Everything about Dunbartonshire totally explained
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Dunbartonshire (
Siorrachd Dhùn Bhreatainn in
Gaelic) or the
County of Dumbarton, is a
lieutenancy area and a
registration county of
Scotland. Until 1975 it was a
county. The area had been previously been part of the historic district of
Lennox, which was a
duchy in the
Peerage of Scotland, see
Duke of Lennox.
Name
Dumbarton was formerly the county town, and the county was originally also spelled
Dumbartonshire. By the eighteenth century the names "County of Dunbarton" and "County of Dumbarton" were used interchangeably. Different county bodies used the two spellings: the
Dunbarton County Constabulary were formed in 1857 by the
Commissioners of Supply for the County of Dunbarton. Dumbartonshire County Council, set up under the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 adopted the spelling "Dunbartonshire" by 1914, a fact recognised by the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947.
The name "Dumbarton" is thought to derive from the
Gaelic Dùn Breatainn (Fort of the Britains), but the town stuck with the name Dumbarton, and some people continue to refer to the county as Dumbartonshire.
Boundaries
The county retained a large
exclave despite the boundary changes in the
1890s elsewhere in Scotland, containing
Kirkintilloch and
Cumbernauld, between
Stirlingshire and
Lanarkshire : this area had originally been part of Stirlingshire, but had been annexed to Dunbarton in the reign of
David II at the request of
Malcolm Fleming, Earl of Wigtown, the owner of the land, who was also
Sheriff of Dumbarton.
Abolition of county
The
county was abolished in
1975 by the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, when it became part of the large
Strathclyde Region. Strathclyde was divided into nineteen districts, with the area of the former county being divided between
Dumbarton,
Bearsden and Milngavie,
Clydebank,
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth and
Strathkelvin Districts, the latter also containing a small part of the former
Lanarkshire.
The regional identity was retained for some major functions such as fire service and police at the next reorganisation of local government in
1996, but for most purposes the former county then found itself served by three new unitary councils:
Argyll and Bute Council (which took over the
Helensburgh and Lomond part of Dumbarton District),
West Dunbartonshire Council and
East Dunbartonshire Council. Cumbernauld wasn't included in either of the new Dunbartonshire councils, instead being placed in the
North Lanarkshire area.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Dunbartonshire'.
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