Mayor of Winchester explained

The Office of Mayor of Winchester is the second oldest mayoralty in England, dating back to the period when Winchester was the capital of Wessex and England. The Mayor of Winchester thus stands second only to the Lord Mayor of the City of London in the order of precedence of civic heads.

Winchester is one of just five local authorities in England to have an official residence for its Mayor. Abbey House was built in about 1700 and sited in the Abbey Gardens just off The Broadway in Winchester. It was acquired by the City Council in 1889. The house stands on the site of a monastic establishment known as Nunnaminster and later as St Mary's Abbey, which was founded around AD900 by Alfred's Queen Ealhswith. The Abbey survived until the late 1530s when it was formally surrendered to the Crown as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

History

The exact date of the conferment of full mayoral rights is not known, since the original charter cannot be traced. When London petitioned the King for a grant of mayoralty in 1190, Winchester was not cited as precedent (as were certain French cities), but by 1200 there was reference to the mayoralty as an existing office. It is, therefore, safe to say that the office dates back to the 1190s. The incumbent for 2020-21 is described as the town's 821st mayor.^[1]

The earliest Mayors sometimes held the office for several years in succession, but from the 13th century to the present day, the Mayor has been chosen annually. Until the 16th century, the Mayor-elect was required to travel to Westminster to receive the royal assent.

Mayors of Winchester

• 1403: Mark le Fayre ^[2]
• 1482–1483, 1490–1491, 1499–1500: John Stratford (mayor)^{[3] [4]}
• 1772–1773: Sir Paulet St John, 1st Baronet^[5]
• 1786–: (Sir) William Hillman (Clerk of the Green Cloth)^[6]
• 1802–1803: George William Chard, Mus Doc (also Organist of Winchester Cathedral)^[7]
• 1808–1809: Sir Henry St John-Mildmay, 4th Baronet^[8]

There is a list of all Winchester's Mayors from 1587 to 1912 in the last few pages of Warren's 1913 Winchester directory in this link: http://specialcollections.le.ac.uk/digital/collection/p16445coll4/id/173816/rec/12

There is also a list of all Winchester's Mayors from 1184 to 1799 in pages 266 to 270 of volume 2 of the 1798 first edition of Rev John Milner's history of Winchester in the link below. That list is not considered to be reliable for the period pre 1200:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435029997897&view=2up&seq=788&size=125&q1=de%20lunn

The following is a list of every person to have held the office of Mayor of Winchester since 1900:

