Editing Stalybridge (section)

==Governance==
There is one main tier of local government covering Stalybridge, at [[metropolitan borough]] level: [[Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council]].<ref name=electionmaps>{{cite web |title=Election Maps |url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/ |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=2 February 2025}}</ref> The council is a member of the [[Greater Manchester Combined Authority]], which is led by the directly-elected [[Mayor of Greater Manchester]].

===Administrative history===
As the town developed during the industrial revolution, it initially straddled two counties and three parishes: the [[Township (England)|township]] of [[Dukinfield]] in the parish of [[Stockport]] and the township of Stayley in the parish of [[Mottram in Longdendale]] in Cheshire,<ref>{{cite web |title=Cheshire Sheet III |url=https://maps.nls.uk/view/102340957 |website=National Library of Scotland |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=3 February 2025 |date=1882}}</ref> and the parish of [[Ashton-under-Lyne]] in Lancashire.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lancashire Sheet XV |url=https://maps.nls.uk/view/102344093 |website=National Library of Scotland |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=3 February 2025 |date=1880}}</ref> Townships such as Dukinfield and Stayley were reclassified as [[civil parish]]es in 1866.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Youngs |first1=Frederic |title=Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England: Volume II, Northern England |date=1991 |publisher=Royal Historical Society |location=London |isbn=0861931270 |page=xv}}</ref>

[[File:Stalybridge Town Hall (Old Postcard).jpg|thumb|[[Stalybridge Town Hall]]: Completed 1831, demolished except the entrance in 1989.<ref name=listed>{{NHLE|desc= Former Stalybridge Town Hall |num=1067987|access-date=25 January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e4qIAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT5  |title=Tameside Through Time|first1= Joyce |last1=Raven|first2= Mark |last2=Sheppard |year=2011|publisher=Amberley Publishing|isbn= 978-1445631288}}</ref>]]
In 1828, a body of [[improvement commissioners]] was established to administer a newly-defined Stalybridge district, which straddled the townships of Dukinfield, Stayley, and Ashton-under-Lyne.<ref>{{cite web |title=Stalybridge Improvement and Police Act 1828 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Geo4/9/26/contents/enacted |website=legislation.gov.uk |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=2 February 2025}}</ref> In 1857, the commissioners' district was incorporated to become a [[municipal borough]].<ref name=Vision>{{cite web |title=Stalybridge Municipal Borough |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10137093 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=2 February 2025}}</ref>

[[File:Coat of arms of Stalybridge.svg|thumb|left|150px|The arms of the former Stalybridge Borough Council feature a golden wheatsheaf and a silver wolf, both representing Cheshire]]
The town's [[municipal charter]] established a council comprising a [[mayor]], six [[aldermen]] and eighteen [[councillors]]. The borough was divided into three wards: Lancashire; Staley and Dukinfield. A list of [[burgess (title)|burgesses]] was published on 21 April 1857 and the first election of councillors was held on 1 May 1857. The contesting parties were the "whites" and the "yellows". The council met for the first time on 9 May 1857 and elected the first six aldermen. The first mayor was William Bayley. The council took over the commissioners' functions in January 1858.<ref>{{cite news |title=Stalybridge: Transfer of powers |url=https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-viewer?issue=BL%2F0000966%2F18580109&page=3 |access-date=3 February 2025 |work=Ashton Weekly Reporter |date=9 January 1858 |page=3}}</ref>

The new borough council was granted a [[coat of arms]] later in 1857. The arms incorporated features from the coats of arms of the Stayley, Assheton, Dukinfield and Astley families who had all been land owners in the town. The motto, ''absque labore nihil'', means "nothing without labour".<ref name="Ref_k">{{cite web |url=http://www.tameside.gov.uk/stalybridge |title=Stalybridge: Coat of Arms information |publisher=Tameside.gov.uk |access-date=8 April 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Stalybridge Borough Council |url=http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/cheshire_pre74.html#stalybridge%20bc |website=Civic Heraldry |access-date=4 February 2025}}</ref>

