The Council of the Royal County of Berkshire, also known as the Berkshire County Council, was the top-tier local government administrative body for Berkshire from 1889 to 1998. The local authority had responsibilities for education, social services, public transport, planning, emergency services and waste disposal, and had 87 members. Berkshire County Council shared power with six lower-tier district councils, each of which directed local matters. On 1 April 1998, under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1992, it was abolished and replaced by its six former districts, the unitary authorities of West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham, Bracknell Forest, Reading and Slough. History Creation The Local Government Act 1888 created County Councils to replace the Court of Quarter Sessions and elections in 1888 brought about the county council's launch. From A History of the first Berkshire County Council: Berkshire County Council established its meeting place in the assize courts in Reading. Meanwhile the administrative staff and committee rooms of the County Council were accommodated in the shire hall next door. Following the Local Government Act 1972, the council found a need to move to bigger premises at Shire Hall in Shinfield Park in the winter of 1980/1981, at an estimated cost of £27.5 million. List of chairmen Berkshire County Council had both a council leader and the mostly ceremonial role of chairman (no women are known to have been chair during the council’s existence). Chairmanships were unlimited in duration or number of times (e.g. Sir George Robert Mowbray held the chairmanship twice in – 1944-1946 and 1960-1965). In 1965, Chairman Sir Louis Dickens changed the term of office to 3 years, to be changed one year before elections. In 1974, the Local Government Act changed the size of and nature of the council, hence the distinction between 'Old' and 'New' County Councils. Old Berkshire County Council (1889-1974) William George Mount (Chairman of the preceding Court of Quarter Sessions 1887-1889) 1889-1905 Conservative Albert Richard Tull 1905-1906 William Hew Dunn 1906-1911 Sir Robert Gray Cornish Mowbray 1911-1916 James Herbert Benyon 1916-1926 Sir William Arthur Mount 1926-1930 Thomas Skurray 1931-1938 - Known by the famous poem: Alderman Arthur Thomas Loyd OBE 1938-1944 Conservative Sir George Robert Mowbray 1944-1946 Henry Arthur Benyon 1946-1947 Herbert James Thomas 1947-1954 William John Cumber 1954-1957 Colonel Granville Watson 1957-1960 Sir George Robert Mowbray (As above) 1960-1965 Air Commodore Sir Louis Walter Dickens (Instituted 3 year Chairmanships)1965-1968 Derrick