this catalogue refers to to the agenda minutes reports and other documentation of meetings of Oxford City Council and its committees from the earliest extant records until the county borough council was replaced by a district council in April 1974
although these are technically records of the council's secretariat - the town clerk [later chief executive] and his officers - they have been catalogued separately because of their status and significance as the council's highest-level records
until 1835 the corporation and its officials were elected or appointed on a restricted franchise largely controlled by its freemen; during the 19th and early 20th centuries the franchise was extended to include all adult residents
although records of the city’s existence go back to Anglo-Saxon times and its status as a borough to the early Middle Ages the earliest surviving records of council proceedings are the Council [Acts] Books which begin in 1528 [the first volume includes a few records dating from 1520; see OCA1/1/A1]
in 1889 the city became a county borough with jurisdiction independent of the rest of the county
from this time also began the enormous expansion of state intervention in the economic and social life of the community reflected in the rapid increase in the city council’s functions and complexity of its committee system
in 1974 the city council lost its county borough status and many of its functions, becoming one of Oxfordshire’s five district councils
in common with most local authorities in the late-19th and early-20th centuries Oxford City Council developed a complex system of committees to administer its growing range of statutory responsibilities
committees were generally appointed and given delegated powers to carry out specific functions; as functions were created or acquired they were usually given to new committees
the catalogue records nearly 100 standing committees with a further 45 or so special committees; their names accurately reflect functions and reveal much of the development of the council’s administrative history
some of the larger committees held greater responsibilities and a range of functions which were in turn delegated to subcommittees; for example the Education Committee appointed over 40 standing and special subcommittees
as far as possible the catalogue has been arranged chronologically so committees are listed in order of their date of inception
details in committee descriptions include: dates of first and last recorded meetings [dates in brackets indicate that the committee existed before or after the recorded dates]; changes of name and function; names of predecessors and successors; legislative or other reasons for creation or termination of committees
in addition to the Council Minutes, Council Yearbooks provide a useful and convenient guide to the committee system as well as lists of members and important city officials [see OCA1/1/PR2]
the early proceedings of the Council [1528-1801] are calendared in Records of the City of Oxford 1509-1583 edited by W H Turner and five volumes of Oxford Council Acts edited by H E Salter and M G Hobson covering the period 1583-1801; these volumes have been indexed by place name and subject and contain useful information on the historic organisation structure and procedures of the corporation
catalogued by Chris Gilliam
April 2018 [additions] March 2022