Mayor of Dudley: Difference between revisions

[[File:Dudley Council House.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The Mayor's Parlour is situated in the Council House, Priory Road, Dudley]]

In the earliest records, the Mayor of Dudley was an official of the [[Court Leet]] of the Lords of Dudley. This was a manorial court that provided local governance to the borough of Dudley. The first named mayor is John A'Parke who was mayor in 1565.<ref name="History">{{Cite web|url=http://mayorofdudley.org.uk/history.html|title=History of the Mayor of Dudley|website=mayorofdudley.org.uk|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-03-15}}</ref> Records of the court leet before the middle of the 18th century are sparse <ref>{{Cite book|title=Dudley as it was and as it is today|last=Chandler|first=G|last2=Hannah|first2=I. C.|publisher=Batsford|year=1949|location=London|pages=139}}</ref> so only a few names of the earliest mayors are known. One notable early mayor was the ironmaster, [[Richard Foley (ironmaster)|Richard Foley]], chosen in 1615.<ref name="early mayors">{{Cite book|title=Dudley as it was and as it is today|last=Chandler|first=G|last2=Hannah|first2=I. C.|publisher=Batsford|year=1949|location=London|pages=192}}</ref> Oliver Dixon, mayor in 1690, came from a prominent local family that gave their name to the Dixons Green area of Dudley.<ref name="Oliver Dixon">{{cite book|last1=Ellis|first1=Jason|title=Glassmakers of Stourbridge and Dudley 1612-2002|date=2002|publisher=Jason Ellis|isbn=1401067999|pages=285-298285–298}}</ref> Although the leading body governing the town changed in 1791, as the Town Commissioners came into being, <ref name="History"/> the court leet continued to meet until the year after the incorporation of the borough in 1865. The mayor selected in 1860 was Charles Francis George Clark, author of ''The Curiosities of Dudley and the Black Country''.<ref name=Curiosities>{{cite book|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/47943/47943-h/47943-h.htm|last1=Clarke|first1=C.F.G.|title=The Curiosities of Dudley and the Black Country|date=1881|publisher=Buckler Brothers|location=Birmingham}}</ref>

Since 1865 mayors have been chosen from an elected councillor. The first mayor of the new municipal borough, selected on 20 June 1865, was Frederick Smith, Mineral Agent to the [[William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley|Earl of Dudley]].<ref name="First meeting">{{cite news |title=FIRST MEETING OF THE TOWN COUNCIL, DUDLEY |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000033/18650621/009/0004 |access-date=2 October 2018 |work=Birmingham Daily Post |via=The British Newspaper Archive |date=21 June 1865|page=4|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="Dudley Mayors">{{Cite news|url=http://www.blackcountrybugle.co.uk/dudley-mayors-years/story-20144865-detail/story.html|title=Dudley mayors through the years|last=Shaw|first=Dan|date=2010-10-07|work=Black Country Bugle|access-date=2017-03-20|language=en}}</ref> One of his first acts was to organize tea, cake, refreshments and entertainment for 4,000 local school children at his residence at the Priory, Dudley.<ref name="Frederick Smith - treat">{{cite news |title=The Incorporation of Dudley |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000667/18650901/062/0004 |access-date=3 September 2018 |work=Birmingham Daily Gazette |via=British Newspaper Archive |date=1 September 1865|page=4|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Smith's tenure of the position was short, as on 9 November 1865 his successor, Charles Cochrane was selected by the council.<ref name="New Mayor 1865">{{cite news |title=Dudley |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000033/18651110/022/0004 |access-date=7 October 2018 |work=Birmingham Daily Post |via=The British Newspaper Archive |date=10 November 1865|page=4|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Smith's two successors as municipal mayor were also selected as mayors of the Court Leet.<ref name="Court Leet">{{cite news |title=The Court Leet |work=Aris's Birmingham Gazette |page=8|date=29 December 1866}}</ref> A notable mayor from this period was the industrialist [[Noah Hingley]] (1869-701869–70). Noah's son [[Benjamin Hingley]] was the last mayor of the municipal borough, serving two terms from 1887. The [[Local Government Act 1888]] changed the status of Dudley to a [[County Borough of Dudley|County Borough]], effective from 1 April 1889. The first mayor selected by the new authority was William Squires Gorton. <ref>{{Cite book|title=Dudley as it was and as it is today|last=Chandler|first=G|last2=Hannah|first2=I. C.|publisher=Batsford|year=1949|location=London|pages=193}}</ref> Notable mayors from this period include [[William Humble Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley]] (1895-961895–96) and the founder of [[Bean Cars]], Sir George Bean, who served three terms as mayor: in 1908 and 1911-1912. After the Earl of Dudley had finished his two terms, the next mayor was the Netherton-born George Henry Dunn, who had started his working life, still a child, in a colliery.<ref name="Netherton P&P">{{cite book|last1=Williams|first1=Ned|title=Netherton People & Places|date=2008|publisher=The History Press|isbn=9780750946667|page=66}}</ref>

