List of mayors of Bendigo

This is a list of the mayors of the City of Greater Bendigo a local government area in Victoria, Australia, and its pre-amalgamation predecessors: the Sandhurst Municipal Council, the City of Sandhurst, the City of Bendigo and the Borough of Eaglehawk. The City of Greater Bendigo was formed in 1994 by the amalgamation of the City of Bendigo with the Borough of Eaglehawk, Shire of Strathfieldsaye, Shire of Huntly and parts of the Rural City of Marong and Shire of McIvor.
The current mayor is Thomas Prince who was voted into the position by councillors in 2025 while the current deputy mayor is Karen Corr, who was also voted into the position by councillors in 2025.

Overview

Formation of the council

The first Sandhurst Municipal Council election was held on 10 January 1856; the first meeting occurred on 14 January, where Edward Nucella Emmett was appointed the council's first Chairman. The council consisted of seven members, including the Chairman. The first duties of the council included the formation of a ratepayers role, the appointment of officers, and the assessment of properties within the municipality. In September 1863, Sandhurst became a borough, resulting in the number of council members increasing to nine.
In 1867, three wards were created, named after the three most recent Governors of Victoria: Darling, Barkly, and Sutton. Three councillors were required for each ward; each councillor, elected by ratepayers, selected the wards they wished to represent. Each councillor was elected for a three-year term.

Elections

Following the annual council election, the mayor is elected by councillors. The mayor holds office for one year only, but is eligible for re-election.

Mayoral chain

On 4 July 1893, a mayoral chain was introduced for the City of Sandhurst; the idea for introducing the chain had been suggested by mayor Joseph Henry Abbott the previous year. Constructed from gold harvested during Bendigo's gold rush, the mayoral chain was created by Bendigo jeweller F. N. Prescott. A large gold medallion, presented by George Lansell and bearing the City of Bendigo coat of arms, was included on the chain. At their own expense, each past mayor was asked to supply a link for the chain, engraved with their name, monogram and year of office; most surviving mayors, and the relatives of those who had died, provided a link to the chain.
In February 1998, a new mayoral chain was created for the newly-amalgamated City of Greater Bendigo, created by Tony Kean from gold harvested in the Central Deborah Gold Mine. The crests of each of the former Bendigo municipalities that had existed before council amalgamation were featured on individual links of the chain. The chain was designed to hold thirty links to accommodate future mayors. New links in the chain will be funded by the council.

Bendigo

Sandhurst Municipal Council (1856–1871)

From 1856 until 1871, Sandhurst Municipal Council leaders were referred to as "Chairmen".

#	Portrait	Chairman	Ward	Term
1		Edward Nucella Emmett		1856–1857
2		James Forrester Sullivan		1857–1858
3		William Vazie Simons		1858–1860
4		Joseph Henry Abbott		1860–1861
5		James Joseph Casey		1861
6		Robert Strickland		1861–1862
7		Robert Burrowes		1862–1863
8		John McIntyre	Darling	1863–1868
9		John Holmes	Darling	1868–1869
10		George Aspinall	Barkly	1869–1870
11		James Boyd	Sutton	1870–1871

City of Sandhurst (1871–1891)

On 21 July 1871, the Sandhurst Municipal Council became the City of Sandhurst. All subsequent council leaders were referred to as "Mayors", with James Boyd being the first mayor of the City of Sandhurst.

#	Portrait	Mayor	Ward	Term
1		James Boyd	Sutton	1870–1871
2		Dugald Macdougall	Sutton	1871–1873
3		George Aspinall	Barkly	1873–1874
4		John Augustus Woodward	Sutton	1874–1875
5		Robert Clark	Barkly	1875–1876
6		Henry Hattam	Sutton	1876
7		Ebenezer Neill	Barkly	1876–1877
8		Alexander Bayne	Darling	1877–1878
9		David Chaplin Sterry	Sutton	1878–1879
'		John Augustus Woodward	Sutton	1879–1880
10		Patrick Hayes	Barkly	1880–1881
11		Walter George Jackson	Darling	1881–1882
12		Abraham Harkness	Sutton	1882–1883
13		Alfred Shrapnell Bailes	Barkly	1883-1884
14		John Delbridge	Sutton	1884–1885
15		Samuel Henry McGowan	Barkly	1885–1886
'		Patrick Hayes	Barkly	1886–1887
16		Thomas Jefferson Connelly	Darling	1887–1888
17		Jacob Isaac Cohn	Darling	1888–1889
18		John Paul Carolin	Darling	1889–1890
19		John Roberts Hoskins	Sutton	1890–1891

City of Bendigo (1891–1994)

On 8 May 1891, Sandhurst was renamed Bendigo; the first mayor of the City of Bendigo was Joseph Henry Abbott.

