - Town Council of Perth

Perth, or Sanct Johnstoun of Perth, in the parish and county of Perth, and by 1975 also occupying parts of the parishes of Kinnoull, Scone, and Tibbermore, was created a royal burgh David I between 1124 and 1127. In 1600 a charter of James VI (1566-1625), in which Perth is referred to as a city, confirmed all the previous charters granted in favour of the burgh and the whole rights and privileges of the burgh. The city was governed by a council which included representatives from the trades and the guildry. This system of government was abolished in 1832 and from then on the council was made up of elected councillors with much of the day to day administration of the burgh being carried out by the town clerk. In 1811 the first of several local police acts was passed appointing police commissioners who had various duties including the cleansing, lighting, policing and public health of the burgh. The adoption of the General Police and Improvement (Scotland) Act 1862, (25 & 26 Vict., c.101) in 1865 and the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1892 (55 & 56 Vict., c.55) went some way towards resolving the confusion that sometimes arose over the jurisdiction of the councillors and commissioners. Under the Town Councils (Scotland) Act 1900 (63 & 64 Vict., c. 49) the police commissioners were replaced by Perth Town Council in January 1901. From 1930 until 1975 Perth had the status of a large burgh, as defined by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 (19 & 20 Geo. V c.25)Perth Town Council was abolished in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65). Its powers were assumed by the newly created Tayside Regional Council and Perth and Kinross District Council. These in turn were replaced by the new unitary authority of Perth and Kinross Council in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 (c. 39). By 1891 the population of Perth had reached 30,000 and it was already an important centre for blended whisky and textiles. For much of the 20th century firms such as Pullars, cleaners and dyers; John Shields and Company., textile manufacturers; whisky producers, Arthur Bell and Sons and John Dewar and Company and later in the century the insurance firm General Accident, combined to insure the continued prosperity of the city. At the census of 1971 - the last before abolition of the town council - Perth's population stood at 43,030. Information from SCAN (Scottish Archive Network http://www.scan.org.uk/catalogue/)