Mayor of Nelson
Coat of arms of the City of Nelson
Incumbent
Nick Smith
since 2022
StyleHis/Her Worship
SeatCivic House, 110 Trafalgar Street, Nelson
Term lengthThree years
Inaugural holderJoseph Dodson
Formation1874
DeputyRohan O'Neill-Stevens

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 single transferable vote electoral system.[1] The current mayor is Nick Smith, who was elected in September 2022.[2]

History

1874–1899

Joseph Dodson was elected as the first mayor of Nelson on 1 May 1874[3] 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.[4][5] 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.[6]

Despite the meeting it was not until 26 February 1875 that a new mayor, Joseph Levien was appointed.[7] Levien is credited with having set systems in place and employed capable staff that the financial crisis was able to be overcome.[4][5] 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[8] 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.[5]

When Dodson retired on 22 November 1881 Everett was elected mayor for a second term. Everett was mayor until 1882.[5]

Charles Fell was mayor for five years until 1887. His second wife was a daughter of the Arthur Atkinson. Fell was a painter.[5][9]

John Sharp succeeded Fell. Sharp had previously represented the City of Nelson electorate in Parliament.[5][10]

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.[4]

1899–1998

Trask was succeeded by Joseph Auty Harley, who was installed on 20 December 1899.[11] Harley was succeeded by Henry Baigent, who was mayor in 1901–1904 and again in 1905–1906.[12]

Jesse Piper was mayor in 1904–1905. He lost the mayoralty in 1905 to Baigent,[12] but succeeded again in 1906[13] over the candidate put forward by Baigent.[14] In the 1910 election Piper stood against Thomas Pettit and lost by 768 votes to 969.[15]

Thomas Field was mayor from 1911 to 1913.[4] From the following year, he was MP for Nelson for one term.[16]

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.[17]

Joseph Auty Harley was mayor from 1947 to 1956.[18] He was succeeded by Stanley Russell. Russell was mayor from 1956 to 1962.

Douglas Strawbridge then served as mayor from 1962 to 1968. He was succeeded by Trevor Horne who served for one term from 1968 to 1971, and two subsequent terms as Deputy Mayor from 1974 to 1980.[19]

Civil engineering contractor and former National Secretary of the New Zealand Contractors Federation Roy McLennan became mayor from 1971 to 1980.[20]

McLennan was followed by Peter Malone who had unsuccessfully stood as the National Party candidate for the Nelson electorate in 1963, 1976 and 1978 and in the Tasman electorate in 1975. He served under McLennan as a councillor from 1974 to 1980 and then served four terms as mayor from 1980 to 1992.

Former Labour Party Member of Parliament for Nelson Philip Woollaston then served as mayor from 1992 to 1998.

1998 to present

Paul Matheson successfully beat Woollaston on his second attempt in 1998, having lost to him in 1992.[21] He served 3 terms as mayor, and later re-stood as a Councillor and served for three terms from 2010 to 2019 including two as deputy mayor under Rachel Reese.[22]

Matheson was succeeded by former Richmond Borough Council and inaugural Tasman District Council mayor Kerry Marshall who served for one term from 2007 to 2010.[23]Aldo Miccio won the 2010 mayoralty, with the incumbent getting third place.[24] Rachel Reese won the 2013 mayoralty, becoming Nelson’s first woman mayor.[25] Two-term councillor Reese had been Deputy Mayor for Kerry Marshall.[26] Her deputy mayor from 2013 to 2019 was former Mayor Paul Matheson.[27] In 2019, Reese appointed Judene Edgar as deputy mayor, the first time Nelson had a woman mayor and deputy mayor.[28] Edgar, a first-term Nelson City councillor had previously been a three-term councillor for neighbouring Tasman District Council.[29]

List of mayors

The list below shows all mayors of Nelson since the first Nelson City Council meeting in April 1874.[30]

Name Portrait Term Notes
1 Joseph Dodson 1874–1875 [31]
2 Joseph Levien 1875–1876 [32]
3 Edward Everett 1876–1877 [32]
4 William Waters 1877
Joseph Dodson 1877–1881 2nd period
Edward Everett 1881–1882 2nd period
5 Charles Yates Fell 1882–1887 [32]
6 John Sharp 1887–1890 [32]
7 Francis Trask 1890–1899 [32]
8 Joseph Auty Harley 1899–1901 [32]
9 Henry Baigent 1901–1904 [32]
10 Jesse Piper 1904–1905 [32]
Henry Baigent 1905–1906 2nd period
Jesse Piper 1906–1910 2nd period
11 Thomas Pettit 1910–1911
12 Thomas Field 1911–1913 [33]
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 Horne 1968–1971
23 Roy 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 2013–2022
30 Nick Smith 2022–present[2]

List of deputy mayors

Name Term Mayor
Thomas Field 1910[34] Pettit
Edgar Neale 1933–1941[35] Moffatt
Page
Joseph Auty Harley 1944–1947[36] Neale
Edgar Neale 1947–1950[37] Harley
Frederick John Lock 1950–1953[36]
Robert Francis Stenhouse 1953–1956[36]
Betsy Eyre 1959–1962[38] Russell
Stan Whitehead 1962–1965[39] Strawbridge
Betsy Eyre 1965–1971[40]
Horne
Trevor Horne 1974–1980 McLennan
Pat Tindle 1980–1986[36] Malone
Darcy Blair 1986–1989[36]
Seddon Marshall 1989–1992[36]
Leonard Ardell 1992–1995[41] Woollaston
Tui France 1995–1998[36]
Jo Raine 1998–2001[36] Matheson
Gail Collingwood 2001–2007[42]
Rachel Reese 2007–2010[43] Marshall
Alison Boswijk 2010–2013[44] Miccio
Paul Matheson 2013–2019[45] Reese
Judene Edgar 2019–2022[46]
Rohan O'Neill-Stevens 2022–present[47] Smith

