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TIT AND PROPER PERSONS'-COUNCILLORS OF DENBIGH, THEIR STATUS AND POSITION, 1835-941 ONE of the most significant and interesting aspects of the nineteenth-century municipal corporations is their membership structure and the transformation of, and developments in, that structure between the 1830s and the end of the century. In the wake of the 1835 Municipal Corporations Act, change was expected in the constitution of Welsh and English corporations that had earlier been closed, conservative, self-elected and corrupt bodies. The 1835 Act secured more openness and answerability to the public for the actions of the municipal institutions, in place of the previous tendency of promoting the individual interests of councillors. Under this act, the major beneficiaries were the affluent middle class. In small boroughs, such as Denbigh, every man who owned personal property worth £ 500 or paid taxes of £ 15 yearly had the right to be elected to the council. As Denbigh was a small rural town and a centre for the surrounding agricultural area, individual councillors were extremely influential. Without exception, they were men of high social and economic status and esteem. They were all wealthy-squires, farmers, professional men and, later, shopkeepers and businessmen. Our present concern is with their social and economic status, how patterns of influence within the corporation altered during this period, and the extent to which the situation in Denbigh reflected the general pattern. Among the hundreds of councillors elected during this period, a significant number were more influential than the rest. Even though elections were held annually, prominent names remained on the corporation list for many years. A total of 928 councillors were elected during this period and of these 40 per cent remained members for five years or more. Of this 40 per cent, 4 per cent were members for ten years and 60 per cent of these were members for fifteen years. Over half of those who were members for fifteen years were also members for twenty years or more. Therefore, well over a third of those elected remained councillors for more than five years, and with many elected for more than one period of service the continuation of their influence is striking. Emphasis will be placed on this influential and prominent minority. 1 This article is drawn from my M. Phil research dissertation, 'Bwrdeistref Dinbych a Datblygiadau Corfforaethol 1835-1894', University of Wales, Bangor, 1992. 2 £ 1,000 in large boroughs or taxes of £ 30 yearly.