Fonds MC 3618 - Freedom certificate of John Carmichael

The borough consisted of the parish of St Margaret only until South Lynn was annexed to it in 1555, by a royal grant which was confirmed and made permanent in 1557. It was known as Lynn Episcopi, or Lynn Bishop, until 1536-7, when the estates of the Bishop of Norwich, including the lordship of Lynn, were transferred to the Crown and the change of name confirmed by letters patent. Other significant royal grants include incorporation in 1524, the Guildhall, Tolbooth, Leet and Pie Powder Courts in 1537 and Admiralty jurisdiction in 1604.\r\nThe boundaries of the municipal borough were extended by the King's Lynn Corporation Act 1880 to include parts of Gaywood and North Lynn and by the County of Norfolk Review Order 1935 to the civil parishes of Gaywood and North Lynn and parts of West Lynn and North Runcton. On 1 April 1974 the former municipal borough became part of the newly formed District of West Norfolk (since 1981 the Borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk), which also included the areas of the former Rural Districts of Docking, Downham Freebridge Lynn and Marshland and the Urban Districts of Downham Market and Hunstanton.