History of Bedfordshire than fifty places in the county. Following the enactment of the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, Bedford was the only borough in the county. Charters of incorporation were granted to Dunstable in 1864 and Luton in 1876. In 1837 the county was divided into poor law unions, each consisting of a town and surrounding rural parishes: Ampthill, Bedford, Biggleswade, Leighton Buzzard, Luton and Woburn. In addition, a handful of parishes near the boundaries of Bedfordshire were included in PLUs based in other counties, namely Hitchin in Hertfordshire, St Neots in Huntingdonshire and Wellingborough in Northamptonshire. In 1875, the county was divided
Woburn Abbey 1145. Taken from its monastic residents by Henry VIII and given to John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford, in 1547, it became the seat of the Russell family and the Dukes of Bedford. The Abbey was largely rebuilt starting in 1744 by the architects Henry Flitcroft and Henry Holland for the 4th Duke. Anna Russell, Duchess of Bedford, originated the afternoon tea ritual in 19th-century England. In April 1786 John Adams (the future second President of the United States on tour with Thomas Jefferson—who would serve as his vice-president before becoming President himself) visited Woburn Abbey and other notable houses