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For many years prior to 1832 there had been calls for the reform of Parliamentary representation in Britain. In 1831 Lord Grey became Prime Minister and introduced a reform bill, which finally passed at the third attempt becoming the Representation of the People Act 1832. This totally changed the electoral geography of the county and greatly increased the electorate. Many old Boroughs were altered or disappeared, and new boroughs were created.

All of these changes needed to be codified so that the exact extent of the Boroughs was known. In order to achieve this, another act, the Parliamentary Boundaries Act 1832 was passed. This established the boundaries of all the boroughs in England and Wales. These boundaries were established by a Boundary Commission, set up for the purpose, and led by Thomas Drummond (1797-1840) of the Ordnance Survey.

Robert Kearsley Dawson (1798-1861), also of the Ordnance Survey, was appointed to produce accurate maps showing both the existing and proposed changes to the parliamentary boundaries. These maps were initially published in Reports from Commissioners on proposed divisions of Counties and boundaries of boroughs, in 1832, but were then republished together as Plans of the Cities and Boroughs of England and Wales in the same year.

In 1836 Dawson went on to be appointed Assistant Commissioner to the Tithe Commutation Commission, organising and superintending the surveys on which the permanent commutation of tithes in England and Wales was to be recorded.

The maps which he produced were based on Ordnance Survey information, but, while the county maps were made at reduced scales from the published one-inch map, the maps of the individual boroughs were produced at a larger scale of two inches to a mile, sometimes with larger scale insets at six inches to a mile.
This makes these maps some of the most detailed Ordnance Survey mapping to date and for some towns the first detailed town plan available.

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