Editing Thurrock (section)

===Administrative history===
The borough has its origins in the [[Orsett]] [[Poor Law Union]], which had been created in 1835 covering a group of 18 parishes in southern Essex.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Higginbotham |first1=Peter |title=Orsett Workhouse |url=https://www.workhouses.org.uk/Orsett/ |website=The Workhouse |access-date=9 June 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Borough and council history: From Turroc to modern Thurrock |url=https://www.thurrock.gov.uk/borough-and-council-history/from-turroc-to-modern-thurrock |access-date=2022-11-08 |website=Thurrock Council}}</ref> Poor Law Unions subsequently formed the basis for later local government structures, with the Orsett [[sanitary district|Rural Sanitary District]] created in 1872 covering the same area. The parish of [[Grays Thurrock]] was made its own [[local board of health|urban sanitary district]] in 1886.<ref name=Essex1914>{{cite book|title=Kelly's Directory of Essex, 1914|publisher=Kelly's Directories Ltd|url=http://specialcollections.le.ac.uk/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p16445coll4/id/8909/rec/1|accessdate=13 November 2014}}</ref>

Urban and rural sanitary districts were converted into [[Urban district (England and Wales)|urban districts]] and [[rural districts]] in 1894.<ref>[[Local Government Act 1894]] (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73)</ref> Two further urban districts were later created from parts of the [[Orsett Rural District]]: the [[Tilbury Urban District]] in 1912 covering the parish of [[Chadwell St Mary]], and the [[Purfleet Urban District]] in 1929 covering the three parishes of [[Aveley]], [[South Ockendon]] and [[West Thurrock]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Orsett Rural District |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10025941 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=9 June 2023}}</ref>

After 1929 the area therefore comprised four district-level authorities: one rural district, containing 13 civil parishes, and three urban districts:<ref>{{cite web |title=Ordnance Survey Diagram of Essex showing administrative boundaries, 1934 |url=https://maps.nls.uk/view/241242514 |website=National Library of Scotland |access-date=9 June 2023}}</ref>{{efn|Whilst the urban districts still contained civil parishes, as [[urban parish]]es they had no administrative functions.}}
*[[Grays Thurrock Urban District]]
*[[Purfleet Urban District]]
*[[Tilbury Urban District]]
*[[Orsett Rural District]], with its parishes being:
**[[Bulphan]]
**[[Corringham, Essex|Corringham]]
**[[East Tilbury]]
**[[Fobbing]]
**[[Horndon on the Hill]]
**[[Langdon Hills]]
**[[Little Thurrock]]
**[[Mucking]]
**[[North Ockendon]]
**[[Orsett]]
**[[Stanford-le-Hope]]
**[[Stifford]]
**[[West Tilbury]]

In 1936 the four districts were all abolished to create the [[Thurrock Urban District]] (subject to some minor boundary changes with surrounding areas, notably at North Ockendon). All the civil parishes within the area were merged at the same time to become a single parish called Thurrock.<ref>{{cite web |title=Thurrock Urban District |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10074186# |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=9 June 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10247603|title=Relationships and changes Thurrock CP through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=26 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=A History of the County of Essex: Volume 8 |date=1983 |publisher=Victoria County History |location=London |pages=35–56 |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol8/pp35-56#anchorn282 |access-date=9 June 2023}}</ref>

The present-day borough of Thurrock was created in on 1 April 1974 under the [[Local Government Act 1972]], covering almost the same area as the former Thurrock Urban District, which was abolished, with just a minor change on the border with [[Borough of Basildon|Basildon]] to place the whole designated area for Basildon [[New Towns in the United Kingdom|new town]] in that district.<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972|year=1972|number=2039|access-date=31 May 2023}}</ref> The civil parish of Thurrock was also abolished as part of the reforms and the area became an [[unparished area]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ukbmd.org.uk/reg/districts/thurrock.html|title=Thurrock Registration District|publisher=UKBMD|accessdate=26 December 2021}}</ref> The reformed Thurrock district was given [[Borough status in the United Kingdom|borough status]] at the same time, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.<ref name="hans74">{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1974/mar/28/district-councils-and-boroughs#S5CV0871P0_19740328_CWA_145|title=District Councils and Boroughs|date=28 March 1974|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]|access-date=9 June 2023}}</ref>

Until 1998 Thurrock was a lower-tier [[non-metropolitan district|district]] authority, with [[Essex County Council]] providing [[non-metropolitan county|county-level]] services. Thurrock was made a [[unitary authorities in England|unitary authority]] on 1 April 1998, taking over the county-level services.<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The Essex (Boroughs of Colchester, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock and District of Tendring) (Structural, Boundary and Electoral Changes) Order 1996|year=1996|number=1875|access-date=9 June 2023}}</ref> Thurrock remains part of the [[ceremonial county]] of Essex for the purposes of [[Lieutenancy area|lieutenancy]].<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Lieutenancies Act 1997|year=1997|chapter=23|accessdate=26 April 2023}}</ref>