Boards of Guardians became important in Somerset, where there were few Municipal Corporations, as the first locally elected bodies empowered to employ professional workers, clerks, treasurers, medical officers and relieving officers. In this they mark the beginning of the modern system of local government with elected councillors to discuss and decide on policy and the professional officers with their staffs who implement the decisions and play such an important part in the administration of everyday affairs within the county.

The success of the Guardians in dealing with the special problem for which they had been created, and the fact that they possessed effective administrative officers, led to the extension of their duties under subsequent legislation to include the Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths, as well as the arrangement of the periodic censuses; Vaccination; the Assessment and Valuation of property; School Attendance (for areas where no other competent authority, e.g. borough, existed); and Infant Life Protection. Under the Public Health Act of 1875, the Guardians of a union usually formed the rural sanitary authority for that part of their area not included in a borough. They were responsible for, amongst other things, sewerage, scavenging, water supplies, control of nuisances, treatment of infectious diseases, and the provision of allotments.

A Parliamentary Commission of Enquiry into the government of towns led to the passing of the Municipal Corporations Act in 1835, which established a new democratic form of town councils. Old established towns, known as muncipal boroughs, had been granted special privileges by Royal Charters, including the right to self­government through a town council. Most of these councils were not popularly elected. They were called 'close corporations' because when a vacancy occurred among the councillors, the council itself chose his successor. This system caused much ill-feeling and bad government, for councillors were more often concerned with their own personal advantage rather than the welfare of the townspeople. By the Act of 1835, all municipal boroughs were to be governed by councils elected for three years by the ratepayers. The council then elected aldermen, or senior councillors, in number equal to one third of the council, for a period of six years. Every year the council elected the Mayor, or chief burgess, who acted as chairman at the council meetings. The Act applied only to chartered towns, but other towns were encouraged to adopt the new system. In Somerset, only a few towns qualified; Bath, Bridgwater, Chard, Glastonbury and Wells. Taunton had lost its position as a chartered town in 1792, but was granted a new charter in 1877. Yeovil received its charter in 1854 and Weston-super-Mare in 1937. At present (1973) there are seven municipal boroughs in Somerset, with Bath in a special position as a County Borough.

The pattern of locally elected Boards, under central government control, to deal with local problems, laid the foundations for the further development of democratic forms of local government. The problem of public health came into prominence during the 1830s and 1840s, especially in towns, where there was rarely a public supply of pure water and only the most primitive sanitation without any planned means of sewage disposal. Epidemics of cholera led to the passing of the Public Health Act of 1848 which encouraged but did not enforce the setting up of local Boards of Health to tackle the problem. In 1872 and 1875, these Boards were made compulsory under a new name of Sanitary Authority. By this time most towns in the county had constructed underground sewers and had provided a supply of piped water. The cost of all this was borne by the ratepayers who sometimes found that they were in different areas for the services provided by various Boards. Among the latter after the Elementary Education Act of 1870 were the School Boards who were in charge of the provision of schools in areas where none existed. They also took over existing inefficient or under-supported schools, enlarged and replaced them if necessary, and became responsible for their maintenance.