Editing Kingston upon Thames (section)

===Local government===
[[File:Kingston-upon-Thames MB Ward Map 1868.svg|thumb|left|A map showing the wards of Kingston-upon-Thames Municipal Borough as they appeared in 1868.]]
Kingston upon Thames formed an ancient parish in the [[Kingston (hundred)|Kingston]] [[Hundred (country subdivision)|hundred]] of Surrey. The [[Kingston upon Thames (parish)|parish of Kingston upon Thames]] covered a large area including numerous [[chapelry|chapelries]] and [[Township (England)|townships]] which subsequently became separate parishes, including [[Hook, London|Hook]], [[Kew]], [[New Malden]], [[Petersham, London|Petersham]], [[Richmond, London|Richmond]], [[Surbiton]], [[Thames Ditton]] and [[East Molesey]].<ref name="Youngs">{{cite book |first=Frederic A. |last=Youngs |year=1979 |title=Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England |volume=I: Southern England |place=London |publisher=[[Royal Historical Society]] |isbn=978-0-9010-5067-0}}</ref>

Kingston was a royal manor. It was granted various [[charter]]s allowing it the right to hold markets and fairs, with the oldest surviving charter being from [[John of England|King John]] in 1208. A subsequent charter in 1441 formally incorporated the town as a borough.<ref>{{cite book |title=Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Municipal Corporations in England and Wales: Reports from places in any district |date=1834 |page=2892 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hs9OAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA2892 |access-date=21 April 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 3 |date=1911 |publisher=Victoria County History |location=London |pages=487–501 |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/surrey/vol3/pp487-501 |access-date=21 April 2024 |archive-date=21 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240421082406/https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/surrey/vol3/pp487-501 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The borough covered a much smaller area than the ancient parish, although as new parishes were split off the borough and parish eventually became identical in 1894. The borough was reformed to become a [[municipal borough]] in 1836 under the [[Municipal Corporations Act 1835]], becoming the [[Municipal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames]]. It had been long been known as a royal borough through custom; its right to the title was formally confirmed by [[George V]] in 1927.<ref>{{cite news|title=Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames|date=27 October 1927|work=[[The Times]]|page=14}}</ref><ref name="Royal borough">{{cite web |url= http://www.kingston.gov.uk/browse/leisure/museum/kingston_history/kingstons_royal_connections/borough_seal_rc.htm |title=The Borough Seal |work=Kingston London Borough Council |access-date=29 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091009153120/http://www.kingston.gov.uk/browse/leisure/museum/kingston_history/kingstons_royal_connections/borough_seal_rc.htm |archive-date=9 October 2009 }}</ref> Kingston upon Thames was the seat of [[Surrey County Council]] from 1893, when it moved from [[Newington, London|Newington]] to a new headquarters at [[County Hall, Kingston upon Thames|County Hall]]. The county council remained based at County Hall until 2020, despite Kingston having been removed from its administrative area in 1965.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/127-year-chapter-history-comes-19511671|title=127 year chapter of history comes to an end as Surrey County Council moves home|date=23 December 2020|newspaper=Get Surrey|access-date=3 May 2021|archive-date=3 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503072817/https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/127-year-chapter-history-comes-19511671|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Foot Ball, Kingston-upon-Thames, Shrove Tuesday, Feb. 24th, 1846.jpg|thumb|Shrovetide Football at Kingston in 1846]]
In 1965, Greater London was created and the old municipal borough was abolished. Its former area was merged with that of the [[Municipal Borough of Surbiton]] and the [[Municipal Borough of Malden and Coombe]], to form the [[London Borough of Kingston upon Thames]].<ref name=charter/> At the request of [[Kingston upon Thames London Borough Council]] another royal charter was granted by [[Queen Elizabeth II]] entitling it to continue using the title "Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames" for the new borough.<ref>{{cite web |title=Letters Patent of Incorporation under the title of the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/h/4d28daf3-bf91-4860-8c79-e2f7bf414399 |website=Discovery Catalogue |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=22 April 2024}}</ref>