Mayor of Blenheim

The Mayor of Blenheim officiated over the borough of Blenheim, New Zealand. The office was created in 1869 when Blenheim became a borough, and ceased with the 1989 local government reforms, when Blenheim Borough was amalgamated with Picton Borough and Marlborough County Council to form Marlborough District. There were 31 Mayors of Blenheim. The last Mayor of Blenheim, Leo McKendry, was elected as the first Mayor of Marlborough.

Marlborough was constituted a borough on 6 March 1869.Frederick John Litchfield (1820–1902) was the first mayor in 1869.

Henry Dodson succeeded Litchfield in 1870 and initially served two one-year terms. He served another two terms in 1883–1884. Concurrently, Dodson represented the Wairau electorate in Parliament from 1881 to 1890. The third mayor was George Henderson, who served a total of four terms (1872–1873 and 1885–1886).

John M. Hutcheson (1816–1899) succeeded Henderson as the fourth mayor in 1874. Hutcheson was succeeded by James Edward Hodson, who served two terms (1875–1876). Hodson was a Freemason and died in 1898.

Alfred George Fell was mayor from 1877 to 1879. His father, Alfred Fell, was a prominent early settler in Nelson. Fell was succeeded by Frederick Thomas Farmar, who was mayor from 1880 to 1882. Farmar was succeeded by Dodson and Henderson, who had both first been mayors in the 1870s. William Douslin succeeded Henderson in 1887 and he served one term.

George Riley (died 1893) was mayor in 1888 and 1889. The next mayoral election was held on 27 November 1889, and was contested by two councillors, George Houldsworth and Elijah Bythell. Houldsworth had a majority of one vote (93 votes to 92), was declared elected, and installed on 18 December 1889. Houldsworth (1839–1921) was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and was mayor for two terms until 1891. Bythell (1842–1894) was elected as the next mayor, and he also served for two terms (1892–1893). Bythell was born in Heaton Mersey near Manchester and he came to Blenheim in 1864. The next mayor was Thomas Horton, who served from 1894 to 1897. A banker by trade, he had previously been a member of the Legislative Council of Fiji and the country's Colonial Treasurer. Horton died in Blenheim in 1919, aged 83.

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