60th Anniversary of the Municipality of WaterlooPrint Page

The area that would constitute the municipality of Waterloo was first incorporated as the Waterloo Ward of the Municipality of Redfern in August 1859. Under the provisions of the Municipalities Act, 1858, 250 residents of the area signed a petition which was published in the Government Gazette on 17 January 1860, noting that "they have every reason for believing that their interests, as part of the said Municipality of Redfern, will be seriously injured by their incorporation with such Municipality, and are, therefore, desirous to be separated therefrom, and be and become a separate and distinct Municipality". The area was subsequently proclaimed as the Municipality of Waterloo on 16 May 1860 by Governor Sir William Denison.

The first councillors were declared elected and held their first meeting at the residence of William Brown, at the corner of what is now Buckland and Botany streets, on 1 July 1860: Edward John Hawksley (elected Chairman), John Geddes, Thomas Rostron, Edward Byrnes, William Austin, William Bryant, John Oates, George Kitson and Jules Felix Charet. Initially established as one at-large constituency, on 5 October 1863 the council was divided into three wards: Northern Ward (Waterloo), Eastern Ward (Rosebery and Zetland) and the Western Ward (Alexandria).

The first permanent chambers of the Waterloo council was a cottage opposite the Cauliflower Hotel on Botany Road and the council later moved to a cottage in Buckland street, which was also the residence of the council clerk. The council continued to meet there until August 1868, when the council met in a room in Wellington Street, Waterloo. Following the enactment of the Municipalities Act, 1867, the title of Chairman was renamed "Mayor" and the council became known as the Borough of Waterloo. After several attempts to amalgamate with various neighbours in the mid-1920s, the council was amalgamated with the City of Sydney, along with most of its neighbours, with the passing of the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948, although parts of the former council area were transferred in 1967 to the City of South Sydney. 

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