Mayor of Nelson, New Zealand

The Mayor of Nelson is the head of the municipal government of Nelson, New Zealand, and presides over the Nelson City Council. The mayor is directly elected using a First Past the Post electoral system. The current mayor is Rachel Reese, who was elected in October 2013.

Mayor of Nelson
Coat of arms of the City of Nelson
Incumbent
Rachel Reese
since 2013
StyleHis/Her Worship
SeatCivic House, 110 Trafalgar Street, Nelson
Term lengthThree years
Inaugural holderJoseph Dodson
Formation1874
DeputyPaul Matheson

History

1874–1899

Joseph Dodson was elected as the first Mayor of Nelson on 1 May 1874[1] by the City Councillors under the Municipal Corporations Act 1867. He was unanimously elected to the position. Dodson was a former member of the Nelson Board of Works. Councillor Fell noted that Dodson had taken great interest in the welfare of Nelson and was an upright gentleman with integrity.

The new council came into immediate conflict with the provincial government over finances. Nelson went bankrupt, the mayor resigned on 8 January 1875, and so did most of the councillors.[2][3] A special meeting of the remaining Councillors was held on 12 January 1875 to appoint a new mayor but no one was forthcoming. A public meeting was held on the Friday to determine the wishes of the ratepayers.[4]

Despite the meeting it was not until 26 February 1875 that a new mayor, Joseph Levien was appointed.[5] Levien is credited with having set systems in place and employed capable staff that the financial crisis was able to be overcome.[2][3] Levien died after only a short time in office on 7 June 1876.

Edward Everett was the third mayor. He was elected unopposed on 16 June 1876[6] and resigned on 1 September 1877 in order to travel to England. William Reid Waters was appointed by the councillors to fill the vacancy left by Everett. Waters was mayor until 19 December 1877 when Joseph Dodson was elected for a second time in his place.[3]

When Dodson retired on 22 November 1881 Everett was elected mayor for a second term. Everett was mayor until 1882.[3]

Charles Fell was mayor for five years until 1887. His second wife was a daughter of the Arthur Atkinson. Fell was a painter.[3][7]

John Sharp succeeded Fell. Sharp had previously represented the City of Nelson electorate in Parliament.[3][8]

Francis Trask was mayor for nine years (1890–1899). During his tenure, Rocks Road (now part of State Highway 6) was built along the coast, and Queens Gardens were established.[2]

1899–1999

Trask was succeeded by Joseph Auty Harley, who was installed on 20 December 1899.[9] Harley was succeeded by Henry Baigent, who was mayor in 1901–1904 and again in 1905–1906.[10]

Jesse Piper was mayor in 1904–1905. He lost the mayoralty in 1905 to Baigent,[10] but succeeded again in 1906[11] over the candidate put forward by Baigent.[12] In the 1910 election Piper stood against Thomas Pettit and lost by 768 votes to 969.[13]

Thomas Field was mayor from 1911 to 1913.[2] From the following year, he was MP for Nelson for one term.[14]

William Lock replaced Thomas Field as mayor after a fairly terse campaign against William Snodgrass in 1913. The following year he won again with only a 5-vote majority, but lost in 1915 to Charles Harley. Harley did not stand in 1917 and Snodgrass was elected.

Lock had continued to campaign for the mayoralty and was re-elected in 1921, ousting Snodgrass. Lock remained mayor until 1927 when Walter Moffatt came to power. Moffat retired in 1935 due to ill health and George Page was elected in his place. In the early 1940s Page suffered from a prolonged period of ill health and was replaced by Edgar Neale, the Deputy Mayor, in 1941.

Edgar Neale was mayor from 1941 to 1947. He resigned after he became the Member of Parliament for Nelson.[15]

Joseph Auty Harley was mayor from 1947 to 1956.[16] He was succeeded by Stanley Russell. Russell was mayor from 1956 to 1962.

1999 to present

Aldo Miccio won the 2010 mayoralty, with the incumbent getting third place.[17]

List of mayors

The list below shows all mayors of Nelson since the first Nelson City Council meeting in April 1874.[18]

