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Alloa is known to have existed as as early as 1497 when a charter of confirmation in the Register of the Great Seal makes mention of it being recognised as a burgh of regality of the Lord Erskine. By 1620 it had been erected by King James VI (1567-1625) as a burgh of regality under the jurisdiction of the Earl of Mar. As such it was simply a burgh of barony which fell within the regality or 'little kingdom' where the landlord's courts tried all cases except treason, and royal justiciars and sheriffs had no power. The Alloa Harbour and Town Improvement Act 1803 (43 Geo. III, ch.lv) led that year to a body of Town Trustees being nominated by the Earl of Mar, in his capacity as feudal superior, for the supervision and control of the town. The Alloa Improvement Act 1822 (3 Geo. IV, ch.lxxxiii) amended the earlier Act and confirmed the administration of the town in the hands of the Trustees whose duties involved the appointment of a treasurer, clerk and other officers and the assumption of powers for the purposes of managing the cleansing, lighting, paving and repairing of the town's streets.
The modern Burgh of Alloa came into being in 1854 as the result of an application by William McGowan, a local physician, and twenty-seven other local householders to the Sheriff of Clackmannanshire under the Police of Towns (Scotland) Act 1850 (13 & 14 Vict., c.33). The boundaries of the burgh were fixed on 22 December 1853, adoption meetings were held on 19 January 1854 and the elections of 16 February 1854 which returned William McGowan, the first Senior Magistrate and eight other Commissioners were followed by the first meeting of the new body some four days later. A burgh police force was established on 14 March 1854.
Alloa subsequently adopted the General Police and Improvement (Scotland) Act 1862 (25 & 26 Vict., c.101) in 1863 which consolidated previous legislation and contained provisions relating to assessment and borrowing. Evidence of the new municipal confidence was shown in the construction and occupation of a new Burgh Chambers in Bank Street in 1873 which remained the administrative headquarters until the move to Greenfield mansion in 1952.
In 1877 the authority acquired control over the Alloa gas supply, an arrangement which lasted until the operation was nationalisation in 1949. Another notable development was the passing of the Alloa Water Act 1891 (54 & 55 Vict., ch.clxix) which transferred control of the water supply from Gartmorn Dam, which had until then been owned by the Earl of Mar and Kellie.
The office of Provost was created in 1893 following the passing of the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1892 and the first holder of the position was David Thomson of Greenfield. The establishment of a Dean of Guild Court responsible for the regulation of building within the burgh followed shortly thereafter. The first meeting of the authority under its new designation of Alloa Town Council, in accordance with the Town Councils (Scotland) Act 1900 (63 & 64 Vict., c.49), took place on 14 January 1901 although the previous adoption of improvements allowed for by the Act meant that there was little practical difference in the administration of the town's affairs. Extensions to the burgh boundaries occurred in 1873 and 1952.
Alloa Town Council was abolished in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c.65). Its powers were assumed by Central Regional Council and Clackmannan District Council.
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