List of mayors of Saint John, New Brunswick

The Mayor of the City of Saint John is the head of the elected municipal council of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John Common Council consists of a mayor (chair) and 10 councillors. The city has a ward system with four of roughly equal population. This municipal arrangement was first adopted in the 2008 municipal election after a plebiscite held October 9, 2007. The mayor is directly elected along with two councillors that run at large. Since 2021, the deputy mayor has been chosen by Common Council after each election, having previously been the councillor at large who gained a plurality of votes. The current deputy mayor is John MacKenzie. Each ward elects two councillor.

Mayor of Saint John
Incumbent Donna Reardon since June 7, 2021
Style	Your Worship
Term length	4 years (Since 2004)
Inaugural holder	Gabriel George Ludlow
Formation	May 18, 1785
Salary	$88 000 ($18 000 additional allowance), 2012[1]
Website	City of Saint John

Since the incorporation of Saint John in 1785, the mayor has served as the chief representative of the city. Officeholders were first appointed by the Governor of New Brunswick, under an order in council. By the end of the end of the nineteenth century, the mayor was elected by the alderman of Common Council. In 1854, the office was directly elected by Saint John residents. As head of the largest city in New Brunswick, many mayors have served as elected officials at the federal and provincial level both before and after their tenure.

Since 1785, 67 individuals have held the office of mayor. Notably, Samuel Davis, 1977-1980, served as the first elected Jewish Mayor of Saint John. In 1983 Elsie Wayne was elected the first woman mayor. She served until 1993. While serving only two years, Thomas J. Higgins was the first Catholic Mayor of Saint John. The former, Don Darling, was elected May 9, 2016. Donna Reardon, incumbent, was elected May 25, 2021.

List of Mayors

Appointed by Governor-In-Council

No.	Mayor	Term in office	Notes
1	Gabriel George Ludlow (1736-1808)[2]	May 18, 1785[3] – 1795[4]
2	William Campbell (1742-1823)	1795[5] – 1816[4]
3	John Robinson (1762–1828)	1816 – 1828	Died in office
4	William Black	1828 – 1829
5	Lauchlan Donaldson (?-1873)[6]	1829 – 1832
6	William Black	1832 – 1833
7	John M. Wilmot (1775-1847)	1833 – 1834
8	Benjamin L. Peters	1834 – 1835
9	William H. Street	1835 – 1836
10	John Robertson (1799-1876)	1836 – 1837
11	Robert F. Hazen	1837 – 1840
12	William Black	1840 – 1843
13	Lauchlan Donaldson (?-1873)[6]	1843 – 1847
14	John R. Partelow (1795-1865)	1847 – 1848
15	William H. Street	1848 – 1849
16	Robert D. Wilmot (1809-1891)	1849 – 1850
17	Henry Chubb	1850 – 1851

Elected indirectly by Common Council

No.	Mayor	Term in office	Notes
18	Thomas Harding	1851 – 1852
19	William O. Smith	1852 – 1853
20	James Olive	1853 – 1854

