Newcastle was an
ancient borough; it is said to have been made a borough by
William II (reigned 1087–1100). In 1400, a new charter from
Henry IV gave the borough the right to hold its own courts and appoint its own
sheriffs, making it a
county corporate, independent from the
Sheriff of Northumberland. Newcastle was reformed to become a
municipal borough under the
Municipal Corporations Act 1835, which standardised how most boroughs operated across the country. It was then governed by a body formally called the "mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Newcastle upon Tyne", generally known as the corporation or town council. Newcastle was awarded city status in 1882, after which the corporation was also known as the city council. When elected county councils were established in 1889, Newcastle was considered large enough for its existing corporation to provide county-level services, and so it was made a
county borough. In 1906 the city was given the right to appoint a
Lord Mayor. In 1974 the county borough was replaced by a larger metropolitan borough within the new county of
Tyne and Wear. Newcastle's city status was transferred to the enlarged borough at the same time. From 1974 until 1986 the city council was a lower-tier district authority, with
Tyne and Wear County Council providing county-level services. The county council was abolished in 1986, since when the city council has again provided both district-level and county-level services, as it had done when it was a county borough prior to 1974. Some functions are provided across Tyne and Wear by joint committees with the other districts. ==Governance==