# Municipality of Enfield (New South Wales)

The Municipality of Enfield was a local government area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The municipality was proclaimed as the Borough of Enfield on 17 January 1889 and, with an area of 3.6 square kilometres, included the modern suburbs of Croydon, Croydon Park and Strathfield South ("Druitt Town" until 1890s), with parts of Enfield, Belfield and Greenacre included in the West Ward. In 1949, the council was split into two, with Central and East Wards being added to the Municipality of Burwood and the West Ward being added into the Municipality of Strathfield, with the passing of the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948.

## Council history and location

Although originally very much of a rural character, by 1888 the population of Enfield area had reached 1500 and 153 local residents submitted a petition on 22 August 1888 to the NSW Governor, Lord Carrington, requesting the formation of a municipality with the name of the "Borough of Enfield" with three wards. The petition was subsequently accepted and the Enfield Borough Council was incorporated on 22 January 1889, consisting of three wards, Central Ward, West Ward and East Ward. The first council was elected on 26 March 1889, with three aldermen elected for each ward:
| Seat | Alderman | Notes |
| East Ward | Herman Henry Groth | Oil and colour merchant, "Bainbrigge", Badminton Road, Croydon |
| East Ward | Thomas Smith Richardson | Banker (Sydney Deposit Bank), Croydon Avenue, Croydon |
| East Ward | George Westbrook | Bandmaster, Croydon |
| Central Ward | James Eve | Tobacconist, Liverpool Road, Enfield |
| Central Ward | William Foy | Merchant, George's River Road, Enfield |
| Central Ward | Luke West | Engine-fitter, Minna Rose Street, Enfield |
| West Ward | Thomas Hodson | Freeholder, Norfolk House, Druitt Town |
| West Ward | Hugh Charles Reginald Cadden | Clerk, Liverpool Road, Druitt Town |
| West Ward | Henry George Lipscomb | Master brick-maker, Magdalene Street, Enfield |
The council first met on 30 March 1889, with Alderman James Eve elected as the first mayor. Initially renting premises for the council chambers in Tennyson Parade, the council moved to a new town hall on the corner of Liverpool Road and The Parade, Enfield, in 1893. On 10 May 1889, the first town clerk was appointed, Edward A. Pyman. From 28 December 1906, following the passing of the Local Government Act, 1906, the council was renamed as the "Municipality of Enfield".

### Later history

In April 1916 the Supreme Court of NSW heard an application from an Enfield ratepayer that the serving mayor, Ebenezer Ford, be removed from office. The case rested on the fact that Ford was a director of the Enfield Park Brick Company Ltd, which had recently been given a contract from the municipality. Justice David Ferguson ruled in the plaintiff's favour, with the result that Ford would be removed from office. However Ford appealed the case to the High Court and the case was overturned by a majority of the court.
In 1930 the council commissioned and completed the Enfield Council Chambers at the junction of Coronation Parade and Liverpool Road, Enfield, designed in the Inter-war stripped classical style by architects Morrow & Gordon. The foundation stone was laid on 1 March 1930 by the mayor, Stanley Lloyd, and the Minister for Local Government, Michael Bruxner.
In November 1933 the council opened the Enfield Olympic Swimming Pool in Henley Park, the first chlorinated freshwater public pool in Sydney designed by architects Rudder & Grout.
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, passed a bill in 1948 that abolished a significant number of those councils. Under the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948, Enfield Municipal Council was split in two, with Central and East Wards being added to the Municipality of Burwood and the West Ward being added into the Municipality of Strathfield. The new Strathfield council was divided into two wards – First Ward and Second Ward, with the Second Ward composed of three aldermen from the Enfield Council area. Former Enfield Aldermen Allan Stanley Hanson, James Clarence Morgan, and William James Weiss were elected to the Second Ward in the 1948 municipal election.

## Mayors

| Years | Chairman |
| 30 March 1889 – 12 February 1891 | James Eve |
| 12 February 1891 – 6 February 1892 | Thomas Hodson |
| 6 February 1892 – 14 February 1893 | Herman Henry Groth |
| 14 February 1893 – 22 December 1894 | George Westbrook |
| 22 December 1894 – 15 February 1896 | Henry George Lipscomb |
| 15 February 1896 – 12 February 1897 | George Washington Eaton |
| 12 February 1897 – 12 February 1903 | Thomas Hodson |
| 12 February 1903 – 10 February 1904 | Henry Chesterton Pilcher |
| 10 February 1904 – 11 February 1908 | James MacKay |
| 11 February 1908 – February 1909 | Albert Edward Weil |
| February 1909 – February 1910 | James MacKay |
| February 1910 – February 1914 | George Barnett Phillips |
| February 1914 – 10 February 1915 | Frederick Williams |
| 10 February 1915 – February 1917 | Ebenezer Ford |
| February 1917 – February 1919 | Frederick Williams |
| February 1919 – 1 February 1920 | Adrian Burgess |
| 1 February 1920 – December 1929 | Ebenezer Ford |
| December 1929 – December 1935 | Stanley Lloyd |
| December 1935 – December 1937 | Reuben Jenner |
| December 1937 – December 1938 | William Flockhart |
| December 1938 – December 1939 | James Mooney |
| December 1939 – December 1940 | James Parkes |
| December 1940 – December 1946 | Thomas Cooke |
| December 1946 – 16 December 1947 | William Sky |
| 16 December 1947 – 31 December 1948 | Thomas Cooke |

## Town clerks

| Years | Town clerk |
| 30 March 1889 – 30 April 1889 | A. F. Twine interim) |
| 30 April 1889 – 28 May 1895 | Edward A. Pyman |
| 3 September 1895 – 31 December 1895 | John Maule Hill |
| 31 December 1895 – April 1907 | Alexander Campbell |
| April 1907 – 31 December 1909 | Huie N. Bowden |
| 1 January 1910 – June 1914 | Robert George Frost |
| June 1914 – 31 December 1920 | Arthur J. Williamson |
| 1 January 1921 – 31 December 1948 | Harold A. Drew |