How the structure of local government developed in England

Local government structure in England is rather complex, the system that we have today has changed and evolved over the last 130 years or so but essentially the system that we would recognise today in the twenty first century began with the The Local Government Act of 1888 which created more than sixty county councils as well as the London County Council. If that sounds like a lot of administrative bodies, just wait to find out what the next eighty years would bring.
By the the time that the 1974 act was introduced there was now getting on for 300 regional authorities of some sort.
Other countries in the UK; Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland have systems that appear simpler and more rational to me but I could be wrong.

Before this we had our lives organised on a local basis by courts known as Quarter Sessions, which sounds a little ominous to me but maybe those were the good old days. I imagine that many people regretted the passing of the old system and perhaps lost their jobs or had their status reduced.
Central government was on a roll and six years later urban district councils, rural district councils and parish councils were introduced. Local government continued to develop in complexity until the 1970's when a confused nation introduced a simpler system of administration.
Other major changes have been made in the 1990's and in the 21st century and we still debate the issue and wonder if it could all be better organised.