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History
The Municipality of Strathfield
was proclaimed on 2 June 1885 with the name derived from the house ‘Strathfield’ built for the Mayor of Sydney, Walter Renny c.1868.
This house was originally called ‘Stratfieldsaye’,
the name inspired by the
Duke of Wellington’s home in England. This house was later known as 'Strathfield House' and
then ‘Strathfield’.
Strathfield Municipal Council originally included the areas of Redmyre [now
Strathfield], Homebush and Druitt Town [now Strathfield South]. Of these areas,
only Homebush retains it’s original name. Flemington [now Homebush West] remained unincorporated
and was added in 1892.
The first meeting of
Strathfield Council was held on 19th August 1885 at ‘Llanelly’ [now ‘Steephurst’]
in Albyn Rd, to elect the first Aldermen. James Inglis MP of ‘Billy Tea’ fame
was appointed the returning officer. ‘Llanelly’ was the home of stockbroker
George Thompson, grandson of retailer David Jones. The Alderman elected to the
first Council included Thompson; George Hardie, a mining agent, of Torrington
Rd; Albert Allen, storekeeper of Druitt Town, William Von Der Heyde, a tobacco
merchant of Albert Rd; Henry Australia Perkins, a wealthy gentleman of Meredith
St and horse breeder James Thompson [of 'Widden Stud' fame] of Albert Road.
The first Mayor of
Strathfield, George Hardie, was elected on 30th August 1885.
Incidentally, there is a persistent but untrue story that Strathfield was named
after the first Mayor’s home. Hardie's home was actually called ‘Torrington’.
In 1885, ‘Strathfield’ was the home of John Hardy, of Hardy Bros & Co, a City based
jeweller. In any case, this story is obviously incorrect as the name
‘Strathfield’ was selected as the new name of the District prior to Hardie’s
election as an Alderman and Mayor.
Hardie’s Mayoralty was
short-lived as the State Law required that two Aldermen retire at the end of the
first year on Council. Hardie’s name was picked from the hat, thus ending his
service on Council. Hardie was appointed as the returning officer for the next
Council election and later returned to England where he died. His brother,
Robert Hardie, founder of real estate agents Hardie & Gorman, was Mayor of
Burwood in 1887.
‘Llanelly’ [now 'Steephurst']
operated as the Strathfield Council Chambers for a short time, later moving to
‘Franklin Cottage’ [corner Albyn and Homebush Rd Strathfield]. The Strathfield Council
Chambers were opened in 1887 at 65 Homebush Rd Strathfield and have operated
from the same location since this time.
Strathfield
Council Amalgamations
The original Strathfield
Municipality expanded in size with the amalgamations of Enfield and Homebush
Councils in the 1940’s.
The Municipality of Enfield was proclaimed
on 22 January 1889 [additional area west of Enfield added in 1893] and
Municipality of Homebush on 6 June 1906.
The area of Flemington was incorporated into the Municipality of
Strathfield on 16 February 1892. Homebush Municipality was incorporated into
Strathfield Municipality in 1947 and in 1949, the west ward of
Enfield Municipality was incorporated into Strathfield Municipality. The
central and east wards of Enfield Council were incorporated into Burwood
Council.
Strathfield Council abolished
wards in 1916. After the 1940's amalgamations, wards were formed but were later abolished.
Strathfield Council does not currently have wards.
Strathfield Council has been
threatened by Council amalgamation on many occasions, most particularly in 1947,
1973 and 1983. In 1999, the Council considered amalgamation with Burwood
Council, which did not proceed after community consultation. The issue of
Council amalgamations was reopened by the State Labor Government in 2003. To date,
Strathfield Council has refused to amalgamate with other Councils.
In recent
years, Strathfield Council has elected nine
Councillors at general elections. The Mayor is elected by the Councillors each September.
The Mayor of Strathfield is not popularly elected and is elected by the majority
of Councillors on an annual basis.
Following the resignation of two Councillors in 2005, Strathfield
Council has resolved to reduce the numbers of Councillors from nine to
seven.
Further information
Author and Copyright information
This article was written by Cathy Jones, 2004
© Cathy Jones 2004-05. This article is subject to copyright and may not be
reproduced without permission of the author.
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