Mayor of Whanganui

Mayor of Whanganui
Coat of arms of Whanganui
Incumbent
Andrew Tripe
since 2022
StyleHis/Her Worship
Term lengthThree years, renewable
Inaugural holderWilliam Hogg Watt
Formation1872
DeputyMichael Law
Salary$149,641[1]
WebsiteOfficial website

The mayor of Whanganui (previously Wanganui) is the head of the Whanganui District Council. Since 1872, there have been 29 mayors. Andrew Tripe is the current mayor.

History

The Wanganui Town Board was first formed in 1862, and its first chairman was J Handley, who served in that capacity until 1864. The board became a borough council in 1872 until 1924, when Wanganui was granted city status and the mayor was the head of the Wanganui City Council. It continued as a city council until 1989, when Wanganui's city charter was cancelled. Local government reform of 1989 amalgamated various city and council councils – Wanganui District Council includes the old Wanganui City Council, Wanganui County Council and a part of the Waitotara County Council. The motto of the then Wanganui City, and now Wanganui District Council, is 'Sans Dieu Rien' ('Without God, we are nothing').

The first meeting of the Wanganui Council was held on 14 February 1872. Councillor Francis Williamson, who was the last chairman of the town board,[2] proposed councillor William Hogg Watt as the first mayor, which was seconded by councillor Nathan and carried unanimously. Other councillors who attended this first meeting were John Duthie, Jones and Bett.[3] At the end of the first term, Watt was re-elected for another term.[4][5] Watt resigned from the role on 12 September 1873.[6]

Five days later, councillor William Hutchison was elected the second mayor of Wanganui.[7] Hutchison resigned on 6 February 1874, as he had moved to Wellington to start another newspaper there. He remained in his seat as a Councillor.[8]

Several weeks and many attempted council meetings went by without a new mayor being elected, mostly because some councillors stayed away so that there was no quorum. Finally, on 10 April 1874, Robert Pharazyn was elected as the third mayor of Wanganui.[9]

Edward Churton retired from his mayoralty on 15 December 1875.[10] Churton died on 25 July 1885.[11]

Watt succeeded Churton in 1875 and started the second period of his mayoralty.[12]

James Laird was mayor from 1886 to 1888. He died on 3 September 1902.[13]

Alfred John Parsons was mayor for two separate periods, first from 1888 to 1890[14] and then in 1891–1892.[15] Parsons died on 15 July 1900.[16][17] Henry Nathan was mayor between the two periods covered by Parsons.[14]

Edward Liffiton was mayor in 1912. In 1916, a modifying order was gazetted so that he could be buried at Heads Road Cemetery.[18] He died in 1923.[19]

Wanganui's most controversial mayor, by far, was well regarded lawyer Charles MacKay who was found guilty of the attempted murder of poet D'Arcy Cresswell – a charge stemming from an attempt to allegedly blackmail Mayor MacKay for homosexual advances. MacKay was arrested, pleaded guilty and imprisoned. He was released from prison in 1927, travelled to England and became a journalist. He was killed in 1929 during riots in Munich, Germany whilst reporting the civil unrest.[20]

Edward Alan Millward OBE was mayor from 1953 to 1962. He retired in 1962. He was succeeded by Reg Andrews OBE of the Labour Party; Andrews retired in 1974.[21] Ron Russell QSO succeeded him and retired in 1983.

The 1983 mayoralty was won by Doug Turney, with Chas Poynter coming second. Poynter was made deputy mayor in 1983 as a consequence. Poynter had served on the Wanganui council from 1977. In 1986, Poynter challenged Turney and was successful, winning with a majority of 1529 votes.[22] In 1989, Poynter increased his majority, defeating challenger John Blaikie by almost 6,000 votes. This was the first election under the new local government boundaries, with Wanganui City incorporating Wanganui County and some of Waitotara County. Blaikie was the chairman of the Wanganui County Council prior to the reorganisation. The new territorial authority was named Wanganui District Council.

