Mayor of Blenheim

[1] The inaugural borough council was elected on 15 May 1869[2] and Frederick John Litchfield (1820–1902) became the first mayor in 1869.

[3] Henry Dodson succeeded Litchfield in 1870 and initially served two one-year terms.

[13][14] The next mayoral election was held on 27 November 1889, and was contested by two councillors, George Houldsworth and Elijah Bythell.

A banker by trade, he had previously been a member of the Legislative Council of Fiji and the country's Colonial Treasurer.

[24] After his mayoralty, Purser moved to Wanganui where he established a furniture making business.

[31][32] McCallum later represented the Wairau electorate in Parliament from 1911 to 1922,[33] and was from 1930 to 1937 a member of the Legislative Council.

The incumbent sought another term, and was challenged by Archibald (Archie) McCallum and John James Winsbury White.

[41] On 27 April 1910, two previous candidates contested the mayoralty, Edward Henry Penny and John James Winsbury White.

[42] For the 1911 mayoral elections, two challengers to the incumbent came forward in William Carr and White as a former candidate.

[44] The election on 24 April 1912 was contested by three candidates: Christopher James Whitney Griffiths (a former councillor), John Joseph Corry, and White.

[45] Corry contested the next election on 30 April 1913 and was challenged by councillor Edward Stone Parker, with the latter defeating the incumbent by 837 votes to 791.

[33] Due to his work towards achieving subscriptions to patriotic funds during World War I, Corry was very popular and polled 834 votes to 518.

[51] Corry in turn challenged McCallum in the Wairau electorate later in 1919, but was unsuccessful and came third in the four-person contest.

[52] Corry did not contest the 1921 mayoral election, but left for a trip to England instead with his wife.

[53] The election in late April 1921 was won by Edward Stone Parker, who had previously been mayor in 1913–1914.

[58] Subsequent mayors were William Girling (1945–1950), Bert Mitchell (1950–1953), Edwin Purcell "Ted" Meachen (1953–1962), Sid Harling (1962–1977), Claude Bertram Whitehead (1977–1982), Philip Taylor (1982–1986), and Leo McKendry (1986–1989).