Yardley Rural District

The Vestry became the Parish Council with other functions; in 1892 representative local government came with the first elections to the Rural District Council. Thanks to County Councillor Joseph Malins of Wilton Road (Sparkhill) the functions of the Parish and District Councils combined. He was the first Chairman and a great man in Yardley affairs. Sparkhill was then the population centre of Yardley; in 1902 the Council moved the Institute to the new Aston-Hallish Council House, which had been built by Worcestershire.

The County, not wishing to lose Yardley, wanted to show that it could offer as much as Birmingham; the City was hoping to woo the Yardleians with promises of amenities such as public library and baths. So the County built a police station, magistrates' court, fire station and public works depot, beside the Council House in the next few years. But all was in vain; Yardley voters, many of them immigrants from Birmingham, elected men committed to taking the District into the City on the best possible terms, and in 1912 the annexation took place.