History

Administration

Suffolk was part of the kingdom of East Anglia which was settled by the Angles in the 5th century AD.

Suffolk was divided into separate Quarter Sessions divisions. These were originally four in number, reduced to two in 1860, the eastern division being administered from Ipswich and the western from Bury St Edmunds. The two divisions were made separate administrative counties as East Suffolk and West Suffolk under the Local Government Act 1888, with Ipswich becoming a county borough. A few Essex parishes were also added to Suffolk: Ballingdon-with-Brundon, and parts of Haverhill and Kedington.

Under the Local Government Act 1972, East Suffolk, West Suffolk and Ipswich were merged to form a unified county of Suffolk on 1 April 1974. This was divided into several local government districts: Babergh, Forest Heath, Ipswich, Mid Suffolk, St. Edmundsbury, Suffolk Coastal, and Waveney. This Act also transferred some land near Great Yarmouth to Norfolk. As introduced in Parliament, the Local Government Bill would have transferred Newmarket and Haverhill to Cambridgeshire, but Colchester would have been transferred in from Essex; but those changes were not included in Act as passed.