Mayors of Wellington

The development of local government in Wellington was erratic. The first attempt to establish governmental institutions, the so-called "Wellington Republic", was short-lived and based on rules written by the New Zealand Company. Colonel William Wakefield was to be the first President.

But when the self-proclaimed government arrested a ship's captain for a violation of Wellington law, the Governor William Hobson quickly asserted British sovereignty over the whole of New Zealand, sending a contingent of soldiers to disband the Council in Wellington.

In January 1842 the Legislative Council in Auckland passed the Municipal Corporations Ordinance, and in May 1842 Wellington was officially proclaimed a borough, the first municipality in the country to be given this status. The office of mayor was established, but there were only two holders of this office under the Ordinance.


Since the modern office of Mayor was established, it has been held by 34 people. Five people have been Mayor on two separate occasions. The longest-serving Mayor was Sir Frank Kitts, from 1956 to 1974.

- Individual bios can be seen by clicking the link above -

a George Hunter 1842 ? 1843

b William Guyton 1843

1 Joseph Dransfield 1870 ? 1873

2 Charles Borlase 1874

3 William Sefton Moorhouse 1875

4 William Hutchison 1876 ? 1877

Joseph Dransfield, 2nd time 1878 ? 1879

5 George Allen 1879

William Hutchison, 2nd time 1879 ? 1881

6 George Fisher 1882 ? 1885

7 Arthur Winton Brown 1886

8 Samuel Brown 1887 ? 1888

9 John Duthie 1889

10 Charles Johnston 1890

Arthur Winton Brown, 2nd time 1891

11 Francis Bell 1892 ? 1893

12 Alfred Brandon 1894

13 Charles Luke 1895

George Fisher, 2nd time 1896

Francis Bell, 2nd time 1897

14 John Blair 1898 ? 1899

15 John Aitken 1900 ? 1904

16 Thomas William Hislop 1905 ? 1908

17 Alfred Newman 1909

18 Thomas Mason Wilford 1910 ? 1911

19 David McLaren 1912

20 John Luke 1913 ? 1921

21 Robert Wright 1921 ? 1925

22 Charles Norwood 1925 ? 1927

23 George Troup 1927 ? 1931

24 Thomas Charles Atkinson Hislop 1931 ? 1944