The Municipal Corporation (Elections) Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict. c. 55), sometimes called the Municipal Franchise Act 1869Glen, William Cunningham. Shelford's Law of Railways. Fourth Edition. Butterworths. Fleet Street, London. 1869. Volume 1. Pages xvii and 557. This name, which appears in 1869, predates the short title which was given to the act in 1877. or the Municipal Corporation (Election) Act 1869,The Municipal Corporations Act 1882 (45 & 46 Vict. c. 50), First Schedule, Part I. was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The bill for this act was the Municipal Franchise Bill."Municipal Franchise Bill", Index to Hansard's Parliamentary Debates in the First Session of Twentieth Parliament of the United Kingdom, 32° & 33° Victoria, 1868-9. Bill 85 was introduced by John Tomlinson Hibbert.HC Deb, 15 April 1869, col 941. Mair (ed), "J T Hibbert", Debrett's Illustrated House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1872, Dean & Son, London, p 125.
Under this act of Parliament, unmarried women ratepayers received the right to vote in local government elections. This right was confirmed in the Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) and extended to include some married women. By 1900, more than 1 million women were registered to vote in local government elections in England.
Sections 6 and 7 were repealed by section 12 of, and the Second Schedule to, the Municipal Elections Act 1875.For copy, see Fitzgerald. The Ballot Act, 1872, with an Introduction. 2nd Ed. 1876. p 160.
See also Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom
Notes
References Lely, John Mounteney. "Municipal Corporations (Elections) Act 1869". Chitty's Collection of Statutes of Practical Utility. Fourth Edition. Henry Sweet. Stevens and Sons. Chancery Lane, London. 1880. Volume 1. Title "Corporations". Pages 1405 to 1408. Paterson, William. "Municipal Franchise Act". The Practical Statutes of the Session 1869. Horace Cox. Wellington Street, Strand, London. 1869. Pages 126 to 131.