Wing Rural District had its origins in the Leighton Buzzard Poor Law Union, which had been created in 1835.
[2] Poor law unions formed the basis for sanitary districts when they were created in 1872, with the area becoming the Leighton Buzzard Rural Sanitary District, administered by the board of guardians for the poor law union.
The council decided to rename the district after a village which remained within its area, and initially resolved to change its name to Ivinghoe Rural District, in recognition of Ivinghoe's former importance as a small town; the council thought that using its name might help in "rekindling the dying embers of an historical place".
Leopold de Rothschild had made it clear to the chairman of the council that he "felt very keenly about the matter" of the district's new name.
[8] In 1951 Wing Rural District Council moved next door to a house called "Brooklands" at 8 Leighton Road, Linslade.