Records of the Burgh of Cove and Kilcreggan

• Reference:GB 245 BCK
• Dates of Creation:1866 - 1975
• Name of Creator:
  Burgh of Cove and Kilcreggan 1865-1975 Cove and Kilcreggan, Scotland
• Language of Material:English
• Physical Description:
  6 standard archive boxes; 36 microfiche files

• Scope and Content

  Very few of the records of this burgh have survived, it being noted in the Town Council minutes in 1968 that they were destroyed "during the last war". The extant records comprise Town Council Minute Books (1940-1975); Dean of Guild Court (Planning) files (1972-1975, on microfiche); and Treasurer's records (1866-1936).

• Administrative / Biographical History

  The householders of Cove and Kilcreggan voted in 1865 to adopt the General Police and Improvement Act (Scotland) 1862.

  The main later statutes affecting the Police Commissioners were:
  1. The Burgh Police (Scotland) Acts 1892 & 1893
  2. The Town Councils (Scotland) Act 1900

  Glasgow was the first burgh in Scotland to obtain a local act of parliament to establish a police force in 1800. This practice spread with other burghs obtaining local acts to establish police forces which could adopt powers relating to cleansing, paving and lighting. By 1833 a series of general police acts were passed which permitted any existing royal burgh to establish a police system with additional powers covering cleansing, &c, without the need for a local act of parliament. Between 1833 and 1900, police commissioners administered the policing of many burghs. The General Police (Scotland) Act, 1850 (13 & 14 Vict. c.33) extended the power to become a police burgh to places with a population of over 1200. The General Police and Improvement Act (Scotland) 1862 (25 & 26 Vict. c.101) reduced the minimum population for the creation of a police burgh to 700. Further Acts followed and in 1892 the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act (55 & 56 Vict. c.55) ended the overlap and sometimes conflict that had existed between burgh councils and police commissioners in burghs by restricting powers to either one or the other. Increased public health powers were provided and only those burghs with 7000 or more inhabitants were allowed to keep their police forces, and new forces were restricted to burghs with a population of over 20,000. Police Commissioners were abolished by the Town Councils (Scotland) Act, 1900 (63 &64 Vict. c. 49) which replaced them and burgh councils with a single town council.

  The Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1892 ended the anomaly whereby some burghs had an elected body of police commissioners and a town council, and granted further powers to burghs. Later, the Town Councils (Scotland) Act, 1900 (63 & 64 Vict. c.49) created Cove & Kilcreggan Town Council and renamed its governing body as "the provost, magistrates, and councillors" of the burgh.
  Dean of Guild Courts were commercial and civil courts with important building control powers in Scottish burghs. They developed from merchant guilds where the dean of guild had jurisdiction over certain aspects of burgh life including trade, commerce, the regulation of weights and measures, property boundaries and good neighbourhood. As a result of this the dean of guild developed as a planning and building authority, first in Edinburgh and Glasgow, where by the mid-seventeenth century anyone who was intending to build had to submit a plan for approval to the Dean of Guild Court. Other burghs followed this example, especially in the nineteenth century. Their main concerns were environmental, i.e. the effect the development would have on public health, water supply, drainage and lighting, rather than architectural considerations. The Dean of Guild was elected from amongst the councillors of the burgh.
  The Burgh Police (Scotland) Act, 1892 (55 & 56 Vict. c.55) made it compulsory for all councils to set up a Dean of Guild Court or its equivalent. The Town and Country Planning Act (Scotland) 1947 introduced further changes to the law, with Dean of Guild Courts thereafter granting licences "subject to the approval of the County Planning Authority". Dean of Guild Courts continued to have planning and building control powers until 1975 when they were abolished by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.
  The Town Clerk, as secretary and legal adviser to the Town Council, was responsible for the day to day running of most of the burgh's affairs. The post was part time and was held by one of the local Writers to the Signet (i.e., solicitors who were entitled to supervise the use of the King's Signet - the private seal of the early Kings of Scots). The Chamberlain managed the financial assets and liabilities of the burgh. The post was also part time. These were salaried posts and as such could not be held by members of the council.

• Arrangement

  The records have been arranged into three sub fonds

  • BCK/1 Council
  • BCK/2 Town Clerk's Office
  • BCK/3 Treasurer's Office

• Access Information

  Open for consultation.
  Appointment recommended

• Acquisition Information

  The records were transferred to the Archives from the offices of the former Tobermory Town Council shortly after the reorganisation of Scottish Local Government in 1975.