Name Portrait Term Notes
1 Joseph Dodson 1874–1875 [19]
2 Joseph Levien 1875–1876 [20]
3 Edward Everett 1876–1877 [20]
4 William Waters 1877
Joseph Dodson 1877–1881 2nd period
Edward Everett 1881–1882 2nd period
5 Charles Yates Fell 1882–1887 [20]
6 John Sharp 1887–1890 [20]
7 Francis Trask 1890–1899 [20]
8 Joseph Auty Harley 1899–1901 [20]
9 Henry Baigent 1901–1904 [20]
10 Jesse Piper 1904–1905 [20]
Henry Baigent 1905–1906 2nd period
Jesse Piper 1906–1910 2nd period
11 Thomas Pettit 1910–1911
12 Thomas Field 1911–1913 [21]
13 William Lock 1913–1915
14 Charles Harley 1915–1917
15 William Snodgrass 1917–1921
William Lock 1921–1927 2nd period
16 Walter Moffatt 1927–1935
17 George Page 1935–1941
18 Edgar Neale 1941–1947
19 Joseph Auty Harley 1947–1956
20 Stanley Russell 1956–1962
21 Douglas Strawbridge 1962–1968
22 Trevor F Horne 1968–1971
23 Roy A McLennan 1971–1980
24 Peter Malone 1980–1992
25 Philip Woollaston 1992–1998
26 Paul Matheson 1998–2007
27 Kerry Marshall 2007–2010
28 Aldo Miccio 2010–2013
29 Rachel Reese 2013–present

List of deputy mayors
Name Term Mayor
Thomas Field 1910[22] Pettit
Edgar Neale 1933–1941[23] Moffatt
Page
Joseph Auty Harley 1944–1947[24] Neale
Edgar Neale 1947–1950[23] Harley
Frederick John Lock 1950–1953[24]
Robert Francis Stenhouse 1953–1956[24]
Betsy Robertson Eyre 1959–1962[25] Russell
Stanley Whitehead 1962–1965[26] Strawbridge
Betsy Robertson Eyre 1965–1971[27]
Horne
Trevor Horne 1974–1980 McLennan
Pat Tindle 1980–1986[24] Malone
Darcy Blair 1986–1989[24]
Seddon Marshall 1989–1992[24]
Leonard Ardell 1992–1995[28] Woollaston
Tui France 1995–1998[24]
Jo Raine 1998–2001[24] Matheson
Gail Collingwood 2001–2007[29]
Rachel Reese 2007–2010[30] Marshall
Alison Boswijk 2010–2013[31] Miccio
Paul Matheson 2013–present[32] Reese

References
  1. Election of Mayor pg 2, Nelson Evening Mail, 2 May 1874
  2. "Mayors of Nelson". The Prow. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  3. Cyclopedia Company Limited (1906). "Ex Mayors". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts. Christchurch. pp. 41–42. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  4. Editorial, The Nelson Evening Mail, pg 2, 13 January 1875
  5. Editorial, The Marlborough Express, pg 3, 10 March 1875
  6. Editorial, pg 2, Evening Post, 16 June 1876
  7. Platts, Una (1980). Nineteenth Century New Zealand Artists: A Guide & Handbook. Christchurch: Avon Fine Prints. p. 91.
  8. Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. p. 234. OCLC 154283103.
  9. "The Mayoral Installation". Nelson Evening Mail. XXXIII (287). 20 December 1899. p. 2. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  10. Cyclopedia Company Limited (1906). "Nelson Corporation". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts. Christchurch. pp. 37–38. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  11. "Mayoral Elections". Poverty Bay Herald. XXXIII (10647). 26 April 1906. p. 1. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  12. "City of Nelson". Colonist. XLVIII (11605). 19 April 1906. p. 2. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  13. Page 2 Advertisements Column 3 Colonist| volume=LII| issue=12779, 28 April 1910
  14. Scholefield, Guy (1925) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer. p. 91.
  15. "Neale, Edgar Rollo, c1890-1960". the community archive. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  16. "the trevor horne heritage trail" (PDF). Nelson City Council. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  17. "New mayor for Nelson". Radio NZ. 9 October 2010. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  18. This list incorporates information provided by Richard Palmer, Administration Advisor/Electorate Officer, Nelson City Council, 22 January 2010
  19. "Dodsons Valley". Nelson Historical Society Journal. 2 (6). April 1973.
  20. Ex Mayors The Cyclopaedia of New Zealand (Nelson, Marlborough, and Westland Provincial Districts), The Cyclopaedia Company Limited, Christchurch, 1906
  21. Spoonley, Paul. "Field, Arthur Nelson: 1882–1963". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  22. Scholefield, G.H., ed. (1940). A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (PDF). 1. Wellington: Department of Internal Affairs. p. 249. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  23. Gustafson 1986, p. 335.
  24. "NELSON CITY COUNCIL ROLL OF HONOUR" (PDF).
  25. "Local Body Elections – Nelson Photo News – No 61 : November 13, 1965".
  26. "Parliamentary Debates JUNE 22-JULY 20 1976".
  27. "City Council – Nelson Photo News – No 97 : November 16, 1968".
  28. "Nelson City Council Minutes 28 October 2010" (PDF). Nelson City Council.
  29. "Retirement won't be dull". Stuff.co.nz. 18 July 2013.
  30. "Reese joins mayoral race". Stuff.co.nz. 30 March 2010.
  31. "Boswijk is deputy". Stuff.co.nz. 24 October 2010.
  32. "Paul Matheson – Nelson City Council". Nelson City Council.
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