Mayors from 1900 until 1990
Please note that this text is an extract from a reference work written in 1990. As a result, some of the content may not reflect recent research, changes and events.
Since 1854 Brighton has been a chartered borough with a council chaired by a mayor, who, in the absence of royalty or the lord lieutenant, is also the sovreign’s representative in the town. Brighton’s first mayor was Lieutenant-Colonel John Fawcett who was elected at the first council meeting on 7 June 1854. The only person to have been mayor four times was John Brigden, in 1863, 1864, 1873 and 1874, but John Cordy Burrows was the first to be mayor both twice and three times. The first woman to become mayor was Miss Margaret Hardy in 1933.
A complete list of Brighton’s mayors is given below; many names will be familiar with streets, roads, parks and flats named after them. Note that the dates shown refer to the year in which the mayors took office.
1900 ” “
1901 ” “
1902 John Buckwell
1903 Emile Marx
1904 Frederick Blaker
1905 James Colbourne
1906 Henry Gervis
1907 John Robert
1908 ” “
1909 Edward Geere
1910 Charles Thomas-Stanford
1911 ” “
1912 ” “
1913 John Otter
1914 ” “
1915 ” “
1916 Herbert Carden
1917 ” “
1918 ” “
1919 William Wellman
1920 Bertram Southall
1921 Edward Pankhurst
1922 ” “
1923 Hugh Milner Black
1924 Charles Teasdale
1925 John Thompson
1926 Richard Major
1927 Charles Kingston
1928 Herbert Galliers
1929 Horace Aldrich
1930 Sidney Thompson
1931 Thomas Braybon
1932 Frank Beal
1933 Miss Margaret Hardy
1934 Sidney Gibson
1935 Edward Deane
1936 John Routley
1937 Herbert Hone
1938 John Nanson
1939 ” “
1940 ” “
1941 Martin Huggett
1942 Bernard Dutton Briant
1943 ” “
1944 Arthur Nicholls
1945 Walter Clout
1946 Thomas Morris
1947 Percy Friend-James
1948 ” “
1949 Ernest Marsh
1950 Samuel Davey
1951 Eric Simms
1952 Miss Dorothy Stringer
1953 John Hay
1954 Walter Dudeney
1955 Jasper Leek
1956 Lewis Cohen
1957 Charles Tyson
1958 Alfred Sadler
1959 Ernest Kippin
1960 Alan Johnson
1961 George Baldwin
1962 William Button
1963 Stanley Deason
1964 Walter Clout
1965 Dudley Baker
1966 Mrs Dorothea Watson-Miller
1967 Ronald Bates
1968 Thomas Taylor
1969 Frank Masefield-Baker
1970 Herbert Nettleton
1971 Stanley Theobald
1972 Gordon Packham
1973 George Lucraft
1974 Danny Sheldon
1975 William Clarke
1976 Peter Best
1977 Mrs Hilary Somerville
1978 Alfred Feld
1979 Dennis Hobden
1980 John Leach
1981 Joseph Wakefield
1982 Geoffrey Theobald
1983 Charles Jermy
1984 John Blackman
1985 Robert Cristofoli
1986 Mrs Jackie Lythell
1987 Ray Blackwood
1988 Ms Pat Hawkes
1989 Brian Fitch
1990 Mrs Christine Simpson
Any numerical cross-references in the text above refer to resources in the Sources and Bibliography section of the Encyclopaedia of Brighton by Tim Carder.
Comments about this page
Do you have any other information about John Routley, Mayor 1936 please? Paper cuttings or anything else would be great. Thank you.
Are the two Clout Mayors in 1945 and 1964 the same person?
The very same Les.
Are there records of Hove Council in the 1950s and 1960s? My grandfather Alderman J L B Jayne served on Hove Council in those days and met the Queen when she visited Brighton on one occasion. He was chairman of the Health Committe and Road Safety Committee I believe. He was also involved in a life-saving idea for rescuing people from the sea – and invented and patented a traffic light changing device. He died aged 76 and is buried in Hove Cemetary.
Hi My great grandfather William Henry was a Mayor of Hove before 1900 but his name does not appear on the list. Do you have any information or pictures? Thanks Tracy
Hi Tracy, I did make a response to your query on the message board to advise that William Henry Pitt was not a Mayor of Hove. The office of Mayor of Hove came into being when the Borough of Hove was granted Incorporation on 08th August 1898. The first Mayor (1898-9) was G.B. Woodruff and the second J. Colman (1899-1902). The list above shows the Mayors of Brighton in the 20th century. Regards, Andy
Hi My husband Paul Hayne.s mother was Syliva Poole, her mother was Lucy Marsh, her father was Ernest Marsh who I believe was Mayor of Brighton in 1949-1950 which would mean that Ernest Marsh was my husband’s great grandfather. Have you any information about him or any pictures of him it would be so lovely to add to our family tree which we are in the mist of.
Do you have any information about my uncle William Marsh who was a shop keeper on Fisher St in Lewes? We also think he was mayor of Brighton and Hove. Was he married? When did he die? Did he have any children?
yours
As expected, Mayors of Hove have been left off the listing.
There were many very prominent Mayors of Hove but Brighton would prefer to ignore them. There are only 5 still living and there ought to be a record of these and those that preceeded them.
Peter, when this site was set up in 1993 it was simply My Brighton. I was one of the founding team. There is a disclaimer at the top of the page that the info is from a 1990 source [Tim Carder’s Encyclopaedia of Brighton]. Much later it became MY B&H. Please do the site a list of Hove mayors! it will be most welcome.
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