Stayley township also included extensive areas outside the original borough boundaries of Stalybridge. The northern tip of Stayley township was included in the [[Local Government Act 1858|local government district]] of [[Mossley]] in 1864.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=22823|page=889|date=26 February 1864}}</ref><ref name=1895annualreport/> In 1868, a separate Stayley local government district was created covering the parts of the township that were neither in the Mossley district nor the borough of Stalybridge, with [[Millbrook, Greater Manchester|Millbrook]] being the largest settlement in the Stayley district.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=23407|page=4243|date=31 July 1868}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Reports from Commissioners |date=1869 |page=437 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Reports_from_Commissioners/oytcAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=RA8-PA3&printsec=frontcover |access-date=17 February 2025}}</ref> The borough of Stalybridge was enlarged in 1881 to take in the area of the Stayley local government district, which was abolished, plus further parts of the parish of Ashton-under-Lyne, including [[Heyrod]] and Ridge Hill.<ref>{{cite web |title=Stalybridge Extension and Improvement Act 1881 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/44-45/191/contents/enacted |website=legislation.gov.uk |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=17 February 2025}}</ref>

When elected county councils were established in 1889 under the [[Local Government Act 1888]], boroughs such as Stalybridge which straddled county boundaries were placed entirely in the county which had the majority of the population. The part of Stalybridge north of the River Tame in Lancashire was therefore transferred to Cheshire.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pulling |first1=Alexander |title=A Handbook for County Authorities |date=1889 |pages=12–21 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_Handbook_for_County_Authorities/L2JHAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA12&printsec=frontcover |access-date=22 December 2024}}</ref> Parish boundaries were not changed by the 1889 county boundary alteration. In 1894 a new civil parish of Stalybridge was created which covered the same area as the borough.<ref name=1895annualreport>{{cite book |title=Annual Report of the Local Government Board |date=1895 |pages=237, 240 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Annual_Report_of_the_Local_Government_Bo/gFIwAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA240&printsec=frontcover |access-date=4 February 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Stalybridge Civil Parish |url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10009881 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=4 February 2025}}</ref> The borough was enlarged in 1936 to take in part of the abolished parish of [[Matley]], formerly part of the [[Tintwistle Rural District]].<ref name="Vision" />

In 1955, Stalybridge was [[town twinning|twinned]] with [[Armentières]], France.<ref name="Ref_l">{{cite web|url=http://www.tameside.gov.uk/tmbc8/stalytwin.htm |title=Stalybridge Voluntary Twinning Association |access-date=25 October 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013172159/http://www.tameside.gov.uk/tmbc8/stalytwin.htm |archive-date=13 October 2007 }}</ref>

[[File:Remains of Stalybridge Town Hall (1).JPG|thumb|The remains of Stalybridge Town Hall]]
The borough of Stalybridge was abolished in 1974 under the [[Local Government Act 1972]]. The area became part of the [[Metropolitan Borough of Tameside]] in [[Greater Manchester]].<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Local Government Act 1972|year=1972|chapter=70|schedule=1|access-date=15 January 2025}}</ref>

===Parliamentary representation===
[[File:StalybridgeHydeConstituency.svg|thumb|right|[[Stalybridge and Hyde]] as shown within Greater Manchester]]
As a [[county palatine]] [[Cheshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Cheshire]] was unrepresented in Parliament until the [[34 & 35 Hen VIII. c. 13|Chester and Cheshire (Constituencies) Act 1542]]. From 1545 Cheshire was represented by two [[Knights of the Shire]]. On the passage of the [[Great Reform Act]] of 1832, the area of Stalybridge south of the Tame was included in the [[North Cheshire (UK Parliament constituency)|North Cheshire]] constituency.

Between the passing of the [[Reform Act 1867|Second Reform Act]] in 1867, and the general election of 1918, the town was represented in its own right through the [[Stalybridge (UK Parliament constituency)|Stalybridge Borough constituency]]. Since the [[1918 United Kingdom general election|1918 general election]] the town has been represented in [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] by the member for the [[Stalybridge and Hyde (UK Parliament constituency)|Stalybridge and Hyde]] [[county constituency]]. The current Member of Parliament is [[Jonathan Reynolds]], a former Tameside Councillor.