Editing Oldham (section)

=== Civic history ===
[[File:Oldham County Borough Council - coat of arms2.png|thumb|The [[coat of arms]] of the former [[County Borough of Oldham]] council, granted 7 November 1894, based upon those of an ancient local family [[Oldham (surname)|surnamed Oldham]]. The [[owls]] suggest that the family, like the town, called itself 'Owdham', and adopted the birds in allusion to its name. The motto ''"Sapere aude"'' ("Dare to be wise") refers to the owls.{{sfnp|Bateson|1949|p=|ps=}}<ref>
{{citation |url=http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/great_man.html |title=Civic Heraldry of England and Wales – Greater Manchester |publisher=civicheraldry.co.uk |date=1998–2007 |author=R.D.W. Young |access-date=14 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823000532/http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/great_man.html |archive-date=23 August 2007 |url-status=dead  }}
</ref>]]
Lying within the [[Historic counties of England|historic county boundaries]] of [[Lancashire]] [[History of Lancashire|since the early 12th century]], Oldham was recorded in 1212 as being one of five parts of the [[thegn]]age estate of Kaskenmoor, which was held on behalf of [[John of England|King John]] by [[Roger de Montbegon]] and William de Nevill.{{sfnp|Brownbill|1911|pp=92–108|ps=}}{{sfnp|Bateson|1949|p=|ps=}} The other parts of this estate were [[Shaw and Crompton|Crompton]], [[Glodwick]], [[Sholver]], and [[Werneth, Greater Manchester|Werneth]].{{sfnp|Ballard|1986|p=|ps=}} Oldham later formed a [[township (England)|township]] within the ancient ecclesiastical parish of [[Prestwich-cum-Oldham]], in the [[Salford (hundred)|hundred of Salford]].<ref name="GM Gazetteer" />{{sfnp|Brownbill|1911|pp=92–108|ps=}}

In 1826 commissioners for the social and economic improvement of Oldham were established.<ref name="GM Gazetteer" /> The town was made part of a [[parliamentary borough]], in 1832, though it was in 1849 when Oldham was incorporated as a [[municipal borough]], giving it [[borough status in the United Kingdom]],<ref name="GM Gazetteer" />{{sfnp|Bateson|1949|p=|ps=}} and in 1850 the Borough Council obtained the powers of the improvement commissioners.<ref name="GM Gazetteer" /> In 1880, parts of the [[Hollinwood, Greater Manchester|Hollinwood]] and [[Crossbank]] areas of [[Chadderton]] and [[Ashton-under-Lyne]] townships were added to the Borough of Oldham.<ref name="GM Gazetteer" /> [[Oldham Above Town]] and [[Oldham Below Town]] were, from 1851 until c. 1881, statistical units used for the gathering and organising of [[civil registration]] information, and output of [[Census in the United Kingdom|census]] data.

The [[Local Government Act 1888]] created elected [[county council]]s to administer services throughout England and Wales. Where a municipal borough had a population of more than 50,000 at the 1881 [[Census in the United Kingdom|Census]] it was created a [[county borough]], with the powers and duties of both a borough and county council.<ref name="youngs">{{citation |last=Youngs | first=Frederic A Jr. |title=Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England, Vol.2: Northern England |year=1991 |publisher=[[Royal Historical Society]] |pages=676–686 |isbn=0-86193-127-0}}</ref> As Oldham had an 1881 population of 111,343 it duly became a county borough on 1 April 1889. The borough, while independent of Lancashire County Council for local government, remained part of the county for purposes such as the administration of justice and [[lord lieutenant|lieutenancy]].<ref name="GM Gazetteer" /><ref>[[Local Government Act 1888]] (32 & 33 Vict. c.49) s.31 ''"Each of the boroughs named in the Third Schedule to this Act being a borough which on the first day of June one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight, either had a population of not less than fifty thousand, or was a county of itself shall, from and after the appointed day, be for the purposes of this Act an administrative county of itself, and is in this Act referred to as a county borough. Provided that for all other purposes a county borough shall continue to be part of the county (if any) in which it is situate at the passing of this Act"''</ref>

In 1951 parts of the [[Limehurst Rural District]] were added to the County Borough of Oldham, and in 1954 further parts of the same district added to it on its abolition.<ref name="youngs" /> Since 1961, Oldham has been [[twin towns|twinned]] with [[Kranj]] in [[Slovenia]].<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.oldham.gov.uk/community/tourist_information.htm |title=Tourist Information in Oldham |publisher=oldham.gov.uk |access-date=1 May 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928030245/http://www.oldham.gov.uk/community/tourist_information.htm |archive-date=28 September 2007 }}</ref> Under the [[Local Government Act 1972]], the town's autonomous county borough status was abolished, and Oldham has, since 1 April 1974, formed part of the [[Metropolitan Borough of Oldham]], within the [[Metropolitan county]] of [[Greater Manchester]].<ref name="GM Gazetteer" />