Middlesbrough of 1086. Other links persist in the area, often through school or road names, to now-outgrown or abandoned local settlements, such as the medieval settlement of Stainsby, deserted by 1757, which amounts to little more today than a series of grassy mounds near the A19 road. In 1801, Middlesbrough was a small farm with a population of just 25. During the latter half of the 19th century, however, it experienced rapid growth. The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) had been developed to transport coal from Witton Park Colliery and in County Durham, to the River Tees in the east. It
Middlesbrough by-election held on 29 November 2012 following the death of previous Member of Parliament Sir Stuart Bell, who was the MP since 1983. Middlesbrough has been a traditionally safe Labour seat. The first Conservative MP for Middlesbrough was Sir Samuel Alexander Sadler, elected in 1900. In 2002, Middlesbrough voted to have a directly elected mayor as head of the council. Ray Mallon (independent), formerly a senior officer in Cleveland Police was the first elected mayor, serving three terms of office beginning in 2002, 2007 and 2011. In May 2015, after Mallon stated he would not contest a fourth term, Dave