Ipswich Corporation

Ipswich Corporation
History
Founded1200 ancient borough
1836 municipal borough
1889 county borough
Disbanded1974
Succeeded byIpswich Borough Council

Ipswich Corporation was the local authority which ran the town of Ipswich in Suffolk, England. It was founded in 1200 and abolished in 1974, being replaced by Ipswich Borough Council. The corporation's formal name until 1835 was the "bailiffs, burgesses and commonalty of the town or borough of Ipswich", and after 1836 was the "mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Ipswich", but it was generally known as the corporation or town council.

From its foundation in 1200, the corporation kept often highly detailed accounts of its operation. A great deal of these survive to this day. After a successful period of four centuries, surviving plague and many other challenges governance of the borough descended into chaos after the restoration in 1660. This lasted until new structures were imposed in 1836 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 which created the municipal borough of Ipswich. Since the Local Government Act 1972 Ipswich has been a non-metropolitan district with borough status.