#	Portrait	Mayor	Ward	Term
20		Joseph Henry Abbott	Darling	1891–1893
21		Daniel Barnet Lazarus	Sutton	1893–1894
22		Conrad Heinz	Barkly	1894–1895
'		Daniel Barnet Lazarus	Sutton	1895–1896
23		Harry Montague Marks	Darling	1896–1897
'		Abraham Harkness	Sutton	1897–1899
'		Samuel Henry McGowan	Barkly	1899–1900
24		Simeon Ryan	Barkly	1900–1901
25		John Roberts Hoskins	Sutton	1901–1902
26		James Henry Curnow	Sutton	1902–1904
27		Ambrose Dunstan	Barkly	1904–1905
28		Luke Murphy	Darling	1905–1906
29		James Semmens	Barkly	1906–1907
'		John Paul Carolin	Darling	1907–1908
30		Andrew Harkness	Sutton	1908–1909
31		David John Andrew	Sutton	1909–1910
32		William Henry Wilkie	Barkly	1910–1911
33		Harry Astwood Ross	Sutton	1911–1912
'		James Henry Curnow	Sutton	1912–1913
'		David John Andrew	Sutton	1913–1914
'		William Henry Wilkie	Barkly	1914–1915
34		William Beebe	Darling	1915–1917
35		Richard Hartley Smith Abbott	Darling	1917–1918
'		Ambrose Dunstan	Barkly	1918–1919
'		James Henry Curnow	Sutton	1919–1920
'		David John Andrew	Sutton	1920–1921
36		James Edward Holland	Sutton	1921–1922
37		Michael Gabriel Giudice	Sutton	1922–1924
38		Ernest Morton Vains	Sutton	1924–1925
39		William Ewing	Darling	1925–1926
40		John Andrew Michelsen	Barkly	1926–1927
'		James Henry Curnow	Sutton	1927–1928
41		Edwin George Batchelder	Sutton	1928–1929
42		Michael Eugene O'Brien	Barkly	1929–1930
43		William Henry Taylor	Darling	1930–1931
44		George Dawson Garvin	Sutton	1931–1932
45		Frederick Conrad Niemann	Sutton	1932–1933
46		George Bennetts	Darling	1933–1934
47		Albert Staples	Sutton	1934–1935
'		John Andrew Michelsen	Barkly	1935–1936
48		William May Bolton	Sutton	1936–1937
'		William Henry Taylor	Darling	1937–1938
'		George Dawson Garvin	Sutton	1938–1939
'		Albert Staples	Darling	1939–1940
49		George Albert Pethard	Darling	1940–1941
50		Alfred John Anderson	Barkly	1941–1942
'		John Andrew Michelsen	Barkly	1941–1942
'		William Henry Taylor	Darling	1942–1943
51		Leslie William Galvin	Sutton	1944–1945
52		Anthony T. Truscott	Barkly	1945–1946
53		David William Streader	Sutton	1946–1947
'		George Albert Pethard	Darling	1947–1948
54		Ernest Frederick Granger	Darling	1948–1949
55		Robert Poulston	Barkly	1949–1950
56		Norman Joseph Oliver	Darling	1950–1951
'		George Albert Pethard	Darling	1951–1952
57		Thomas Richard Flood	Barkly	1952–1953
58		Frederick William Clayton	Sutton	1953–1954
'		Robert Poulston	Barkly	1954–1955
59		Henry William Snell	Darling	1955–1956
60		Alexander Sadler Craig	Barkly	1956–1957
'		Thomas Richard Flood	Barkly	1957–1958
'		Henry William Snell	Darling	1958–1960
61		Rupert Harold Thomas Wilson	Darling	1960–1961
'		Frederick William Clayton	Barkly	1961–1962
62		Roy Alexander Rae	Barkly	1962–1963
'		Alexander Sadler Craig	Barkly	1963–1964
'		Norman Joseph Oliver	Darling	1964–1965
63		Roy Francis Turner	Sutton	1965–1966
'		Thomas Richard Flood	Barkly	1966–1967
64		Rodney Warren Cambridge	Barkly	1967–1968
'		Thomas Richard Flood	Barkly	1968–1969
65		James Clarkson McCoy Jeffrey	Darling	1969–1970
'		Norman Joseph Oliver	Darling	1970–1971
66		Douglas Ewan Elliott	Sutton	1971–1972
67		Joseph Patrick Pearce	Darling	1972–1973
'		Alexander Sadler Craig	Barkly	1973–1974
'		Roy Francis Turner	Sutton	1974–1975
68		Robert Lindsay Campbell	Sutton	1975–1976
69		Robert Russell Cooper	Barkly	1976–1977
'		Roy Francis Turner	Sutton	1977–1978
70		Eugene Carl Sandner	Barkly	1978–1979
'		Robert Lindsay Campbell	Sutton	1979–1980
71		Paul T. Tomkinson	Barkly	1980–1981
72		Christopher David Stoltz	Sutton	1981–1982
'		Joseph Patrick Pearce	Darling	1982–1983
73		Peter Mansell	Barkly	1983–1984
'		Joseph Patrick Pearce	Darling	1984–1985
74		Norman Francis Quin	Darling	1985–1986
75		Michael Alexander Anthony Currie	Sutton	1986–1987
76		Colin Mayne Nankervis	Barkly	1987–1988
77		Robin L. Adams	Barkly	1988–1989
78		Peter R. Morley	Barkly	1989–1990
79		James Douglass	Darling	1990–1993
80		Andrew John Balsillie	Darling	1993–1994