sharing Solihull's local history
The present Armorial Bearings of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull were granted on 10th December 1975 from a design created by Miss Brenda C. Hands (1931-2016), who worked in the Council’s Technical Services Department. The new Arms replaced the previous Armorial Bearings granted to the then Solihull Urban District in 1948, which were also used by Solihull Municipal Borough and Solihull County Borough.
Continue reading “Solihull’s Coats of Arms”
Parish councils came into existence as a result of the Local Government Act 1894, which was also known as the Parish Councils Act. Civil Parishes are the smallest areas of local government administration. The 1894 act allowed for the election of parish councils in rural areas and required the entire area of a parish to be within the same administrative county.
Continue reading “Parish Councils”
The Metropolitan Borough of Solihull came into existence on 1st April 1974. The new Metropolitan Borough comprised the former County Borough of Solihull, 10 parishes from the former Meriden Rural District and the parish of Hockley Heath from Stratford-upon-Avon Rural District.
Continue reading “Metropolitan Borough of Solihull”
On 1st April 1964, Solihull and Luton were both elevated to county borough status – the first county boroughs created since 1927, and the first of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. The towns exchanged messages of goodwill and congratulations.
Continue reading “Elevation Day, 1st April 1964”
On Solihull’s Charter Day, 11th March 1954, H.R.H. Princess Margaret visited Solihull on behalf of the Queen to present the Urban District with a Royal Charter of Incorporation as a Borough. Although the elevation to a borough was important in Solihull’s journey to become a County Borough, it did not bestow any new powers on Solihull, apart from the new Borough having a Mayor instead of the previous Chairman of Solihull Urban District.
Continue reading “Solihull’s Charter Day 1954”Solihull was the only former Rural District Council to become a Metropolitan Borough Council in its own right under the 1972 Local Government Act, which came into effect on 1st April 1974. A little more than 40 years before, workers were taking up the cobbles in Solihull’s High Street – a graphic illustration of the incredibly rapid growth of the Borough. The population had more than doubled in 7 years, from just over 25,000 in 1932 to 52,610 by 1939.
2014 marks the 40th/50th/60th anniversary of Solihull becoming a Municipal Borough (1954), County Borough (1964) and Metropolitan Borough (1974).
We’d love to hear your memories of those times – for example, did you see Princess Margaret visit Solihull on Charter Day? Did you attend the teenage dance at the Civic Hall in 1964 to raise funds for the ‘Elevation Day’ clock? Do you remember the creation of the present-day Metropolitan Borough in 1974?
Please tell us what you remember of events then, or let us have your thoughts on how life in the Borough has changed since those times. There’s a memory sheet (PDF) attached below for you to fill in and email back to us at heritage@solihull.gov.uk
Tracey
Heritage & Local Studies Librarian
When Solihull became a County Borough on 1st April 1964, it also became constituted as a registration and licensing authority for motor vehicles and drivers. From that day, Solihull drivers had to obtain their tax discs from the Local Taxation Officer at the Council House in Poplar Road. The DVLC (later DVLA) took over vehicle licensing from 1974.
Continue reading “First car registered in Solihull”Solihull is unique in being the only former Rural District (1894-1932) to have grown to the status of Metropolitan Borough in its own right.
2014 marks 60 years since HRH Princess Margaret visited Solihull to present the then Urban District (1932-54) with a Royal Charter of Incorporation as a Borough.
Just ten years later, “the village”, as most Silhillians still called it, had grown to such an extent that the Municipal Borough served a population of 100,000. This was considered sufficient to become a County Borough in 1964, and take on responsibilities previously carried out for residents by the County Council.
Another ten years on, and 1974 saw the effect of the Local Government Act 1972, which re-organised local authorities and saw Solihull County Borough merge with Meriden Rural District and Hockley Heath Parish to form the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull we have today.
All this makes 2014 a special year for us: a 40th, 50th and 60th anniversary!
We’re hoping that you’ll be able to tell us your memories of the events in 1954, 1964, and 1974 that marked the rise of Solihull from an Urban District to a Metropolitan Borough.
Post your memories here, or e-mail heritage@solihull.gov.uk.
David
Solihull Life 