Municipality of Redfern


The Municipality of Redfern was a local government area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The small municipality was proclaimed in 1859 as one of the first municipalities proclaimed under the new provisions of the Municipalities Act, 1858, and was centred on the suburbs of Redfern, Eveleigh, Darlington and Surry Hills. The council was amalgamated, along with most of its neighbours, with the City of Sydney to the north with the passing of the Local Government Act 1948. From 1968 to 1982 and from 1989 to 2004, the area was part of the South Sydney councils.

Council history

When Redfern Municipality was proclaimed in August 1859, the area initially included the areas of Waterloo and Alexandria. However the Municipality of Waterloo was proclaimed in May 1860 and the Municipality of Alexandria separated from Waterloo in August 1868. Upon incorporation in 1859, the municipality was divided into three wards: Redfern, Waterloo and Surry Hills, each electing three Aldermen. With the secession of Waterloo a few months later the wards were rearranged to be Redfern, Belmore and Surry Hills and in 1880 Golden Grove Ward was added to that number. 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 Redfern. The Mayor had a set of official robes to wear as part of the office, but they were often boycotted by Labor mayors who affirmed they were against their 'democratic principles'.
Redfern was notable for being the first suburb in Sydney to have electricity and electric street lighting, which occurred when the Council voted unanimously in 1891 to build its own power station, in Turner Street, to power the suburb. From the late 1910s and 1920s the Redfern area became increasingly populated by the unemployed and working class, employed by industry and the nearby Eveleigh Railway Workshops, resulting in the increasing domination of the Labor Party and left-wing groups in the area. In 1947 the Communist Party of Australia succeeded in getting their first alderman, Patrick Levelle, elected to the council. As a consequence the council, traditionally held by the merchant and middle classes, frequently found itself divided on simple matters, including the election of the mayor, which required the Minister for Local Government and the Governor to instead appoint the mayor several times. This was a situation occurring within many of the inner-city councils as demographics of the area changed dramatically, but Redfern was considered the worst example of a council paralysed by party politics.
With the Redfern area's close involvement with the labor movement and the Labor Party, the wartime conscription debate affected Redfern Council most particularly. In October 1916 Redfern Council passed a motion "without a dissentient that conscription was not in the best interests in Australia", in direct opposition to the views of ALP Prime Minister Billy Hughes and the Member for Redfern James McGowen. McGowen lost his preselection in Redfern and in response the Redfern ALP Branch president, Alderman John Leitch resigned to join the pro-conscriptionists with his friend McGowen.
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, Redfern Municipal Council became the Redfern Ward of the City of Sydney, returning two aldermen.

Mayors

YearsChairmenNotes
14 September 1859 – February 1861Thomas Hayes
February 1861 – 5 February 1862Michael Williamson
5 February 1862 – February 1864George Renwick
February 1864 – 10 February 1865Thomas Jones
10 February 1865 – February 1866Thomas Wild
February 1866 – 7 February 1867William Williamson
7 February 1867 – 13 February 1868George Renwick
YearsMayorsNotes
13 February 1868 – 16 February 1872George Renwick
16 February 1872 – 11 February 1874Henry Hudson
11 February 1874 – 8 February 1876William Williamson
8 February 1876 – 11 February 1880Patrick Stanley
11 February 1880 – 9 February 1881Henry Hudson
9 February 1881 – 10 February 1882Patrick Stanley
10 February 1882 – 16 February 1885Francis Augustus Wright
16 February 1885 – 3 February 1887George Lander
3 February 1887 – 10 February 1888Edwin Berry
10 February 1888 – 14 February 1889Thomas Williamson
14 February 1889 – 13 February 1890John Crowe
13 February 1890 – 12 February 1891Thomas Clarke
11 February 1891 – 29 May 1891John Beveridge
2 June 1891 – 17 February 1893George William Howe
17 February 1893 – 15 February 1894Cornelius Gorton
15 February 1894 – 15 February 1895William Davis
15 February 1895 – 13 February 1896William Poole
13 February 1896 – 11 February 1897George Richard Parkes
11 February 1897 – February 1898Joseph Medcalf
February 1898 – 13 October 1898Edwin Berry
13 October 1898 – 7 February 1900Thomas Clarke
7 February 1900 – 14 February 1901Henry Vernon
14 February 1901 – 12 February 1902James Jackson
12 February 1902 – 12 February 1903Thomas Fanning
12 February 1903 – 13 February 1904George Richard Parkes
13 February 1904 – 17 February 1905Joseph Medcalf
17 February 1905 – 16 February 1906Cornelius Gorton
16 February 1906 – 15 February 1907James Owen Batchelor
15 February 1907 – 7 February 1908George Todd
7 February 1908 – 2 February 1911John Leitch
2 February 1911 – 11 February 1914Tom Holden
11 February 1914 – 4 February 1915John Leitch
4 February 1915 – July 1917Tom Holden
12 July 1917 – 5 February 1920Albert Clarke Isaacs
5 February 1920 – February 1922Patrick Roberts
February 1922 – 20 December 1923John Joseph Castle
20 December 1923 – 16 December 1924George Boyd
16 December 1924 – 23 December 1926Patrick Mooney
23 December 1926 – 23 December 1927Tom Holden
23 December 1927 – 12 December 1928Francis James Gilmore
12 December 1928 – 19 December 1929John Hanafin
19 December 1929 – 18 December 1930George Waite
18 December 1930 – December 1931Kenneth John Alexander MacRae
December 1931 – 15 December 1932George Wheatley
15 December 1932 – 31 December 1934John Joseph Castle
31 December 1934 – 10 January 1936Harry Gardiner
10 January 1936 – 8 January 1937Joseph Malachi Gilmore
8 January 1937 – December 1937Alexis Howarth
December 1937 – December 1939Francis James Gilmore
December 1939 – December 1941James Francis Edward Gilmore
December 1941 – 23 December 1943John Stephen O’Brien
23 December 1943 – 13 December 1944Thomas Ormond Powell
13 December 1944 – 10 January 1946Edward Robert Elvy
10 January 1946 – December 1947Joseph Warburton
December 1947 – 31 December 1948Alexis Howarth

Town Clerks

YearsTown ClerkNotes
14 September 1859 – 31 December 1861George Philben
1 January 1861 – 1 February 1863Edward Richard Jones
1 February 1863 – 1 February 1869Thomas Fraser
1 February 1869 – 21 January 1881William Steele Wardrop
21 January 1881 – 11 June 1885William Neale Parker
11 June 1885 – 30 November 1934Robert William Grierson
30 November 1934 – 31 December 1948Frank W. Wright