# Municipality of Newtown

The Municipality of Newtown was a local government area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The municipality was proclaimed as a borough in 1862 and, with an area of 1.9 square kilometres, was centred on the suburb of Newtown, including parts of Erskineville and Enmore. The municipality was divided into four wards: Kingston, Enmore, O'Connell and Camden. In 1949 under the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948, Newtown Municipal Council was merged with the larger neighbouring City of Sydney which was located immediately to the North, although parts were subsequently, from 1968, moved into Marrickville Council. Mayors included Lilian Fowler (1938–1939), the first female mayor in Australia.

## Council history

On 12 December 1862 the Municipality of Newtown was incorporated and divided into three wards: O'Connell, Kingston and Enmore (a fourth, Camden Ward, was added later) covering 480 acres (194.25 ha). In 1893 a plan was discussed to rename the council area 'South Sydney' (as three municipalities in the north of Sydney Harbour had merged to form North Sydney three years earlier), but nothing came of it. 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 Newtown. From 28 December 1906, with the passing of the Local Government Act, 1906, the council was again renamed as the "Municipality of Newtown".
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 (Areas) Act 1948, Newtown Municipal Council became the Newtown Ward of the City of Sydney, returning four aldermen.

## Mayors

| Years | Chairmen | Notes |
| 17 February 1863 – 16 February 1864 | Frederick William Holland | |
| 16 February 1864 – 24 February 1865 | Joseph Kingsbury | |
| 24 February 1865 – 14 February 1866 | Henry Munro | |
| 14 February 1866 – February 1867 | William Curtis | |
| February 1867 – February 1868 | James Conley | |
| Years | Mayors | Notes |
| 15 February 1868 – 13 February 1869 | Henry Munro | |
| 13 February 1869 – 15 February 1870 | William Curtis | |
| 15 February 1870 – 16 February 1871 | Joseph Kingsbury | |
| 16 February 1871 – 17 February 1877 | William Bailey | |
| 17 February 1877 – 14 February 1878 | James Smith | |
| 14 February 1878 – 15 February 1879 | Alfred Fallick | |
| 15 February 1879 – 16 February 1880 | James Smith | |
| 16 February 1880 – 9 February 1881 | Daniel Wildman | |
| 9 February 1881 – 15 February 1882 | Charles Whately | |
| 15 February 1882 – 14 February 1883 | Ninian Melville | |
| 14 February 1883 – February 1884 | Charles Boots | |
| February 1884 – 13 February 1886 | James Smith | |
| 13 February 1886 – 9 February 1887 | Charles Whately | |
| 9 February 1887 – 13 February 1889 | Richard Bellemey | |
| 13 February 1889 – 13 February 1890 | Joseph Jolly | |
| 13 February 1890 – 28 October 1890 | Charles James Lane | |
| 28 October 1890 – 10 February 1892 | William Dolman | |
| 10 February 1892 – 14 February 1895 | William Rigg | |
| 14 February 1895 – 14 February 1896 | Harold Thomas Morgan | |
| 14 February 1896 – 12 February 1897 | James Smith | |
| 12 February 1897 – 9 February 1898 | William Cox | |
| 9 February 1898 – 18 February 1899 | William Rigg | |
| 18 February 1899 – 16 February 1900 | Charles Henry Ibbotson | |
| 16 February 1900 – 14 February 1902 | John Salmon | |
| 14 February 1902 – 10 February 1903 | Harold Thomas Morgan | |
| 10 February 1903 – 10 February 1905 | John Salmon | |
| 10 February 1905 – 15 February 1906 | William Edwards | |
| 15 February 1906 – 14 February 1907 | Henry Nunn Howe | |
| 14 February 1907 – February 1911 | Harold Thomas Morgan | |
| February 1911 – 3 February 1913 | William Rigg | |
| 3 February 1913 – February 1916 | Frank Bamfield | |
| February 1916 – 5 February 1918 | Charles Henry Turtle | |
| 5 February 1918 – December 1920 | Harold Thomas Morgan | |
| December 1920 – December 1921 | James Campbell | |
| December 1921 – December 1923 | William Henry Pritchard | |
| December 1923 – December 1924 | Nicholas Buzacott | |
| December 1924 – December 1925 | William Alfred Dibble | |
| December 1925 – December 1926 | Isidore Edwin Ryan (ALP) | |
| December 1926 – December 1927 | William Leslie Smith | |
| December 1927 – 11 December 1928 | William Henry Delve | |
| 11 December 1928 – 10 December 1929 | Joseph Solomon (ALP) | |
| 10 December 1929 – 11 December 1930 | Reuben Sydney Goddard (ALP) | |
| 11 December 1930 – 2 January 1932 | Joseph Vincent Bugler (ALP) | |
| 6 January 1932 – December 1932 | Frederick Benedict Roberts (ALP) | |
| December 1932 – December 1933 | Frederick Newnham (ALP) | |
| December 1933 – December 1934 | Isidore Edwin Ryan (ALP) | |
| December 1934 – December 1935 | Reuben Sydney Goddard (ALP) | |
| December 1935 – 2 December 1936 | Horace Raymond Dunshea (ALP) | |
| 2 December 1936 – December 1937 | Frederick Newnham (ALP) | |
| December 1937 – December 1938 | Isidore Edwin Ryan (ALP) | |
| December 1938 – December 1939 | Lilian Fowler (ALP) | |
| December 1939 – December 1940 | Raymond Jules Beaufils (ALP) | |
| December 1940 – 10 December 1941 | Isidore Edwin Ryan (ALP) | |
| 10 December 1941 – December 1943 | Arthur Greenup (ALP) | |
| December 1943 – 5 December 1944 | Patrick Joseph Walters (ALP) | |
| 5 December 1944 – 4 December 1945 | Sidney Augustus Fleming (ALP) | |
| 4 December 1945 – 6 December 1946 | George Henry Smith (ALP) | |
| 6 December 1946 – 3 December 1947 | William Francis Bodkin (ALP) | |
| 3 December 1947 – 7 July 1948 | Reuben Sidney Goddard (ALP) | |
| 27 July 1948 – 31 December 1948 | Ernest Gerard Wright (ALP) | |