Municipality of Darlington

Municipality of Darlington New South Wales
Map of Darlington Municipality from the Atlas of the Suburbs of Sydney, c. 1885.
Established	11 August 1864
Abolished	31 December 1948
Area	0.2 km2 (0.1 sq mi)
Council seat	Darlington Town Hall
Region	Inner West
LGAs around Municipality of Darlington: Sydney Camperdown Municipality of Darlington Redfern Newtown Redfern

Darlington Town Hall
Darlington Town Hall, pictured by Sam Hood, 16 July 1931.
General information
Address	Darlington Road, Darlington
Town or city	Sydney, New South Wales
Country	Australia
Opened	2 January 1879 (1879-01-02)
Demolished	1975 (1975)

The Municipality of Darlington was a local government area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The municipality was proclaimed in 1864 and, with an area of 0.2 square kilometres, was the smallest municipal council in Sydney. It included the entire suburb of Darlington, excepting a small block between Golden Grove and Forbes streets, which was administered by the Municipality of Redfern in Golden Grove Ward. The council was amalgamated, along with most of its neighbours, with the City of Sydney to the north with the passing of the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948. From 1968 to 1982 and from 1989 to 2004, the area was part of the South Sydney councils.

In 1842 Cleveland Street, Sydney was gazetted as the boundary road for the Sydney Municipality and by 1864 residents south of the street had petitioned to become part of the Sydney Council area. When their request was rejected, 104 residents of the Darlington area submitted a further petition to the Governor, Sir John Young, which asked for the establishment of a new municipality south of Cleveland Street. The Governor declared the establishment of the Municipality on 11 August 1864, which was published in the NSW Government Gazette five days later. The first meeting of the electors occurred on 16 September 1864, with Charles Muzio Deane elected as the first Chairman and Aaron Loveridge, Thomas Shepherd, Robert Maze, John Williams and Frederick Williams as Aldermen. George Pile became the first Town Clerk. Under the enactment of the Municipalities Act, 1867', the title of "Chairman" for the council was changed to be "Mayor" and the council was renamed as the Borough of Darlington. From 28 December 1906, following the passing of the Local Government Act, 1906, the council was again renamed as the "Municipality of Darlington".

The municipality was characterised by stable, and, for the most part, non-partisan, councils, which was often in direct contrast to its neighbours: Redfern and Newtown were often divided, especially over choosing a mayor, and Camperdown Council had declared insolvency and was absorbed into Sydney City Council in 1908. Darlington had many long-serving mayors and aldermen, such as Alderman William Graham (1849–1933), who served on the council from 1887 to his death in May 1933, a record total of 47 years service which included four terms as mayor. The boundaries of Darlington Council were expanded due to a transfer with Camperdown in 1906, bringing the boundary of the council up to Newtown Road. Further minor boundary transfers were made with Redfern in 1920 and Sydney in 1931.