The records of Angus County Council 1718-1975
Angus County Council was the main administrative body for the non-burgh areas of Angus after the establishment of County Councils in 1889 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act. County councils were abolished in 1975. In Angus, the old county council functions were split between Angus District Council and Tayside Regional Council.
Angus County Council administered the area except for the Angus burghs and the city of Dundee, which was a separate administrative unit. The county has undergone a number of name changes this century. Before the name change to Angus County in 1928, it was known as Forfarshire County Council. The headquarters of Angus County Council was in Forfar, the ancient county town. Angus County Council administered roads, bridges, education, poor relief and public health amongst other functions.
The records of Angus County Council are extensive and contain a wealth of information for the historian, dating from 1718 to 1975. Many of the records of the County Council's predecessors, the Commissioners of Supply, are engrossed in the later records. The earlier county records cover the period 1718 to 1890.
County Councils had responsibilities for a wide range of services such as maintaining and building new roads. Roads records date back to 1768 when the Justices of the Peace and the Commissioners of Supply were the County Road Trustees. Later the county was divided into districts for the purposes of road maintenance.
Other major responsibilities included education and poor relief. The education section (ACC 6) is an extensive collection of records in its own right. They contain the minutes of the Education Committee and those of individual school management committees, financial records, educational trusts, school logbooks, admission register and a range of school histories written in the early 1970's. The collection is not complete but does cover many schools. Log books are closed 50 years and school admission register are closed for 100 years.
Poor relief records contain the poor inspector's visiting reports, registers of the poor, separate registers for children, guardians and vagrants, applications for relief, parochial board minutes, assessment rolls, registers of admissions to institutions, accounts and letter books. Most parishes are covered but not all. Poor relief records also observe a 100 year closure period.
Other county council series include the lieutenancy records, which contain correspondence regarding the establishment of Rifle Volunteer Corps within the county, including Dundee, and the subsequent appointment of officers.
Public health is a major series of records with material relating to tuberculosis, scarlet fever, nurses pay, epidemic and fever hospitals such as Whitehills Hospital in Forfar and Noranside Sanatorium and scavenging in Ferryden. There is also a series of county Medical Officer of Health reports and the minutes of the various district committees whose remits were lighting, drainage and sewerage.
Plans of roads, bridges, lighting, schools and police stations are in the collection too. There are many small series of records and these include the Forfarshire Lunacy Board, the India Relief Fund of 1857, Forfar Prison Board plus many others.
The County Council records are a rich source for areas out with burghs. They are particularly useful for studying the late 19th century and the early 20th century. The individual sections of the County council lists can be viewed online. We do not recommend printing out the lists as some sections are 200 pages in length. The entire list is over 800 pages long.
One final note on the county council collection - it must be ordered in advance for personal consultation. We recommend that you book an item from this collection at least one week in advance of your expected visit to the Angus Archives. We regret the collection is not available for immediate consultation in our search room.
© Angus Council 1998 - 2009