The history of the City of Perth, a local government area of Western Australia is defined over three distinct periods:
- From 1829 to 1838 — controlled by the Governor of Western Australia
- From 1838 to 1858 — controlled by the Perth Town Trust
- From 1858 to present — controlled by the Perth City Council, later renamed City of Perth
| Lord Mayor of Perth | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Style | The Right Honourable Lord Mayor |
| Appointer | City of Perth |
| Inaugural holder | James T. Franklin[a] |
| Formation | 1929[b] |
Origins
editOn 15 June 1837, an Act was proclaimed to ..provide for the management of roads, streets and other internal communications within the settlement of Western Australia.[1] The management and control was vested in a body of trustees consisting of the Justices of the Peace resident in the town; and the proprietors of allotments held in fee simple. The act was repealed in September 1842 and authority was conferred on elected representatives. The first elected Chairman and committee took office on 8 February 1842 and comprised:
- Walter Boyd Andrews (Chairman)
- George Leake, James Purkis, Peter Broun, W. H. Drake, Richard Jones (committee members)
- James Purkis was appointed treasurer
On 23 February 1856 (two years before the dissolution of the Trust), Perth was constituted a city upon the foundation of the Bishopric of Perth through the consecration of the first Anglican Bishop of Perth, Matthew Blagden Hale.
From 1858 to 1880, the President of the Council was styled "Chairman", from 1880 until 1929, the Chairman was termed the "Mayor" and from 1929 the mayor was elevated to the title of "Lord Mayor".
Chairman, Perth Town Trust (1838–1858)
edit
| Officeholder | Term |
|---|---|
| George Leake | 1838–1840 |
| Richard Hinds | 1841 |
| Walter Boyd Andrews | 1842 |
| Thomas Helms | 1843–1845 |
| James Purkis | 1846–1848 |
| Thomas Helms[3] | 1849 |
| Henry Laroche Cole | 1853 |
| George Shenton Sr | 1854–1855 |
| George Shenton Sr; Sir Luke Leake[4] | 1856 |
| George Shenton Sr | 1857–1858 |
Chairman, Perth City Council (1858–1879)
edit| Officeholder | Term |
|---|---|
| Henry Laroche Cole | 1858–1860 |
| Julian Carr | 1861–1863 |
| Julian Carr; Alfred Hillman; George Haysom | 1864 |
| Julian Carr | 1865–1868 |
| Julian Carr; George Glyde | 1869 |
| George Glyde | 1870–1873 |
| George Randell | 1874–1875 |
| George Shenton | 1876–1877 |
| Sir Stephen Henry Parker | 1877–1879 |
Mayor, Perth City Council (1880–1929)
edit
| Officeholder | Term |
|---|---|
| George Shenton | 1880 |
| Stephen Henry Parker; George Shenton | 1881 |
| George Shenton | 1882–1884 |
| George Randell | 1885 |
| George Shenton | 1886–1888 |
| Dr Edward Scott | 1889–1891 |
| Edward Keane[5] | 1891–1892 |
| Sir Stephen Henry Parker | 1892 |
| Alexander Forrest[6] | 1893–1895 |
| Henry Saunders[7] | 1895–1898 |
| Alexander Forrest | 1898–1900 |
| William Brookman[8] | 1900–1901 |
| Sir Stephen Henry Parker | 1901 |
| William Loton | 1901–1902 |
| Harry Brown[9] | 1902–1905 |
| Sydney Stubbs | 1905–1907 |
| Thomas Molloy | 1908–1909 |
| Richard Paul Vincent[10] | 1909–1911 |
| Thomas Molloy | 1911–1912 |
| John Prowse[c] | 1913–1914 |
| John Nicholson[c] | 1914–1915 |
| Frank Rea | 1916–1917 |
| Sir William Lathlain | 1918–1923 |
| James Franklin | 1923–1929 |
Lord Mayor, Perth City Council (since 1929)
edit| Officeholder | Term |
|---|---|
| Hon James T Franklin | 1929–1930 |
| Hon Sir William Lathlain | 1930–1932 |
| Hon James T Franklin | 1932–1934 |
| Joseph J. Poynton | 1934–1937 |
| Charles Harper | 1937–1939 |
| Sir Thomas William Meagher | 1940–1945 |
| Sir Joseph Totterdell | 1946–1953 |
| James Murray | 1953–1955 |
| Sir Harry Howard | 1955–1964 |
| Charles J. B. Veryard | 1964–1967 |
| Sir Thomas Wardle | 1967–1972 |
| Ernest Henry Lee-Steere | 1972–1978 |
| Sir Fred Chaney | 1978–1982 |
| Mick Michael | 1982–1988 |
| Chas Hopkins | 1988–1991 |
| Rt Hon Reg Withers | 1991–1994 |
| Dr Peter Nattrass | 1995–2007 |
| Lisa Scaffidi | 20 October 2007 – 2 March 2018 |
| None[d] | 2 March 2018 – 18 October 2020 |
| Basil Zempilas | 19 October 2020 – present[15] |
Electoral results
edit2023
