From medieval times Boroughbridge was part of the parish of Aldborough in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
In 1553 it became a parliamentary borough, electing two Members of Parliament to the unreformed House of Commons.
It had a burgage franchise, meaning that the right to vote was tied to ownership of certain of property in the borough and had less than 100 qualified voters by the time it was abolished in the Reform Act of 1832: It was a pocket borough under the control of the Dukes of Newcastle.
Augustus FitzRoy, who was Prime Minister as the 3rd Duke of Grafton, was elected MP for Boroughbridge in 1756; but never sat for the borough as he preferred to represent Bury St Edmunds where he had also been elected.

Boroughbridge was an important stage for stagecoaches because of its position on the Great North Road midway between London and Edinburgh.
An advertisement in the Edinburgh Courant for 1754 reads: 
The Edinburgh Stage-coach, for the better accommodation of passengers, will be altered to a New Genteel Two-end Glass Coach Machine, being on steel springs, exceeding light and easy, to go in ten days in Summer and twelve in Winter; to set out the first Tuesday in March, and continue it, from Hosea Eastgate's, the Coach and Horses, in Dean-Street, Soho, London; and from John Somerville's, in the Canongate, Edinburgh, every other Tuesday, and meet at Burrow-Bridge on Saturday night, and set out from thence on Monday morning, and get to London and Edinburgh on Friday.
In Winter, to set out from London to Edinburgh every other (alternate) Monday morning, and to go to Burrowbridge on Saturday night; and to set out from thence on Monday morning, and get to London and Edinburgh on Saturday night.
Passengers to pay as usual.
Performed, if God permits, by your dutiful servant HOSEA EASTGATE.

Boroughbridge became a separate civil parish in 1866.
In 1938 the civil parish absorbed the parishes of Aldborough and Minskip.

In 1945 the bridge carrying the A1 road over the River Ure collapsed under the weight of a heavy transport vehicle carrying an 80-ton steel mill roll housing from Sheffield to Falkirk.
The incident interrupted the main transport route for a short time and the army installed a Bailey bridge until repairs were completed.

In 1974 Boroughbridge was transferred from the West Riding to the new county of North Yorkshire.

In 2011 the town's sewage works, which serves a population of ten thousand, was upgraded replacing the old bar screens which had reached the end of their working life with modern wire mesh drum screens which are able to screen out not only an increasingly large amount of undesirable waste they also filter grit and fat thus decreasing the load on the plant they were such designed to meet the plants stringent outfall requirements as set out by the environment agency.
The settling and humus tanks were also upgraded from old manual sludging under hydrostatic head to circular tanks fitted with scrapers to automatically desludge the tanks.
From medieval times Boroughbridge was part of the parish of Aldborough in the West Riding of Yorkshire. In 1553 it became a parliamentary borough, electing two Members of Parliament to the unreformed House of Commons. It had a burgage franchise, meaning that the right to vote was tied to ownership of certain of property in the borough and had less than 100 qualified voters by the time it was abolished in the Reform Act of 1832: It was a pocket borough under the control of the Dukes of Newcastle. Augustus FitzRoy, who was Prime Minister as the 3rd Duke of Grafton, was elected MP for Boroughbridge in 1756; but never sat for the borough as he preferred to represent Bury St Edmunds where he had also been elected.
Boroughbridge was an important stage for stagecoaches because of its position on the Great North Road midway between London and Edinburgh. An advertisement in the Edinburgh Courant for 1754 reads: 
The Edinburgh Stage-coach, for the better accommodation of passengers, will be altered to a New Genteel Two-end Glass Coach Machine, being on steel springs, exceeding light and easy, to go in ten days in Summer and twelve in Winter; to set out the first Tuesday in March, and continue it, from Hosea Eastgate's, the Coach and Horses, in Dean-Street, Soho, London; and from John Somerville's, in the Canongate, Edinburgh, every other Tuesday, and meet at Burrow-Bridge on Saturday night, and set out from thence on Monday morning, and get to London and Edinburgh on Friday. In Winter, to set out from London to Edinburgh every other (alternate) Monday morning, and to go to Burrowbridge on Saturday night; and to set out from thence on Monday morning, and get to London and Edinburgh on Saturday night. Passengers to pay as usual. Performed, if God permits, by your dutiful servant HOSEA EASTGATE.
Boroughbridge became a separate civil parish in 1866. In 1938 the civil parish absorbed the parishes of Aldborough and Minskip.
In 1945 the bridge carrying the A1 road over the River Ure collapsed under the weight of a heavy transport vehicle carrying an 80-ton steel mill roll housing from Sheffield to Falkirk. The incident interrupted the main transport route for a short time and the army installed a Bailey bridge until repairs were completed.
In 1974 Boroughbridge was transferred from the West Riding to the new county of North Yorkshire.
In 2011 the town's sewage works, which serves a population of ten thousand, was upgraded replacing the old bar screens which had reached the end of their working life with modern wire mesh drum screens which are able to screen out not only an increasingly large amount of undesirable waste they also filter grit and fat thus decreasing the load on the plant they were such designed to meet the plants stringent outfall requirements as set out by the environment agency. The settling and humus tanks were also upgraded from old manual sludging under hydrostatic head to circular tanks fitted with scrapers to automatically desludge the tanks.
Boroughbridge