| AdminHistory | The council was formed in 1839: these minute books run from just before that first meeting. The early meetings were introduced as follows 'At a quarterly meeting of Council of this Borough held in [place] [date] [time] pursuant to notice by the Mayor'. At this time there were also special and adjourned meetings which did not appear to be at fixed times. At the start of every meeting newly elected councillors were announced. The Justices of the Peace reported on the activities of the Quarter Sessions at the quarterly meetings.
In 1882 the Borough Council was affected by changes in legislation and later in 1889 Birmingham became a city, this is reflected in the introduction; 'At a quarterly Meeting of the Council of this City, held pursuant to the provisions of the Municipal Corporations Act 1882... for the transaction of general business.' This mode of introduction continued well into the 1930's, in November the Mayor is elected for the next Municipal Year and at the start of the meeting newly elected Councillors are announced and Alderman selected: the Minute Books start to cover the period from around the 9th November to last meeting in October.
The volume from 1919-20 mistakenly begins with a run of numbers that are out of sequence and then after 50 numbers (or so) jumps to what would be the correct run of numbers (this is not the case in the copies available in the Local Studies Section).
Again, on 9th November 1933, changes in legislation are reflected in the introduction and an Annual General Meeting is introduced, 'Annual Meeting of Council of City held pursuant to the provisions of the Local Government Act 1933 and to public notice (date) (time) (place) for the transaction of statutory general business.' From this point the Council starts meeting on average 10 or 11 times a year, and not meeting in August and September.
The volume for 1948 - 1949 covers the period of November to April only, and the following year the Annual meeting is moved to May (this may be due to the changes in legislation reflected in the introduction). This and following volumes are introduced as 'Annual Meeting of the council of this city held pursuant to the provisions of the Local Government Act 1933 (as amended by the representation of the people Act 1948) to a resolution of City Council fixing same, and after public notice on Tuesday the Twenty Fourth day of May 1949, at twelve noon, in the council chamber at the council house, for the transaction of general business'.
On the 25th May 1973, the minute numbers restart and there appears to be an overlap with the old number sequence until 5th March 1974 (there is possibly a missing volume that covers this period). This is most likely to be in response to a possible re-organisation due to changes in legislation: Local Government Act 1972. The introduction now reads: 'At Annual General Meeting of the Council of this City held pursuant to the provisions of the Local Government Act, 1933 (as amended by the Representation of the People Act, 1948) to a resolution of the City Council fixing same, and after Public Notice, on Tuesday the 22nd day of May 1973, at 1200 hours in Council Chamber, at the Council House, for the transaction of statutory and general business'.
An amended introduction is used in the 1974 - 1975 and following volumes: 'At Annual General Meeting of the Council of this City held pursuant to the provisions of the Local Government Act, 1972, and after Public Notice, on Tuesday 21st May 1974 at 1200 hours in the Council Chamber at the Council House'. Creator of the material: Birmingham City Council, Councillors, Committees, depositor Clerk of the Clerk.
This is a basic listing of all volumes found; included is the extent of dates, minute numbers in each volume and some notes on changes in structure provided. These are minute books that document the resolutions of the Birmingham City Council Chamber and are signed by the Mayor etc. The volumes are large (A3), heavy bound volumes and most slip into a covering box file. Due to the poor condition of the volumes the list contains details on the condition of relevant volumes to be passed on to Conservation and as guidance to Archives Team.
There appear to be volumes missing for 1977 - 78, 1979 - 80 and 1980 - 81. Printed minutes dated are available in the Local Studies Sequence (Shelf Reference: L 34.3). |