In 1837, steps were taken to obtain a charter of incorporation for the town, under the authority of the Municipal Corporations Act; and in October, 1838, after much opposition, both locally and in Parliament, a charter was granted, and the Corporation of Birmingham came into existence. The boundaries of the new Municipal Borough were fixed so as to correspond with those of the Parliamentary Borough, above described. The area was divided into thirteen wards (extended in 1873 to sixteen wards), and the Council was constituted of 16 aldermen and 48 councillors. The first elections of councillors took place on the 26th of December, 1838, and on the day following the Council met, and elected the aldermen, the governing body being then fully constituted. Mr. William Scholefield was elected the first Mayor. Although Birmingham had now obtained a system of representative government, the state of affairs was by no means satisfactory. In the parish of Birmingham the self-elected Commissioners of the Street Act retained their full authority, and in the district of Deritend and Bordesley local government was for certain purposes still exercised by a body of Commissioners constituted by an Act passed in 1791, while Duddeston and Nechells were governed by Commissioners appointed under an Act of 1829. There were consequently four governing bodies within the borough, and the powers of the new Corporation were consequently seriously limited and its action impeded. Other difficulties of a peculiarly embarrassing character speedily developed themselves. The validity of the Charter was contested both in the Law Courts and in Parliament; disputes arose between the Borough Magistracy and the County Bench; hindrances were put in the way of the Court of Quarter Sessions granted for the Borough. In addition to these causes of disquiet the occurrence of the Chartist riots of 1839 furnished a pretext for withdrawing from the Corporation the right of establishing a constabulary or police force for the town, and a special Police Act was passed by which, while paid for by the ratepayers, the police force was placed under the absolute control of a Government Commissioner. In 1842 this perplexing condition of affairs was, however, brought to an end, by the passing of an Act of Parliament confirming the Charters of Birmingham and Manchester, and an Act was also passed transferring to the Corporation of Birmingham the control of the local police force. The powers of the Town Council, however, were still very limited, owing to the conflicting local authorities existing in the Borough, and it became evident in the course of time that, in the public interests, the representative body must finally be made supreme. The minor bodies did not yield without a contest, but in the end the pressure of opinion overcame their resistance, and in 1851 the passing of the Birmingham Improvement Act put an end to all the bodies of Commissioners, and