Chiswick was a local government district in the county of Middlesex

Middlesex

Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 from 1858 to 1927. It was part of the London postal district

London postal district

The London postal district is the area in England, currently of , to which mail addressed to the LONDON post town is delivered. The area was initially devised in 1856 and throughout its history has been subject to periodic reorganisation, contraction and division into increasingly smaller postal...

 and the Metropolitan Police District

Metropolitan Police District

The Metropolitan Police District is the police area which is policed by London's Metropolitan Police Service. It currently consists of Greater London, excluding the City of London.-History:...

.

The Chiswick Improvement Act 1858 created a board of 19 commissioners, one of whom was nominated by the Duke of Devonshire

Duke of Devonshire

Duke of Devonshire is a title in the peerage of England held by members of the Cavendish family. This branch of the Cavendish family has been one of the richest and most influential aristocratic families in England since the 16th century, and have been rivalled in political influence perhaps only...

, the major landowner of the parish. The commissioners had power to levy rates for such matters as lighting, paving and sewerage.

In 1883 the commissioners were replaced by a local board

Local board of health

Local Boards or Local Boards of Health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate slaughterhouses and ensure the proper supply of water to their...

 (which was also an urban sanitary authority

Sanitary district

Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1875 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures:*Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies...

) created under the Public Health Act 1875

Public Health Act 1875

The Public Health Act 1875 was established in the United Kingdom to combat filthy urban living conditions, which caused various public health threats, including the spread of many diseases such as cholera and typhus. Reformers wanted to resolve sanitary problems, because sewage was flowing down the...

. the Duke of Devonshire retained the right to nominate a member of the board so long as he continued to hold 500 acres (2 km²) in the parish.

The Local Government Act 1894

Local Government Act 1894

The Local Government Act 1894 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level under the Local Government Act 1888...

 reconstituted the local board's area as an urban district

Urban district

In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....

, and the eighteen-member Chiswick Urban District Council replaced the local board. The urban district was initially divided into two wards each electing nine councillors named Chiswick and Turnham Green

Turnham Green

Turnham Green is a public park situated on Chiswick High Road, Chiswick, London. It is separated in two by a small road. Christ Church stands on the eastern half of the green. A war memorial stands on the eastern corner...

. In 1901 these were replaced with six wards, returning three councillors each: Bedford Park, Chiswick Park, Grove Park, Gunnersbury

Gunnersbury

Gunnersbury is a place in the London Borough of Hounslow, with its northern edge in the London Borough of Ealing, west London. It has an area of less than half a square kilometre and is within the west area of the Chiswick W4 postal district of London....

, Old Chiswick, and Turnham Green.

In 1927 Chiswick UD was amalgamated with the neighbouring Brentford Urban District

Brentford Urban District

Brentford was a local government district in the county of Middlesex, England from 1874 to 1927.Brentford Local Government District was created in 1874 under the Local Government Act 1858 and covered the civil parish of New Brentford and the chapelry of Old Brentford in the parish of Ealing...

 to form Brentford and Chiswick Urban District

Municipal Borough of Brentford and Chiswick

Brentford and Chiswick was a local government district of Middlesex, England from 1927 to 1965.It was created an urban district in 1927 by a merger of the former area of the Brentford Urban District and the Chiswick Urban District. It gained the status of municipal borough in 1932...

.