• 1900–1901: Alfred Bowker
• 1901–1902: Bertram D Cancellor ^[9]
• 1902–1903: James A. Fort (Liberal Unionist)^[10]
• 1903–1904: George Ward
• 1904–1905: Frederick Seymour Morgan
• 1905–1906: Chaloner Shenton
• 1906–1907: Reginald Harris
• 1907–1908: William Forder
• 1908–1909: Frederick King
• 1909–1910: Harold Stratton
• 1910–1911: John Furley
• 1911–1912: Frederick Holdaway
• 1912–1913: Howard Elkington
• 1913–1914: Harry Sealey
• 1914–1919: Alfred Edmeades
• 1919–1921: Arthur Dyer
• 1921–1922: Stanley Clifton
• 1922–1924: Herbert Vacher
• 1924–1925: Henry Johnson
• 1925–1926: William Hayward
• 1926–1928: Frederick Manley
• 1928–1929: William Symes
• 1929–1930: Harry Collis
• 1930–1931: Walter Hamblin
• 1931–1932: William Lansdell
• 1932–1933: Hew Ross
• 1933–1934: Frank Newton
• 1934–1935: John Hodder
• 1935–1936: Arthur Edmonds
• 1936–1937: John Pinsent
• 1937–1938: William Richardson
• 1938–1945: Francis Griffiths
• 1945–1946: Charles Sankey
• 1946–1947: Cyril Bones
• 1947–1949: Doris Crompton
• 1949–1950: Cyril Taylor
• 1950–1951: Reginald Evans
• 1951–1952: Arthur Edmonds
• 1952–1953: Doris Edmeades
• 1953–1954: Reginald Dutton
• 1954–1955: Adelaide Charles (died in office and replaced by Doris Edmeades)
• 1955–1956: Barbara Gertrude Thackeray
• 1956–1957: Major Paul Henry Benson Woodhouse
• 1957–1958: Evelyn Mary Barnes
• 1958–1959: Fendall W Harvey Pratt
• 1959–1960: Margaret E L Lowden
• 1960–1961: Lt Colonel Donald Charles Spelman
• 1961–1962: Vera Neate
• 1962–1963: John Hutchins
• 1963–1964: Dorothy Richards
• 1964–1965: Stanley Steel
• 1965–1966: Cyril Bones
• 1966–1967: Barbara Carpenter Turner
• 1967–1968: D Jeffrey Smith
• 1968–1969: Stewart Green
• 1969–1970: S E Spicer
• 1970–1971: Stanley Steel
• 1971–1972: Alice Cleary
• 1972–1973: T David Sermon
• 1973–1974: Cyril Taylor
• 1974–1975: Barbara Carpenter Turner
• 1975–1976: Alan Cotterill
• 1976–1977: Gwendoline Shave
• 1977–1978: David Ball
• 1978–1979: John Flook
• 1979–1980: John Green
• 1980–1981: M Pamela Pitt
• 1981–1982: Ian Bidgood
• 1982–1983: Albert Austen
• 1983–1984: Frederick Peachey
• 1984–1985: John Broadway
• 1985–1986: Jean Freeman
• 1986–1987: Sue Gentry
• 1987–1988: Major D Covill
• 1988–1989: Commander B Hall
• 1989–1990: Frederick Allgood
• 1990–1991: Pamela Peskett
• 1991–1992: Capt Richard Bates
  • 1992–1993: Wing Cdr John Nunn 1993–1994: Susan Glasspool
• 1994–1995: Raymond Pearce
• 1995–1996: Patricia Norris
• 1996–1997: Brian 'Brandy' Blunt
• 1997–1998: Norman Hibdige
• 1998–1999: George Fothergill
• 1999–2000: Allan Mitchell
• 2000–2001: Georgina Busher
• 2001–2002: Therese Evans
• 2002–2003: John Steel
• 2003–2004: Jean Hammerton
• 2004–2005: Cecily Sutton
• 2005–2006: Neil Baxter
• 2006–2007: Sue Nelmes
• 2007–2008: Chris Pines
• 2008–2009: Michael Read
• 2009–2010: Dominic Hiscock
• 2010–2011: Richard Izard
• 2011–2012: Barry Lipscomb
• 2012–2013: Frank Pearson
• 2013–2014: Ernest Jeffs
• 2014–2015: Eileen Berry
• 2015–2016: Angela Clear
• 2016–2017: Jane Rutter
• 2017–2018: David McLean
• 2018–2019: Frank Pearson
• 2019–2020: Eleanor Bell
• 2020–2021: Patrick Cunningham
• 2021–2022: Vivian Achwal
• 2022–2023: Derek Green
• 2023-2024: Angela Clear
• 2024-2025: Russell Gordon-Smith

See also

• Local Government in the United Kingdom
• City of Winchester

Notes and References

1. Web site: Meet the new Mayor of Winchester (and read how he was elected during lockdown). 2021-01-11. Hampshire Chronicle. en.
2. Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas: CP 40/570; year: 1403 : http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT2/H4/CP40no570/bCP40no570dorses/IMG_1708.htm
3. Derek Keene, Survey of medieval Winchester. Oxford University Press, 28 Mar 1985
4. Calendar of charters and documents relating to Selborne and its priory, preserved in the muniment room of Magdalen college, Oxford (Volume 2): 1483. 20 Aug. 1 Rich. III.
5. Web site: ST. JOHN, Paulet (1704-80), of Farley Chamberlayne and Dogmersfield Park, Hants.. History of Parliament Online. 15 November 2017.
6. Web site: Knights of England. 21 August 2019.
7. Wikipedia “List of Musicians at English Cathedrals”
8. Web site: ST. JOHN MILDMAY, Henry St. John Carew (1787-1848), of Dogmersfield Park, Hants.. History of Parliament Online. 23 March 2018.
9. Election of Mayors . 11 November 1901 . 7 . 36609 .
10. Election of Mayors . 11 November 1902 . 12 . 36922.