Editing Dunbartonshire (section)

==History==
Dunbartonshire's origins as a [[shires of Scotland|shire]] (the area administered by a [[sheriff principal|sheriff]]) are obscure, but it had become a shire by the end of the twelfth century. The shire of Dumbarton was initially similar in area to the earldom of [[The Lennox|Lennox]], covering an area north of the [[River Clyde]] and around [[Loch Lomond]]. In the thirteenth century an area north-east of Loch Lomond was transferred to [[Stirlingshire]], whilst the two parishes of [[Kirkintilloch]] and [[Cumbernauld]] were transferred from Stirlingshire to Dunbartonshire, despite not adjoining the rest of the county.<ref name=caledonia>{{cite book |last1=Chalmers |first1=George |title=Caledonia |date=1824 |publisher=Cadell and Davis |location=London |page=865 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jcU_AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA865 |access-date=18 February 2023}}</ref> The changes were reversed in 1504, when Kirkintilloch and Cumbernauld were restored to Stirlingshire and the area north-east of Loch Lomond came back to Dunbartonshire, but the change was short-lived, being reverted again in 1509.<ref name=caledonia/>

[[File:Dumbarton Sheriff Court - geograph.org.uk - 2033514.jpg|thumb|[[Dumbarton Sheriff Court|Dumbarton Sheriff Court and County Buildings]]]]
[[Commissioners of Supply]] were established in 1667 to act as the main administrative body for the shire outside the [[burghs]]. Elected county councils were established in 1890 under the [[Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889]], taking most of the functions of the commissioners (which were eventually abolished in 1930). The burgh of [[Dumbarton]] was deemed capable of managing its own affairs and so was excluded from the administrative area of the county council, although the county council still chose to base itself in that town.<ref>Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, c. 50</ref> The county council held its first meeting on 22 May 1890 at the [[Dumbarton Sheriff Court|County Buildings]] (which also served as the sheriff court) on Church Street in Dumbarton.<ref>{{cite news |title=Dumbartonshire County Council |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ |access-date=19 February 2023 |work=Lennox Herald |date=15 February 1890 |location=Dumbarton |page=4}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=County Council |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ |access-date=19 February 2023 |work=Lennox Herald |date=24 May 1890 |location=Dumbarton |page=1}}</ref> The 1889 act also led to a review of boundaries; in the case of Dunbartonshire the parish of [[New Kilpatrick]] had previously straddled Dunbartonshire and [[Stirlingshire]], with the town of [[Milngavie]] being in the part of the parish in Stirlingshire. The parish was brought entirely within Dunbartonshire on 15 May 1891.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shennan |first1=Hay |title=Boundaries of counties and parishes in Scotland as settled by the Boundary Commissioners under the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1889 |date=1892 |publisher=W. Green |location=Edinburgh |page=89 |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_meygAAAAMAAJ/page/n125/mode/2up |access-date=19 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Shennan |first1=Hay |title=Boundaries of counties and parishes in Scotland as settled by the Boundary Commissioners under the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1889 |date=1892 |publisher=W. Green |location=Edinburgh |page=323 |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_meygAAAAMAAJ/page/n323/mode/2up |access-date=19 February 2023}}</ref>

[[File:The County Buildings, Dumbarton (geograph 2747910).jpg|thumb|left|[[County Buildings, Dumbarton]]]]
Reforms to local government in 1930 saw the burgh of Dumbarton brought within the administrative area of the county council. The county council was based at the old county buildings at the sheriff court until 1965, when it moved to new [[County Buildings, Dumbarton|County Buildings]] on Garshake Road in Dumbarton. The new building was formally opened by [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]], accompanied by the [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Duke of Edinburgh]], on 28 June 1965 during a royal visit to the area.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dumbartonreporter.co.uk/news/19222763.watch-prince-philip-queen-visit-dumbarton/  |title=Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth visited Dumbarton: archive photos and video|date=9 April 2021|newspaper=Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter|access-date=18 July 2021}}</ref>

Dunbartonshire was abolished for local government purposes in 1975 under the [[Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973]], becoming part of the large [[Strathclyde]] [[Local government areas of Scotland 1973 to 1996|Region]]. Strathclyde was divided into nineteen [[districts of Scotland|districts]], with Dunbartonshire being divided between [[Dumbarton District|Dumbarton]], [[Bearsden and Milngavie]], [[Clydebank]], [[Cumbernauld and Kilsyth (district)|Cumbernauld and Kilsyth]] and [[Strathkelvin]] Districts. The combined area of these five districts continued to be used as a [[lieutenancy areas of Scotland|lieutenancy area]].<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The Lord-Lieutenants Order 1975|year=1975|number=428|accessdate=19 February 2023}}</ref>

Local government in Scotland was reorganised again in 1996, with the regions and districts abolished and replaced with unitary [[council area]]s. Two of the new council areas include Dunbartonshire in their name. Since 1996 the area of the pre-1975 county of Dunbartonshire has been split between four [[council area]]s:
*[[East Dunbartonshire]] Council, with its administrative headquarters at [[Kirkintilloch]] (also includes parts of the pre-1975 counties of Stirlingshire and Lanarkshire).
*[[West Dunbartonshire]] Council, with its administrative centre at [[Dumbarton]].
*[[Argyll and Bute]] Council (which took over the [[Helensburgh and Lomond]] part of Dumbarton District).
*[[North Lanarkshire]] (for the [[Cumbernauld]] area).

The [[Lord Lieutenant of Dunbartonshire|Dunbartonshire lieutenancy area]] continues to be defined in terms of the five districts that existed between 1975 and 1996, with the only change made to the lieutenancy areas at the time of the 1996 local government reorganisation being that the [[Chryston]] area of Strathkelvin district was transferred to the [[Lanarkshire]] lieutenancy.<ref>{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The Lord-Lieutenants (Scotland) Order 1996|year=1996|number=731|accessdate=19 February 2023}}</ref> The historic boundaries of Dunbartonshire are still used for land registration purposes, being a [[registration county]].<ref name="ros.gov.uk">{{cite web |url=http://www.ros.gov.uk/pdfs/map.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-09-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928060517/http://www.ros.gov.uk/pdfs/map.pdf |archive-date=28 September 2013 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>