• Separated Material

  Very few of the records of this burgh have survived, it being noted in the Town Council minutes in 1968 that they were destroyed "during the last war". Shortly before the 1975 local government reorganisation, the records of the burgh were surveyed by the Scottish Record Office to identify those which should be transferred to the Archives. Many of these were not transferred. The list is as follows:

  • I Town Clerk's Department
  • 1. Council Minutes
  • 2 Dean of Guild
  • 3 Trusts
  • 4 Miscellanea
  • II Burgh Chamberlain's Department
  • 1 Abstracts of Accounts
  • 2 Valuation rolls
  • 3 Miscellanea
  • Reference 1 Council Minutes
  • 1/1 Minute Book 1940 – 1946
  • 1/2 Minute Book 1946 – 1950
  • 1/3 Minute Book 1951 – 1956
  • 1/4 Minute Book 1956 – 1960
  • 1/5 Minute Book 1960 – 1961
  • 1/6 Minute Book 1961 – 1962
  • 1/7 Minute Book 1962 1963
  • 1/8 Minute Book 1963 – 1964
  • 1/9 Minute Book 1964 – 1965
  • 1/10 Minute Book 1965 – 1966
  • 1/11 Minute Book 1966 – 1967
  • 1/12 Minute Book 1967 – 1968
  • 1/13 Minute Book 1968 – 1969
  • 1/14 Minute Book 1969 – 1970
  • 1/15 Minute Book 1970 – 1971
  • 1/16 Minute Book 1971 – 1972
  • 1/17 Minute Book 1972 – 1973
  • 1/18 Minute Book 1973 – 1974
  • Reference 1 Dean of Guild
  • 2/1 Dean of Guild Court Register 1950 – current
  • Reference 1 Trusts
  • 3/1 Minute Book. The Cove & Kilcreggan Trust 1948 to current
  • Reference 1 Miscellanea
  • 4/1 Housing Register 1949 – current
  • 4/2 Register of Societies 1956 - current
  • Reference 2 Abstracts of Accounts
  • 1/1 Abstracts of Accounts 1901
  • 1/2 Abstracts of Accounts 1902
  • 1/3 Abstracts of Accounts 1903
  • 1/4 Abstracts of Accounts 1904
  • 1/5 Abstracts of Accounts 1905
  • 1/6 Abstracts of Accounts 1906
  • 1/7 Abstracts of Accounts 1907
  • 1/8 Abstracts of Accounts 1908
  • 1/9 Abstracts of Accounts 1909
  • 1/10 Abstracts of Accounts 1910
  • 1/11 Abstracts of Accounts 1911
  • 1/12 Abstracts of Accounts 1912
  • 1/13 Abstracts of Accounts 1913
  • 1/14 Abstracts of Accounts 1915
  • 1/15 Abstracts of Accounts 1916
  • 1/16 Abstracts of Accounts 1917
  • 1/17 Abstracts of Accounts 1922
  • 1/18 Abstracts of Accounts 1924
  • 1/19 Abstracts of Accounts 1925
  • 1/20 Abstracts of Accounts 1926
  • 1/21 Abstracts of Accounts 1927
  • 1/22 Abstracts of Accounts 1928
  • 1/23 Abstracts of Accounts 1930
  • 1/24 Abstracts of Accounts 1931
  • 1/25 Abstracts of Accounts 1932
  • 1/26 Abstracts of Accounts 1933
  • 1/27 Abstracts of Accounts 1934
  • 1/28 Abstracts of Accounts 1953
  • 1/29 Abstracts of Accounts 1954
  • 1/30 Abstracts of Accounts 1957
  • 1/31 Abstracts of Accounts 1958
  • Reference 2 Valuation Rolls
  • 2/1 Valuation Roll, Parish of Rosneath, including Burgh of Cove & Kilcreggan, 1956 – 1957
  • 2/2 Valuation Roll, Parish of Rosneath, including Burgh of Cove & Kilcreggan, 1957 – 1958
  • 2/3 Valuation Roll, Parish of Rosneath, including Burgh of Cove & Kilcreggan, 1959 – 1960
  • 2/4 Valuations Roll, Parish of Rosneath, including Burgh of Cove & Kilcreggan, 1960 – 1961
  • 2/5 Valuation Rolls Burgh of Cove & Kilcreggan 1961 - 1962
  • 2/6 Valuation Rolls Burgh of Cove & Kilcreggan 1963 – 1964
  • 2/7 Valuation Rolls Burgh of Cove & Kilcreggan 1964 – 1965
  • 2/8 Valuation Rolls Burgh of Cove & Kilcreggan 1965 – 1966
  • 2/9 Valuation Rolls Burgh of Cove & Kilcreggan 1966 – 1967
  • 2/10 Valuation Rolls Burgh of Cove & Kilcreggan 1967 – 1968
  • 2/11 Valuation Rolls Burgh of Cove & Kilcreggan 1968 - 1969
  • 2/12 Valuation Rolls Burgh of Cove & Kilcreggan 1969 -1970
  • Reference 2 Miscellanea
  • 3/1 Journal of the Burgh of Cove & Kilcreggan 1866 – 1936
  • 3/2 Ledger of the Burgh of Cove & Kilcreggan 1866 – 1904

• Appraisal Information

  The records have been appraised in accordance with liveArgyll's Collecting Policy and the Scottish Council on Archives Records Retention Schedules.

• Accruals

  Accruals are not expected.

• Related Material

  There are references to Cove & Kilcreggan in the records of Dunbartonshire County Council & Dumbarton District Council. There are no private deposits that are known to relate to the area covered by the Burgh.

• Corporate Names

  Cove and Kilcreggan Burgh of Cove and Kilcreggan 1865-1975 Cove and Kilcreggan, Scotland

  Burgh of Cove and Kilcreggan 1865-1975 Cove and Kilcreggan, Scotland