# Municipality of St Peters

The Municipality of St Peters was a local government area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was originally proclaimed as the Municipal District of St Peters on 13 January 1871. With an area of 4.2 square kilometres, it included the modern suburbs of St Peters, Tempe and Sydenham. The council was amalgamated with the Municipality of Marrickville, along with the Municipality of Petersham, with the passing of the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948, and is now part of the Inner West Council.

## Council history

The Municipal District of St Peters was first proclaimed on 13 January 1871. At the time the population was at about 3500, with 1088 houses within the municipal area. The Mayor of Marrickville, Charles St Julian, was appointed as the Returning Officer conducting the first election, and the first council was declared elected on 14 February 1871. The council comprised six aldermen elected to two wards, St Peter's Ward and Cook's River Ward, which each returned three aldermen. On 2 May 1878 a third ward, Brompton Ward, was added, bringing the total number of aldermen to nine.
The first elected council:
| Seat | Alderman | Notes |
| Cook's River Ward | George Alfred Tucker | Superintendent of a Lunatic Asylum, Bay View House, Cook's River Road. |
| Cook's River Ward | Christopher Henry Lenehan | Grocer, Cook's River Road. |
| Cook's River Ward | George Rose | Freeholder, Unwin's Bridge Road. |
| St Peter's Ward | Thomas Percival | Gardener, Albert Street. |
| St Peter's Ward | James Turner | Leaseholder, Cook's River Road. |
| St Peter's Ward | Emanuel Harber | Brickmaker, Silver Street. |
By the late 1890s, the municipality had grown in population to around 7000, with manufacturing and industry playing a greater role, particularly brickworks fed by clay from the Cooks River. An 1899 profile of the suburb in the Australian Town and Country Journal noted in this regard: "St. Peters is mainly a residential suburb, but it can boast of some industries, and on its borders are situated a number of very prosperous brickworks. There are portions of the district which are admirably adapted for manufacturing purposes, and no doubt in course of time full advantage will be taken of these opportunities." On 18 December 1903, the wards were rearranged to North Ward, Bellevue Ward and Tempe Ward. On 17 December 1919, a fourth ward was added when Brompton Ward was recreated.

### Later history

By the end of the Second World War, the NSW Government had come to the conclusion that its ideas of infrastructure expansion could not be realised by the present system of the mostly-poor inner-city municipal councils 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, St Peters Municipal Council was merged, along with Petersham council, with the neighbouring Municipality of Marrickville which was located to the North.

## Mayors

| Years | Mayor |
| 14 February 1871 – 19 February 1873 | George Alfred Tucker |
| 19 February 1873 – 9 July 1873 | William Price |
| 9 July 1873 – 30 April 1877 | John Tangelder Gorus |
| 30 April 1877 – 11 February 1878 | William George Judd |
| 11 February 1878 – 10 July 1878 | Thomas George McCauley |
| 17 July 1878 – 10 February 1881 | William George Judd |
| 10 February 1881 – 18 February 1882 | Samuel Henry Terry |
| 18 February 1882 – 20 March 1882 | George Alfred Tucker |
| 20 March 1882 – 14 February 1883 | Samuel Henry Terry |
| 14 February 1883 – 13 February 1884 | William George Judd |
| 13 February 1884 – 11 February 1885 | William Edwards |
| 11 February 1885 – 12 February 1886 | George Godfrey Geering |
| 12 February 1886 – 10 February 1887 | William Walmsley |
| 10 February 1887 – 16 February 1888 | Archibald McKechnie |
| 16 February 1888 – 14 February 1889 | James Fallick |
| 14 February 1889 – 14 February 1891 | Robert Hewlett Judd |
| 14 February 1891 – 11 February 1892 | William Edwards |
| 11 February 1892 – 16 February 1893 | Elias James Harber |
| 16 February 1893 – 15 February 1895 | Robert Hewlett Judd |
| 15 February 1895 – 7 February 1898 | Alexander Stuart |
| 7 February 1898 – 14 February 1899 | George Farr |
| 14 February 1899 – 13 February 1902 | James Campbell |
| 13 February 1902 – 12 February 1903 | John Benbow |
| 12 February 1903 – 7 February 1908 | Edwin Spackman |
| 7 February 1908 – February 1912 | William S. Baker |
| February 1912 – 10 February 1913 | William Henry Swain |
| 10 February 1913 – 4 February 1914 | William Stanley Farr |
| 4 February 1914 – February 1915 | Francis Sanderson |
| February 1915 – February 1918 | John Harvey Camp Bradshaw |
| February 1918 – 13 February 1919 | William Digby Rowe |
| 13 February 1919 – February 1920 | William Pickering |
| February 1920 – December 1920 | Henry Adams |
| December 1920 – December 1921 | John Thomas Lane |
| December 1921 – December 1922 | William Ralph Green |
| December 1922 – 7 December 1923 | George Alfred Rowswell |
| 7 December 1923 – 10 December 1926 | Edward Joseph Burrows |
| 10 December 1926 – December 1927 | George Alfred Rowswell |
| December 1927 – 10 December 1928 | Edward Joseph Burrows |
| 10 December 1928 – 6 December 1929 | Edwin Joseph O'Gradey |
| 6 December 1929 – 8 December 1930 | Stanley Wycliffe Harvey |
| 8 December 1930 – December 1931 | George Alfred Rowswell |
| December 1931 – 8 December 1933 | Henry Morton Holbeach |
| 8 December 1933 – 7 December 1934 | Frederick Luck |
| 7 December 1934 – 11 June 1935 | Henry Morton Holbeach |
| 11 June 1935 – 10 January 1936 | William Henry Gleeson |
| 10 January 1936 – 8 December 1936 | Spencer Thomas William Annabel |
| 8 December 1936 – 8 December 1937 | Arthur Edward Bridge |
| 8 December 1937 – 9 December 1940 | Guy Frank Applebee (ALP) |
| 9 December 1940 – 19 December 1941 | James Trenear |
| 19 December 1941 – 14 December 1942 | William Jacob Hogan |
| 14 December 1942 – 13 December 1943 | Keith Thomas Smith (ALP) |
| 13 December 1943 – 17 December 1945 | William Edgar Kendrick |
| 17 December 1945 – 6 December 1946 | William Jacob Hogan (ALP) |
| 6 December 1946 – 15 December 1947 | Keith Thomas Smith (ALP) |
| 15 December 1947 – 31 December 1948 | Charles Lawrence Gillam (ALP) |

## Town Clerks

| Years | Town Clerk |
| February 1871 – 1 August 1873 | Frederick Keene |
| 1 August 1873 – 23 March 1885 | Thomas King Leeder |
| 23 March 1885 – 9 November 1886 | Samuel McCauley |
| 9 November 1886 – 3 September 1890 | Andrew Thompson Gibson |
| 3 September 1890 – 23 September 1891 | Frederick Weston Thompson |
| 23 September 1891 – 10 July 1899 | Archibald Mackintosh |
| 10 July 1899 – 21 May 1900 | George Hugh Melville |
| 21 May 1900 – 28 August 1911 | Walter Grist Salmon |
| 28 August 1911 – 1 November 1912 | William Irvine Donald |
| 18 November 1912 – 30 June 1913 | John McCormack |
| July 1913 – August 1919 | Donald Morrison |
| August 1919 – 31 December 1948 | Frank H. Terry |