References

  1. ^ Newman, Tim (23 October 2021). "Explainer: How voting in Nelson's council elections will work in 2022". Stuff.
  2. ^ a b Bohny, Skara (8 October 2022). "Former National MP Nick Smith is the new mayor of Nelson". Stuff. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  3. ^ Election of Mayor pg 2, Nelson Evening Mail, 2 May 1874
  4. ^ a b c d "Mayors of Nelson". The Prow. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Cyclopedia Company Limited (1906). "Ex Mayors". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts. Christchurch. pp. 41–42. Retrieved 25 October 2010.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ Editorial, The Nelson Evening Mail, pg 2, 13 January 1875
  7. ^ Editorial, The Marlborough Express, pg 3, 10 March 1875
  8. ^ Editorial, pg 2, Evening Post, 16 June 1876
  9. ^ Platts, Una (1980). Nineteenth Century New Zealand Artists: A Guide & Handbook. Christchurch: Avon Fine Prints. p. 91.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ "The Mayoral Installation". Nelson Evening Mail. Vol. XXXIII, no. 287. 20 December 1899. p. 2. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  12. ^ a b Cyclopedia Company Limited (1906). "Nelson Corporation". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts. Christchurch. pp. 37–38. Retrieved 25 October 2010.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  13. ^ "Mayoral Elections". Poverty Bay Herald. Vol. XXXIII, no. 10647. 26 April 1906. p. 1. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  14. ^ "City of Nelson". Colonist. Vol. XLVIII, no. 11605. 19 April 1906. p. 2. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  15. ^ Page 2 Advertisements Column 3 Colonist| volume=LII| issue=12779, 28 April 1910
  16. ^ Scholefield, Guy (1925) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer. p. 91.
  17. ^ "Neale, Edgar Rollo, c1890-1960". the community archive. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  18. ^ "the trevor horne heritage trail" (PDF). Nelson City Council. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  19. ^ New Zealand Who's Who, 11th Edition, 1978
  20. ^ New Zealand Who's Who, 1982
  21. ^ "Matheson gives his final farewell". Nelson Mail. 28 September 2007. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  22. ^ "Former Nelson mayor Paul Matheson elected to health board". Stuff.co.nz. 13 October 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  23. ^ "Obituary: Kerry Marshall – mayor of Richmond, Tasman, and Nelson". Stuff.co.nz. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  24. ^ "New mayor for Nelson". Radio NZ. 9 October 2010. Retrieved 25 October 2010.
  25. ^ "Rachel Reese wins Nelson mayoralty". Stuff.co.nz. 14 October 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  26. ^ "Rachel Reese JP". theprow.org.nz. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  27. ^ "Obituary: Kerry Marshall – mayor of Richmond, Tasman, and Nelson". Stuff.co.nz. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  28. ^ "Nelson's new deputy mayor and revamped committee structure proposed". Stuff.co.nz. 22 October 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  29. ^ "Former Tasman district councillor Judene Edgar to run for Nelson City Council". Stuff.co.nz. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  30. ^ This list incorporates information provided by Richard Palmer, Administration Advisor/Electorate Officer, Nelson City Council, 22 January 2010
  31. ^ "Dodsons Valley". Nelson Historical Society Journal. 2 (6). April 1973.
  32. ^ a b c d e f g h Ex Mayors The Cyclopaedia of New Zealand (Nelson, Marlborough, and Westland Provincial Districts), The Cyclopaedia Company Limited, Christchurch, 1906
  33. ^ Spoonley, Paul. "Field, Arthur Nelson: 1882–1963". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  34. ^ Scholefield, G.H., ed. (1940). A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography (PDF). Vol. 1. Wellington: Department of Internal Affairs. p. 249. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  35. ^ Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. p. 335. ISBN 0-474-00177-6.
  36. ^ a b c d e f g h "NELSON CITY COUNCIL ROLL OF HONOUR" (PDF).
  37. ^ Gustafson 1986, p. 335.
  38. ^ "Local Body Elections – Nelson Photo News – No 61 : November 13, 1965".
  39. ^ "Parliamentary Debates JUNE 22-JULY 20 1976".
  40. ^ "City Council – Nelson Photo News – No 97 : November 16, 1968".
  41. ^ "Nelson City Council Minutes 28 October 2010" (PDF). Nelson City Council.
  42. ^ "Retirement won't be dull". Stuff.co.nz. 18 July 2013.
  43. ^ "Reese joins mayoral race". Stuff.co.nz. 30 March 2010.
  44. ^ "Boswijk is deputy". Stuff.co.nz. 24 October 2010.
  45. ^ "Paul Matheson – Nelson City Council". Nelson City Council.
  46. ^ "Nelson's new deputy mayor and revamped committee structure proposed". Stuff.co.nz. 22 October 2019.
  47. ^ "Nelson's new deputy mayor chosen to 'provide balance'". Stuff.co.nz. 28 October 2022.

External links

Mayors in New Zealand
Nelson, New Zealand
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