The town of Stockport had been an ancient borough governed by a charter dating from circa 1220 granted by Ranulph de Blondeville, 4th Earl of Chester.

The Stockport (Extension) Order 1913 saw a further enlargement with the absorption of Heaton Norris Urban District from Lancashire.

[5] In 1894 the number of wards was increased to fourteen: Cale Green, Edgeley, Heaton Lane, Heaviley, Hempshaw Lane, Holywood, Lancashire Hill, Old Road, Portwood, St Mary's, St Thomas's, Shaw Heath, Spring Bank and Vernon.

[15] In 1968 Conservatives regained control, with Labour returning to power in the final borough election prior to abolition in 1972.

A disc hung from the collar of each lion: one bearing the red Lancashire rose, the other a Cheshire garb.

[1] The full blazon of the arms was as follows:[20] Azure semée of cross crosslets three lozenges Or; a bordure of the last charged with three garbs and as many double headed eagles displayed alternately of the first.

And for a Crest: issuant from a mural crown Or a mount vert, thereon a castle with two towers proper.

The borough council initially had no single administrative headquarters with offices based in various parts of the town.

A former warehouse in Warren Street was used to house council meetings as well as the magistrates court, police station and cells.

At its peak the tramways department had 85 trams and had joint running agreements with the neighbouring municipalities of Manchester and Hyde, and the network extended outside the borough boundaries to Hazel Grove and Gatley.

The waterworks opened in 1912, and the Kinder Reservoir had a capacity of 515 million imperial gallons (2,340,000 m3) and covered 44 acres (180,000 m2).

[3] In the 1930s the corporation acquired land in the Goyt Valley, building two more reservoirs: Fernilee opened in 1938 and Errwood in 1967.