independent in 1896, following the passing of the Local Government Act 1894. In 1900, the new council set up a District Sanitary Association to improve drainage and to install a sewerage system in the village. The Shottermill civil parish was disbanded in 1933, when the area became part of the Haslemere Urban District. The most recent change in local government took place in 1974, when the urban districts of Farnham, Godalming and Haslemere were merged with Hambledon Rural District to form Waverley District. The Haslemere UDC was reduced to a town council and the reformed body readopted the town hall as its main meeting place. Parliamentary borough Haslemere may have become a parliamentary borough as early as 1230, when there is a record of the grant of a burgage plot in the settlement. It is referred to as a burgus in a document of 1377, but the first known MPs for the town were not elected until 1584. Elizabeth I confirmed the borough status in the charter of 1596. Until the Reform Act 1832, two MPs were elected to represent the town in the House of Commons. The electorate was confined to those holding property either as freeholders or as tenants of burgage properties, who paid rent to the lord of the manor. Electoral records show that for the elections of 1664 and 1735, there were only 82 and 85 eligible properties respectively. By the early 17th century, Haslemere had acquired a reputation as a pocket borough. The More family, who owned Loseley Park, effectively controlled the borough for much of the 17th century. However, in 1722, More Molyneux and his favoured co-candidate, Montague Blundell, 1st Viscount Blundell, lost the election to James Oglethorpe and Peter Burrell. In 1754, James More Molyneux, son of More Molyneux, was determined to reclaim the seat for his family. He and his favoured co-candidate, Philip Carteret Webb, purchased 34 freeholds and tenements, and installed their own representative as Bailiff to oversee the election. The freehold of the Red Cow Inn was split into shares, to further increase the number likely to vote for More Molyneux and Webb, who were duly elected. The final elections in Haslemere Borough took place in 1830 and two years later the constituency was combined with that of Farnham. Transport and communications Before the start of the 18th century, the local roads were the responsibility of the parishes through which