Parish Councils are the lowest tier of local government, for Hambleton the top tier is North Yorkshire County Council, then Selby District Council and lastly Hambleton Parish Council. Parish Councils were introduced by the Act of Local Government Act 1894 to remove the Church from local government as the parochial system had proved ineffective. The Act created institutions that were civil rather than religious and introduced the Parish Meeting. Parish Meetings are still held today, usually in May, and these are meetings for the electorate not the councilors but are chaired by the PC Chair. To comply with the Act the first public meeting was held in the ‘Old School’ on 4th December, 1894 to elect five councilors. Mr. James Gibson took charge of the meeting and five people were elected by a show of hands from the eleven nominated. The Councilors elected were Harris Anson, Walter Banks Bowman, Thomas Falkingham and John and Robert Turner. The records indicate that the meetings were infrequent unlike today where they are held monthly. Since 1894 there have been Acts which have expanded the legislation governing how the PC should operate. The PC has to keep agendas, minutes and financial records for ever. Many of Hambleton historic documents are stored in the North Yorkshire County Council Archive which can be withdrawn by councilors. There will be plenty of information to be researched here!