edit|percentage = 36.49 |change = +26.92 }} |- class="vcard" | style="background-color:#888888;width:5px" | | class="org" style="width: 170px" | Independent | class="fn" | Will Leyland | style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | 405 | style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | 7.01 | style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | +7.01 |-
|- ! colspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | Total formal votes | style="text-align:right;" | 5,777 | style="text-align:right;" | 99.26 | style="text-align:right;" | |-
|- style="background-color:#F6F6F6" ! colspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | Informal votes | style="text-align:right;" | 43 | style="text-align:right;" | 0.74 | style="text-align:right;" | |-
|- ! colspan="3" style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" scope=row | Turnout | style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | 5,820 | style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | 34.51 | style="text-align: right; margin-right: 0.5em" | −6.78 |-
|- style="background-color:#F6F6F6" | style="background-color:#888888;" | | colspan="2" | Independent hold | style="text-align:right;" |Swing|| style="text-align:right;" | +27.06|| |-
|}
Notes
edit- ^ James T. Franklin was the first to serve as Lord Mayor. The first Chairman was George Leake and the first Mayor was George Shenton.
- ^ The position was titled "Chairman" from 1838 to 1879, "Mayor" from 1879 to 1929 and "Lord Mayor" since 1929.
- ^ a b The Australian Dictionary of Biography states Charles Nathan served as mayor in 1914,[11] but contemporary sources state that Prowse was succeeded directly by Nicholson.[12]
- ^ The City of Perth was run by appointed commissioners from 2 March 2018 to 18 October 2020.[13][14]
References
edit- ^ "From Village to City". Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885-1954). Perth, WA: National Library of Australia. 31 August 1939. p. 14. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
- ^ Kimberly, W.B. (compiler) (1897). History of West Australia. A Narrative of her Past. Together With Biographies of Her Leading Men. Melbourne: F.W. Niven. p.11
- ^ Data supplied by City of Perth indicated D. Scott (assumed to be Captain Daniel Scott) was joint Chairman from 1849. This however, is unlikely as Capt. Scott was based in and had significant responsibilities in Fremantle as harbour-master. In addition, he was mayor of Fremantle Town Trust from 1848 to 1851 as well as 1853–1854 and 1856–1858.
- ^ Leake, Sir Luke Samuel (1828 - 1886) Biographical Entry - Australian Dictionary of Biography Online
- ^ Keane, Edward Vivien Harvey (1844 - 1904) Biographical Entry - Australian Dictionary of Biography Online
- ^ G. C. Bolton (1981). "Forrest, Alexander (1849 - 1901)". Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 8. MUP. pp. 540–543. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
- ^ . History of West Australia. 1897. p. 42 – via Wikisource.
- ^ Brookman, William Gordon (1859 - 1910) Biographical Entry - Australian Dictionary of Biography Online
- ^ "Annual municipal elections: Perth". Western Mail. 22 November 1902. p. 18. Retrieved 25 July 2022 – via Trove.
- ^ "DEATH OF R. P. VINCENT". Sunday Times (Perth, WA : 1902 - 1954). Perth, WA: National Library of Australia. 17 July 1921. p. 1. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
- ^ David Mossenson, Nathan, Sir Charles Samuel (1870–1936) – Australian Dictionary of Biography, published first in hardcopy 1986, accessed 18 June 2015.
- ^ "THE NEW MAYOR." – The West Australian, 3 December 1914.
- ^ Hon David Templeman MP (2 March 2018). "City of Perth council suspended, inquiry panel to determine fate". Western Australian Government. Archived from the original (Media Release) on 9 May 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
- ^ "Chair Commissioner and new Commissioner appointed". City of Perth. 9 August 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
- ^ Warriner, Jessica (17 October 2020). "Radio and TV host Basil Zempilas elected new Perth Lord Mayor". www.abc.net.au. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
Sources
edit- W.E. Bold, (Town Clerk) (October 1939). "The Story of the Municipal Development Of Our City". Early Days. II: 29–41.
- Perry, Philippa (25 June 2007). "Perth "lost" history found in old safe". The West Australian. p. 11.
External links
edit- Page at the Perth City website Archived 24 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine