Ross Borough
# Ross Borough

The Ross Borough was the borough council covering the town of Ross, New Zealand and the nearby locality Donoghues, between 1878 and 1972, when Ross Borough was merged back into Westland County.

## History

The area was first occupied by white settlers in 1865 after the discovery of gold in the Tōtara River and in Jones Creek. Ross was initially administered by the Canterbury Provincial Council based in Christchurch, and then by the successor government agency Westland County from 1868 to 1873, which was succeeded by Westland Province from 1873 to 1876. With the abolition of the provincial government system, the area came under the control of Westland County; equal in name to the organisation from 1873 but with the functions of a county council as opposed to provincial government. In September 1877, some residents of Ross met "to take into consideration the advisability of forming Ross into a municipality"; at the time the area was part of Westland County. The first step was to form a committee that would decide on the boundaries of such a borough. The meeting also passed a unanimous decision to petition the governor—George Phipps, 2nd Marquess of Normanby—to declare Ross a municipality and the required number of signatures was collected. On 31 December 1877, John Benjamin Lopas (acting on behalf of the committee) received a telegram from the government that the borough had been approved and that he had been appointed returning officer and clerk. Three candidates stood for election as mayor of Ross, and Camille Malfroy beat Joseph Grimmond with 79 votes to 75, with William Lockington coming a distant third.

The borough council took over the responsibilities of the Totara Road Board. The borough covered an area of four square miles (10 $km^2).$

In 1972, the borough was merged back into Westland County.

## List of mayors

Between 1878 and 1982, Ross had 16 mayors. The following is a complete list:

| | Name | Term of office |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | Camille Malfroy | 1878 |
| 2 | Joseph Grimmond | 1878–1881 |
| 3 | Rudolph Hirter | 1881–1883 |
| 4 | John Hunt Currie | 1883–1884 |
| (1) | Camille Malfroy | 1884–1885 |
| (3) | Rudolph Hirter | 1885–1886 |
| (2) | Joseph Grimmond | 1886–1887 |
| (4) | John Hunt Currie | 1887–1888 |
| (2) | Joseph Grimmond | 1888–1890 |
| 5 | P. Keller | 1890–1892 |
| (2) | Joseph Grimmond | 1892–1893 |
| (4) | John Hunt Currie | 1893–1897 |
| 6 | David Yorwarth | 1897–1901 |
| (2) | Joseph Grimmond | 1901–1905 |
| 7 | Thomas Wanless Bruce | 1905–1914 |
| (2) | Joseph Grimmond | 1914–1919 |
| 8 | S. P. Evans | 1919–1929 |
| 9 | Hermann Osmers | 1929–1931 |
| 10 | John Murdoch | 1931–1933 |
| (9) | Hermann Osmers | 1933–1935 |
| 11 | J. J. Rea | 1935 |
| (10) | John Murdoch | 1935–1938 |
| 12 | Kenneth Ogilvie May | 1938–1947 |
| 13 | Alfred Norman Gilmore | 1947–1952 |
| 14 | Allan Francis Laing | 1952–1956 |
| – | John Holmes (acting) | 1956 |
| 15 | Patrick J. Minehan | 1956–1962 |
| 16 | Stanley Scott | 1962–1972 |