Elected directly by residents

No.	Mayor	Term in office	Notes
21	James Olive	1854 – 1855
22	William O. Smith	1855 – 1859
23	Thomas Mcavity	1859 – 1863
24	Isaac Woodward	1863 – 1866
25	Aaron Alward (1828-1886)	1866 – 1870
26	Thomas M. Reed	1870 – 1874
27	A. Chipman Smith	1864 – 1877
28	Sylvester Z. Earle (1822-1888)	1877 – 1879
29	Charles R. Ray	1879 – 1881
30	Simeon Jones	1881 – 1884
31	J. Mcgregor Grant	1884 – 1885
32	J.S. Boies Deveber (1829-1908)	1885 – 1887
33	Henry J. Thorne	1887 – 1889
34	George A. Barker	1889	Died in office
35	I. Allen Jack	July 7, 1889 – August 9, 1889	As Recorder Under City Charter
36	W. Albert Lockhart	1889 – 1891
37	Thomas W. Peters	1891 – 1894
38	George Robertson	1894 – 1898
39	Edward Sears	1898 – 1900
40	John Waterhouse Daniel (1845-1933)	1900 – 1902
41	Walter W. White (1862-1952)	1902 – 1906
42	Edward Sears	1906 – 1908
43	Thomas H. Bullock	1908 – 1910
44	James H. Frink (?-1933)[7]	1910 – 1916
45	Robert T. Hayes	April 24, 1916[8][9] – 1920
46	E. Allen Schofield	1920 – 1922
47	H. R. McLellan (1865-1939)	1922	Recalled following a by-election
48	G. Frederick Fisher	1922 – 1924
49	Frank L. Potts (1867-1926)	1924 – 1926	Died in office
50	Walter W. White (1862-1952)	1926 – 1932
51	James W. Brittain (?-1961)[10]	April 11, 1932[11] – 1936
52	David Laurence MacLaren (1893-1960)	1936 – 1940
53	Charles R. Wasson (?-1967)[12]	1940 – 1944
54	James D. McKenna (1874-1949)[13]	1944 – 1948
55	Ernest W. Patterson	1948 – 1950
56	George E. Howard	1950 – 1952
57	Ernest W. Patterson	October 20, 1952[14] – 1954
58	Gilbert B. Peat	1954 – 1956
59	William W. Macaulay	October 15, 1956[15] – 1958
60	David Laurence MacLaren (1893-1960)	1958 – September 7, 1960	Died in office
61	James A. Whitebone	September 7, 1960 – October 17, 1960	Completed MacLaren's mayoral term as Deputy Mayor[16]
62	Eric Teed (1926-2010)	1960 – 1964
63	Stephen Weyman (1922-1997)	1964 – 1966
64	Arthur L. Gould	1966
64	Arthur L. Gould	January 1967 – June 1967
65	Joseph A. Macdougall	1967 – 1969
66	H. Avard Loomer (1915-1969)	June 22 – July 18, 1969[17]	Died in office
67	James E. Calvin	October 6, 1969 – 1971
68	Bob Lockhart (1931-2023)	June 1971[18] – 1974
69	Edis A. Flewwelling	June 10, 1974[19] – 1977
70	Samuel Davis (1914-1996)	1977 – 1980
71	Bob Lockhart (1931-2023)	1980 – 1983
72	Elsie Wayne (1932-2016)	1983 – 1993
73	Thomas J. Higgins (1931-1995)	1994 – 1995
74	Shirley McAlary	1995 – May 11, 2004[20]
75	Norman McFarlane	2004 – 2008
76	Ivan Court	2008 – 2012
77	Mel Norton	2012 – 2016
78	Don Darling	2016 – 2021
79	Donna Reardon	2021 – present

References

1. "New Brunswick Mayors' Salaries and Expenses". CBC News NB. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
2. "Biography – LUDLOW, GABRIEL GEORGE – Volume V (1801-1820)". www.biographi.ca. Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
3. "Descendants sought;trees to honour mayors". Telegraph-Journal. February 28, 2000. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
4. Hopkins, J. Castell (John Castell) (1898). Canada: an encyclopædia of the country; the Canadian dominion considered in its historic relations, its natural resources, its material progress and its national development, by a corps of eminent writers and specialists. Toronto : Linscott Pub. Co. p. 297. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
5. "1785". The Saint John Centennial Advertiser. October 1, 1883. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
6. Smith, Hilary Paige (July 20, 2011). "Ceremony to honour 19th century mayor". Telegraph-Journal. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
7. "Dr. James H. Frink Dead". The Gazette. March 1, 1933. p. 9. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
8. "St. John, N.B." Morning Sentinel. April 25, 1916. p. 3. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
9. "Hayes Is Elected Mayor of St. Johns". The Bangor Daily News. April 25, 1916. p. 15. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
10. "J. W. Brittain". The Canadian Press. The Toronto Star. March 13, 1961. p. 39. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
11. "Brittain Elected Saint John Mayor". The Gazette. April 12, 1932. p. 15. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
12. "C. R. Wasson". The Gazette. August 29, 1967. p. 33. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
13. "James D. McKenna Dies in Saint John". Canadian Press. The Ottawa Journal. March 16, 1949. p. 36. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
14. "Saint John Elects Mayor". Canadian Press. The Kingston Whig-Standard. October 21, 1952. p. 13. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
15. "Saint John Mayor". Canadian Press. The Windsor Star. October 16, 1956. p. 11. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
16. "Will Serve As Mayor Until Oct. 17 Voting". The Evening Times-Globe. September 14, 1960. p. 17. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
17. "Saint John mayor named". Canadian Press. The Hamilton Spectator. October 7, 1969. p. 54. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
18. "Parachuting Mayor". The Sault Star. September 22, 1971. p. 42. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
19. "3 new mayors in N.B. cities". Canadian Press. The Montreal Star. June 11, 1974. p. 58. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
20. "Election full of tight races; Miramichi mayoral race bounces back and forth; Saint John ousts veteran mayor Shirley McAlary". Times & Transcript. May 11, 2004. ProQuest 422861767. Retrieved April 28, 2024.