Editing Aberdeen City Council (section)

===Aberdeen Corporation===
Aberdeen was made a [[royal burgh]] by [[David I of Scotland|David I]] (reigned 1124–1153).<ref>{{cite web |title=Aberdeen Burgh |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10357603#tab02 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=14 August 2024}}</ref> 
The burgh of Aberdeen was governed by a corporation, also known as the town council. Elections for the council were only introduced in 1833. Prior to that the council was not an elected body; when vacancies arose the existing council appointed successors. As Aberdeen grew, the council's powers were inadequate to cater for the needs of the growing urban area. A separate [[Police burgh|police commission]] was established in 1795 with powers to levy taxes and provide infrastructure ('police' in this context being its older meaning of civic government rather than law enforcement). The first police commission was short-lived, but it was resurrected in 1818 after the town council went bankrupt in 1817. From 1818 until 1871 there was a dual system of local government, with the town council and police commission having different roles in Aberdeen's administration. The police commission was eventually abolished in 1871 and its functions absorbed by the town council.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Clive Howard |title=Aberdeen, 1800–2000 |date=2000 |publisher=Tuckwell Press |isbn=9781862321083 |pages=236–252 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6az73FqFVMMC&pg=PA236 |access-date=14 August 2024}}</ref>

[[File:Town House, Municipal Offices and Court Houses in Aberdeen.jpg|thumb|left|[[Aberdeen Town House]], built for the corporation in 1874]]
Aberdeen was historically part of [[Aberdeenshire (historic)|Aberdeenshire]], but the functions affecting the burgh which operated at county level were relatively few, largely being limited to [[sheriffdom|judicial]] functions and [[Lieutenancy areas of Scotland|lieutenancy]]. When elected county councils were created in 1890 under the [[Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889]], Aberdeen Corporation was deemed capable of running county-level local government functions, and so the burgh was excluded from the area administered by Aberdeenshire County Council.<ref>{{cite book |title=Guide to local government in parishes, counties and burghs |date=1892 |publisher=Royal College of Physicians |location=Edinburgh |pages=xxiii–xxx |url=https://archive.org/details/b21905678/page/n29/mode/2up |access-date=31 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The County Council Magazine |date=1890 |publisher=F. Warne and Company |location=London |page=284 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nfAZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA284 |access-date=31 December 2021 |chapter=Preparing for the elections in Scotland}}</ref>

In 1891 Aberdeen's boundaries were significantly enlarged, absorbing the neighbouring burghs of [[Old Aberdeen]] and [[Woodside, Aberdeen|Woodside]], plus the [[Torry]] area on the south bank of the [[River Dee, Aberdeenshire|River Dee]]. The act of parliament which expanded the burgh also confirmed that Aberdeen was entitled to be called a city; it had commonly been described as a city prior to that, but (like most Scottish cities) without official recognition.<ref name=1891act>{{cite web |title=Aberdeen Corporation Act 1891 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/54-55/124/pdfs/ukla_18910124_en.pdf |website=legislation.gov.uk |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=10 August 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Beckett |first1=J. V. |title=City Status in the British Isles, 1830–2002 |date=2005 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |location=Aldershot |isbn=0-7546-5067-7 |page=16}}</ref>

The historic county boundary between Aberdeenshire and [[Kincardineshire]] in this area followed the River Dee. Following the absorption of Torry on the south bank of the river in 1891, the city straddled the two counties. Aberdeen was made a [[county of city|county of itself]] in 1899, removing the city from the two counties for lieutenancy and other purposes as well as local government functions.<ref>{{cite web |title=Aberdeen Corporation Act 1899 (c. 60) |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/62-63/60/contents/enacted |website=legislation.gov.uk |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=5 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=11136|page=958|date=13 October 1899|city=e}}</ref> The city boundaries were subsequently enlarged several times, gaining further territory from both Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire, notably in 1935, 1952 and 1970.<ref>{{cite web |title=Aberdeen Scottish County of City |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10262896 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=15 August 2024}}</ref>