Celebrating 160 years of the
Dunedin City Council

 1865-2025

On the 5th of August 2025 we celebrate 160 years since the first meeting of the Dunedin City Council was held. Chaired by the first Mayor of Dunedin, William Mason Esq, this milestone allows Dunedin the claim of the first city to celebrate 160 years of continuous civic government, with an unbroken line of Mayors and Councillors (City of Dunedin, K C McDonald). 

A fortnight earlier, on the 22nd July 1865, it was announced that William Mason had been elected Mayor of Dunedin, with 495 votes. The election of Mr Mason saw a step away from normal British practice, as he was voted in by Dunedin ratepayers, not by council members. Another change was that voting was made by secret ballot; a principle not yet adopted in parliamentary elections. Each male ratepayer was entitled to vote in any ward in which he held property.

The Council elections followed on the 2^nd of August 1865 resulting in the following candidates making up the board: E. Chalmer & J. Griffen (South Ward representatives), J. H. Barr & A. Carrick (High Ward representatives), D. Ross & T. Birch (Bell Ward representatives) and H. Driver & J. Turner (Leith Ward representatives).

The first City Council meeting was held in the offices of the former Dunedin Town Board, which was located on Princes Street about where the Exchange is today.

A page from the first meeting minutes can be seen below, to view the full record click here.

William Mason 
24 February 1810 - 22 June 1879

William Mason trained as an architect in England before moving to Sydney in 1838. Captain William Hobson, first Governor of New Zealand, met Mason on his way to New Zealand and appointed him Superintendent of Works. Through this work Mason oversaw the erection of the first Government buildings in Auckland. Later he tried out a range of other professions including farming, flour-milling, and ship-owning, as well as dabbling in politics, serving as the representative of Pensioner Settlements in New Zealand Parliament. In 1862 he was commissioned to erect premises for the Bank of New Zealand in the South Island, which brought him to Dunedin where he founded his professional practice Mason & Clayton. After serving two terms as Mayor of Dunedin, from 1865 to 1867, Mason returned to architecture in 1871 with the establishment of Mason & Wales, alongside N.Y.A Wales, a practice which still exists today. Notable Dunedin buildings attributed to Mason include Bishopscourt (399 Highgate) and All Saints’ Church (786 Cumberland Street).