Municipality of Newtown


The Municipality of Newtown was a local government area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The municipality was proclaimed as a borough in 1862 and, with an area of 1.9 square kilometres, was centred on the suburb of Newtown, including parts of Erskineville and Enmore. The municipality was divided into four wards: Kingston, Enmore, O'Connell and Camden. In 1949 under the Local Government Act 1948, Newtown Municipal Council was merged with the larger neighbouring City of Sydney which was located immediately to the North, although parts were subsequently, from 1968, moved into Marrickville Council. Mayors included Lilian Fowler, the first female mayor in Australia.

Council history

On 12 December 1862 the Municipality of Newtown was incorporated and divided into three wards: O'Connell, Kingston and Enmore covering. In 1893 a plan was discussed to rename the council area 'South Sydney', but nothing came of it. Under the enactment of The Municipalities Act of 1867, the title of 'Chairman' for the council was changed to be 'Mayor'. With this Act, the council also became known as the Borough of Newtown. From 28 December 1906, with the passing of the Local Government Act, 1906, the council was again renamed as the "Municipality of Newtown".
By the end of the Second World War, the NSW Government had realised that its ideas of infrastructure expansion could not be effected by the present system of the patchwork of small municipal councils across Sydney and the Minister for Local Government, Joseph Cahill, following the recommendations of the 1945–46 Clancy Royal Commission on Local Government Boundaries, passed a bill in 1948 that abolished a significant number of those councils. Under the Local Government Act 1948, Newtown Municipal Council became the Newtown Ward of the City of Sydney, returning four aldermen.

Mayors

YearsChairmenNotes
17 February 1863 – 16 February 1864Frederick William Holland
16 February 1864 – 24 February 1865Joseph Kingsbury
24 February 1865 – 14 February 1866Henry Munro
14 February 1866 – February 1867William Curtis
February 1867 – February 1868James Conley
YearsMayorsNotes
15 February 1868 – 13 February 1869Henry Munro
13 February 1869 – 15 February 1870William Curtis
15 February 1870 – 16 February 1871Joseph Kingsbury
16 February 1871 – 17 February 1877William Bailey
17 February 1877 – 14 February 1878James Smith
14 February 1878 – 15 February 1879Alfred Fallick
15 February 1879 – 16 February 1880James Smith
16 February 1880 – 9 February 1881Daniel Wildman
9 February 1881 – 15 February 1882Charles Whately
15 February 1882 – 14 February 1883Ninian Melville
14 February 1883 – February 1884Charles Boots
February 1884 – 13 February 1886James Smith
13 February 1886 – 9 February 1887Charles Whately
9 February 1887 – 13 February 1889Richard Bellemey
13 February 1889 – 13 February 1890Joseph Jolly
13 February 1890 – 28 October 1890Charles James Lane
28 October 1890 – 10 February 1892William Dolman
10 February 1892 – 14 February 1895William Rigg
14 February 1895 – 14 February 1896Harold Thomas Morgan
14 February 1896 – 12 February 1897James Francis Smith
12 February 1897 – 9 February 1898William Cox
9 February 1898 – 18 February 1899William Rigg
18 February 1899 – 16 February 1900Charles Henry Ibbotson
16 February 1900 – 14 February 1902John Salmon
14 February 1902 – 10 February 1903Harold Thomas Morgan
10 February 1903 – 10 February 1905John Salmon
10 February 1905 – 15 February 1906William Edwards
15 February 1906 – 14 February 1907Henry Nunn Howe
14 February 1907 – February 1911Harold Thomas Morgan
February 1911 – 3 February 1913William Rigg
3 February 1913 – February 1916Frank Bamfield
February 1916 – 5 February 1918Charles Henry Turtle
5 February 1918 – December 1920Harold Thomas Morgan
December 1920 – December 1921James Campbell
December 1921 – December 1923William Henry Pritchard
December 1923 – December 1924Nicholas Buzacott
December 1924 – December 1925William Alfred Dibble
December 1925 – December 1926Isidore Edwin Ryan
December 1926 – December 1927William Leslie Smith
December 1927 – 11 December 1928William Henry Delve
11 December 1928 – 10 December 1929Joseph Solomon
10 December 1929 – December 1930Reuben Sydney Goddard
December 1930 – December 1931Joseph Vincent Bugler
December 1931 – December 1932Frederick Benedict Roberts
December 1932 – December 1933Frederick Newnham
December 1933 – December 1934Isidore Edwin Ryan
December 1934 – December 1935Reuben Sydney Goddard
December 1935 – 2 December 1936Horace Raymond Dunshea
2 December 1936 – December 1937Frederick Newnham
December 1937 – December 1938Isidore Edwin Ryan
December 1938 – December 1939Lilian Fowler
December 1939 – December 1940Raymond Jules Beaufils
December 1940 – 10 December 1941Isidore Edwin Ryan
10 December 1941 – December 1943Arthur Greenup
December 1943 – 5 December 1944Patrick Joseph Walters
5 December 1944 – 4 December 1945Sidney Augustus Fleming
4 December 1945 – 6 December 1946George Henry Smith
6 December 1946 – 3 December 1947William Francis Bodkin
3 December 1947 – 7 July 1948Reuben Sidney Goddard
27 July 1948 – 31 December 1948Ernest Gerard Wright