| Description | Following the Municipal Corporations Act, 1835, Council committees were established to carry out functions delegated to Chester Corporation: the Finance Committee, Paving Committee and Watch Committee were appointed in 1836. Council committees were of four types: permanent Council committees; committees which were appointed for a special purpose (which sometimes became established later as permanent committees); joint committees made up of representatives of Chester Corporation and other authorities; and voluntary committees which were usually established by a public meeting with the mayor as chairman.
The records generally comprise minute books, which were hand written until October 1896, after which they were printed (CCB) and bundles of letters and papers known as committee files (CCF). The committee minutes were kept in separate volumes and were signed by the committee chairman until April 1961, when all committee minutes, except for those of the Education Committee, were bound into annual volumes. Especially in cases where there are no committee files, other material may be found amongst the records of the Town Clerk's Department (DT). |