In 1992, Poynter was challenged by Wanganui greengrocer Randhir Dahya, a popular Indian businessman. His majority was cut to just 939 votes.[23] Dahya challenged him twice more, in 1995 and 1998, but Poynter easily resisted these challenges, assisted by his handling of the Moutoa Gardens occupation of 1995 and the unfortunate death of his wife, Joy, four months prior to the 1998 election. In 2001 Poynter regained the mayoralty with just 27% of the vote, warding off four councillor challengers. In 2004, he stood again and was defeated, polling third behind media personality Michael Laws and businessman John Martin with just 20% of the vote.[22]

Laws did not stand again in the 2010 local elections, and Annette Main was elected, to take office in October 2010. Main narrowly defeated Dot McKinnon, who had been deputy-mayor under Laws.[24] Main was the first woman to hold the office.[21]

List of mayors

The following list shows the 29 mayors of Wanganui:[25]

Name Portrait Term
Mayor of the Borough of Wanganui
1 William Hogg Watt 1872–1873[3][6]
2 William Hutchison 1873–1874[7][8]
3 Robert Pharazyn 1874
4 Edward Churton 1874–1875
(1) William Hogg Watt 1875–1878
5 Thomas Bamber 1878–1880[26]
(1) William Hogg Watt 1880–1881[27]
6 Gilbert Carson 1881–1884[27][28]
7 Frederick Morris Spurdle 1884–1886[28]
8 James Laird 1886–1888[13]
9 Alfred John Parsons 1888–1890[14][28]
10 Henry Nathan 1890–1891[14][29]
(9) Alfred John Parsons 1891–1892[15]
11 Freeman Jackson 1892–1896[26]
12 James Lockhart Stevenson 1896–1897[26]
13 Alexander Hatrick 1897–1904
14 Arthur Bignell 1904–1906
15 Charles Mackay 1906–1912
16 Edward Liffiton 1912
(15) Charles Mackay 1912–1913
17 Tom Williams 1913–1915
(15) Charles Mackay 1915–1920
(17) Tom Williams 1920–1924
Mayor of Wanganui City
18 Hope Gibbons 1924–1927[30]
19 Bill Rogers[21] 1927–1931
20 Norman Graham Armstrong 1931–1935
(19) Bill Rogers 1935–1953
21 Edward Millward 1953–1962
22 Reg Andrews 1962–1974
23 Ron Russell 1974–1983
24 Doug Turney 1983–1986
25 Chas Poynter 1986–1989
Mayor of Wanganui District
25 Chas Poynter 1989–2004[22]
26 Michael Laws 2004–2010
Mayor of Whanganui District
27 Annette Main 2010–2016
28 Hamish McDouall 2016–2022
29 Andrew Tripe 2022–present[31]

List of deputy mayors

† Died in office

Deputy mayor Term Mayor
Deputy mayor of the Borough of Wanganui
Arthur Bignell 1904[32] Hatrick
Unknown 1904–1907 Bignell

Mackay

Mackay
Edward Liffiton 1907–1912[33][34]
George Spriggens 1912[35][36] Liffiton
G. W. McCaul 1912–1913[37] Mackay
James Muir 1913–1914[†][38][39] Williams
Cecil Wray 1914[40]
George Spriggens 1914–1920[41][42]
Williams

Mackay

James Richardson 1920–1921[43][44] Williams
Leslie Sigley 1921[45]
James Richardson 1921–1924[46][47]
Deputy mayor of Wanganui City
Charlton Pearce 1924[48] Gibbons
Cyril Palmer Brown 1924–1927[49][50]
John Morrison 1927–1929[51][52] Rogers
George Darbyshire 1929–1931[53][54]
Fred Symes 1931–1933[55][56] Armstrong
James Siddells 1933–1935[57]
John Robertson 1935–1938[58][59] Rogers
John Scott 1938–1944[60][61]
Tom Russell 1944–1946[†][62]
Eric Merewether 1946[63]
Jim Broad 1946–1947[64][65]
Roy Jack 1947–1955[66] Rogers
Millward
Unknown 1955–c. 1981 –
Paul Mitchell fl.1981[67] Russell
Unknown c. 1981–1983
Chas Poynter 1983–1986[68] Turney
Unknown 1986–1989 Poynter
Deputy mayor of Wanganui District
Unknown 1989–1992 Poynter
Lysbeth Noble 1992–1995[69]
Unknown 1995–2001
Randhir Dahya 2001–2004[70]
Dot McKinnon 2004–2010[71] Laws
Deputy mayor of Whanganui District
Rangi Willis 2010–2013[72] Main
Hamish McDouall 2013–2016[73]
Jenny Duncan 2016–2022[74][75] McDouall
Helen Craig 2022–2025[76] Tripe
Michael Law 2025–present[77]

See also

References

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