The first female Mayor of Dudley was Dr Katherine Churchill Rogers. She was elected in 1971, and then again in 1985.<ref name="Dudley Mayors"/> In 1974 the [[Metropolitan Borough of Dudley]] was created from the former County Borough of Dudley and other neighbouring local authorities. The first mayor of the new Metropolitan Borough of Dudley was Mrs. Mary J.Pargeter.<ref name="Dudley Mayors"/>

Both the mayor and deputy mayor have ceremonial robes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mayorofdudley.org.uk/assets/civic-booklet-dlbobh.pdf|title=Dudley's little book of big history|website=mayorofdudley.org.uk|access-date=17 March 2017}}</ref> The mayor also has a badge and chain as does the mayoress or consort. Since the badges predate the creation of the Metropolitan Borough in 1974, they carry the civic arms of the [[County Borough of Dudley]]. The regalia also includes a mace and staff. The silver mace, the oldest item in the regalia, was presented by [[William Ward, 3rd Viscount Dudley and Ward|William, Viscount Dudley and Ward]] to the town of Dudley in 1798.

Sources: Chandler and Hannah,<ref name="early mayors"/> and History of the Mayor of Dudley,<ref name="History"/> and St Thomas Churchwardens.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Roper|first=John S|title=The Churchwardens' Book of St Thomas, Dudley, Worc 1618-1725|publisher=Birmingham and Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry|year=1980|isbn=0905105516|pages=9, 13, 26, 30, 34, 86, 90, 96, 121, 125, 181}}</ref>

*Samuel Rudge (1863-1864)

*Job Taylor (1867-681867–68)

*[[Noah Hingley]] (1869-701869–70)

Source: Dudley MBC,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/dudley-council/sets/72157624926924437/with/5032257235|title=Mayors of Dudley|website=Flickr|language=en-us|access-date=2017-04-21}}</ref> Atkins, Matthews and Robins<ref name="20th century">{{cite book|last1=Atkins|first1=Hilary|last2=Matthews|first2=Diane|last3=Robins|first3=Samantha|title=Dudley the Twentieth Century|date=1999|publisher=Sutton Publishing|location=Stroud|isbn=0750922125}}</ref> and Chandler and Hannah<ref name="early mayors" />

*John Hughes (1901-1903)<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |articlenametitle=Election of Mayors |day_of_week=Tuesday |date=11 November 1902 |page_numberpage=12 |issue=36922}}</ref>

*James Smellie (1924-251924–25)

*Reginald Little (1947-481947–48)

*Alderman Frank T. Webb (1962)

*Alderman T.Wells (1966)

*Alderman Joseph G. Rowley (1970)

*Joseph Jones O.B.E (1973)

*Mrs. Mary J.Pargeter (1974)

*Mrs. Gwen Homer (1979)

*Mrs. Lucy Hingley (1984)

*John Woodall JP (2006)

*David John Stanley (2007)

*Steve Waltho (2015)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.expressandstar.com/entertainment/2016/09/12/what-its-like-to-be-a-mayor/|title=What it's like to... Be a mayor|last=Large|first=Heather|websitepublisher=www.expressandstar.com [[Express & Star]]|language=en|access-date=2017-03-16}}</ref>