City of Brighton (South Australia)

The City of Brighton was a local government area in South Australia seated at the Adelaide sea-side township of Brighton from 1858 until 1997.

City of Brighton South Australia
Brighton municipal building, formerly the Brighton Town Hall, housed the council chambers from 1937 to 1997.
City of Brighton
Coordinates	35.019°S 138.520°E / -35.019; 138.520
Established	1858
Abolished	1997
Council seat	Brighton
LGAs around City of Brighton: Glenelg Marion City of Brighton Marion Marion Marion

History

The Corporate Town of Brighton was proclaimed on 25 November 1858^[1] by severance from the District Council of Brighton,^[2] the latter later changing its name to Marion to avoid confusion. ^[1] The town boundaries extended from the modern Yarrum Grove, Boundary Road and Oaklands Road (Somerton Park), in the north, to Kingston Park reserve, Kingston House, Scholfield Road (Kingston Park) and Arthur Street (Seacliff Park) in the south. On the west it was bounded by the coastline and on the east by the modern Brighton Road (Somerton Park), MacArthur Avenue (Hove), Winton Avenue (Hove), Neath Avenue (South Brighton) and Davenport Terrace (Seacliff Park).^[2] The inaugural councillors named in the 1858 proclamation were: Francis Corbet Singleton, Pitt Cobbett, George William Chinner, William Home Popham, and William Voules Brown.

The municipality of Brighton ultimately became the City of Brighton when it crossed the required population threshold in the early 1900s.

Brighton and its northern coastal neighbour, the City of Glenelg, were amalgamated in 1997 to become the City of Holdfast Bay, which retained the two civic centres at Brighton and Glenelg.

Councillors

In 1919 Grace Benny was elected to Brighton council, becoming the first woman to be elected as a councillor in a local government body in South Australia.^[3]

References

1. Marsden, Susan (2012). "A History of South Australian Councils to 1936" (PDF). Local Government Association of South Australia. p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016. To avoid confusion over the similarity of names of DC of Brighton and the Corporation of the Town of Brighton, a petition by ratepayers resulted in the change of name from DC of Brighton to DC of Marion on 31 August 1886.
2. "Proclamation" (PDF). South Australian Government Gazette. 1858 (49 ed.): 862. 25 November 1858. Retrieved 21 August 2017. [...]until the first general election for Councillors and Assessors shall be held, the following shall be the Councillors— Messrs. Francis Corbet Singleton, Pitt Cobbett, George William Chinner, William Home Popham, and William Voules Brown; and the Assessors— Messrs. Henry Highet and William P. Featherstone [...]
3. Marsden, Susan (2012). "A History of South Australian Councils to 1936" (PDF). Local Government Association of South Australia. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016. At first, voters and councillors were men only, but under the 1861 Municipal Corporations Act women became the first in Australia eligible to vote in local government elections, well before they could vote in parliamentary elections. Many years were to pass before any woman was elected to council – the first to succeed in South Australia (and in Australia) was Grace Benny, to Brighton Council in 1919.