Mayor of Petone explained

Post:Mayor
Body:Petone
Insignia:Petone coat of arms.png
Insigniasize:100
Insigniacaption:Coat of arms of the Borough of Petone
Inaugural:William James Kirk
Style:His/Her Worship
Termlength:Three years, renewable
Formation:9 December 1882
Last:Ted Woolf
Abolished:14 October 1989
Superseded By:Mayor of Lower Hutt

The Mayor of Petone officiated over the Petone Borough of New Zealand, which was administered by the Petone Borough Council. The office existed from 1882 until 1989, when Petone Borough was amalgamated into the Hutt City Council as part of the 1989 local government reforms. There were seventeen holders of the office.

History

Petone was established in 1882 with a Town Board which was presided over by a chairman who was the equivalent of a mayor but was elected by the board members rather than the public. When Petone was proclaimed a borough in 1888 The chairman of the Town Board did the duties of the mayor until an election was held for the mayoralty in July ahead of the scheduled election in November. Samuel Raymond Johnson was the first elected mayor.[1]

There were two sets of mayors who were related. George Thomas London and his son, George, were both mayors.[2] Likewise Joseph Mitchell and Lily Annie Huggan were spouses. When Joe died in 1957 his wife won the by-election to replace him as mayor. In 1968, George Gee, a Chinese-New Zealand greengrocer, was elected the mayor of Petone, the first Asian mayor in New Zealand history.[3]

Upon amalgamation into the Hutt City Council, Petone's last mayor, Ted Woolf, stood for Mayor of Lower Hutt in 1989. He was unsuccessful but was elected a councillor for the new Harbour Ward.[4]

List of mayors

Mayors of Petone were:[5]

Key

Citizens' United Petone
†: Died in office
NamePortraitTerm of office
1William James Kirk9 December 188231 July 1888
2Samuel Raymond Johnson31 July 188818 December 1889
3Richard Clement Kirk18 December 188916 December 1891
4Richard Mothes16 December 189113 December 1892
(3)Richard Clement Kirk13 December 189214 May 1901
(4)Richard Mothes14 May 190122 May 1903
5George Thomas London22 May 19031 May 1907
6John William McEwan1 May 19074 May 1927
7David McKenzie4 May 19272 October 1934†
8Albert Scholefield8 October 193418 May 1938
9George London18 May 19381 June 1944
10Harold Green1 June 194419 November 1947
11Alec MacFarlane19 November 194718 November 1950
12Joe Huggan18 November 19506 September 1957†
-James Cumming
6 September 19571 October 1957
13Annie Huggan1 October 19579 October 1965
14Ralph Love9 October 196527 January 1967
-Joe May
27 January 196726 March 1967
(14)Ralph Love26 March 196712 October 1968
15George Gee12 October 196828 October 1980
16Ron Marston28 October 198011 October 1986
17Ted Woolf11 October 198614 October 1989

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: The School Morality Question . . 1 August 1888 . XXXVI . 27 . 2 .
  2. Web site: The London Mayors of Petone . Hutt City Libraries . 2 September 2020 . 22 October 2022 .
  3. News: Greengrocer First Chinese To Head Municipality . . 14 October 1968 . 12 .
  4. News: Poll results . . 16 October 1989 . 4 .
  5. Book: Kenneally, Joseph Mervyn . Kenneally, Betty May . Past Days in Lower Hutt and Petone . Colonial Associates . 1983 . 0908664001 .