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Annan is situated in south Dumfriesshire, on the Solway Firth at the mouth of the River Annan. According to the Lanercost Chronicle, because of a curse on the Bruce family of St Malachy, Annan ceased to be a burgh c1148. There are documentary references to the villa of Annan in the 13th century but the burgh reappears only in 1296 as being held of the Bruce, Lords of Annandale. It may have passed to Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray and Lord of Annandale and is referred to as a burgh in 1347. Thereafter it disappears and reappears as a royal burgh in 1532. It may have passed to the crown on the extinction of the main line of the Earls of Douglas in 1440. Its earliest surviving charter is a novodamus by King James V in 1539 with the usual privileges of a royal burgh. It was admitted to the Convention of Royal Burghs in 1605 and was represented in the Scottish parliament from 1612.
Royal burghs normally had elected councillors who looked after the burgh's interests, but only a small number of inhabitants had the right to vote in the council elections or to be a councillor. Burgh courts were held, which had some civil and criminal jurisdiction, although these competencies were eroded as time passed and the cases were increasingly petty local disputes. The franchise for parliamentary elections was radically changed in 1832. By the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will. IV, c.65) Annan and four other burghs were combined within the Dumfries District of Burghs to elect an MP. The Royal Burghs (Scotland) Act 1833 (3 & 4 Will. IV, c.76) imitated the change in franchise for the election of councillors.
In 1858 Annan adopted certain sections (concerning constables, cleansing and lighting) of the Police of Towns (Scotland) Act 1850 (13 & 14 Vict., c.33) (mostly to ensure that a burgh police force could be created to avoid the county police force assuming responsibility for the burgh). Further sections, on police of burghs, were adopted in 1866, but sewerage and drainage matters were never taken forward. Burgh administration was carried out by police commissioners (ie the town council), who were responsible for cleansing, lighting, policing and public health of the burgh. In 1877, the burgh adopted the whole of the General Police and Improvement (Scotland) Act 1862 (25 & 26 Vict., c.101). The population was 4629 in 1881.
A cotton mill was established c1785. By the early 19th century, the town was expanding quickly. It had considerable trade with Liverpool and Whitehaven in export of grain, wool, bacon and livestock and import of coal, slate, iron, herrings and salt. Its boundaries were extended in 1892. A distillery, quarrying and an engineering firm provided considerable employment in the early 20th century; and a nuclear power station was built at nearby Chapelcross after the Second World War.
Under the Town Councils (Scotland) Act 1900 (63 & 64 Vict., c.49) the police commissioners were formally replaced by Annan Town Council in January 1901. Annan was formally regarded as a small burgh from 1930. Annan Town Council was abolished in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c.65). Its powers were assumed by Dumfries and Galloway Regional Council and Annandale and Eskdale District Council. These in turn were replaced in 1996 by Dumfries and Galloway Council under the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994 (c.39).
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