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Sydney City Council

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Town Clerk's Department

Unique IDAG-0040DescriptionThe Town Clerk was the chief officer of the Council and head of the administrative structure. The position of Town Clerk lasted until 1993 when the title of Town Clerk was abolished and replaced with General Manager.

The Town Clerk's Department was one of the most important and long-lived Departments of Council. Its major responsibilities were compiling and indexing the minutes of Council, and receiving and despatching correspondence. It also had responsibilities such as personnel, audit, and administration of the Town Hall and the markets, which were not carried out by specific departments until after 1899. Whenever a department was created or abolished by Council, its functions tended to be excised from, or taken over, by the Town Clerk's Department.

The first Town Clerk, Charles Henry Chambers, was elected by a Resolution of Council on 16 November 1842. In 1854, the Council was abolished by the Legislative Council and City Commissioners were appointed. The Town Clerk at that time, John Rae, was appointed as one of the Commissioners. During this period, 1854 to 1857, there was no Town Clerk, but W P Woolcott served as "Secretary to the Commissioners"

The Town Clerk's Department seesm to have been responsible for management of parks as they were brought under various degrees of Council control from 1870 onwards, until they were transferred to the City Engineer in 1928.

In 1899, the audit function was removed from CA 40 and a new department, CA 83, Audit Department I, was created. Responsibility for assets and stores was removed a year later when CA 79, Corporation Assets and Stores Department was created. Both of these departments were abolished in 1931 when "serious defalcations" were discovered relating to the collection of rent from leased properties, which was the responsibility of CA 79, Corporation Assets and Stores Department. The Audit Department, which apparently had failed to discover the fraud, was reduced to a branch of the Town Clerk's Department.

However, in 1935 and 1938, both of these functions were again separated from the Town Clerk's Department, when CA 80, Valuation and Properties Department, and CA 89, Audit Department II, were created. The Valuation and Properties Department lasted as a separate department until 1947, when it became part of the Town Clerk's Department. It stayed there until 1950, when CA 91, Properties Department I, was created.

In 1929, CA 81, Sydney Municipal Library, was abolished and the library became a branch of the Town Clerk's Department. It stayed with the Town Clerk's Department until 1960, when CA 82, Libraries Department was created.

In 1931, the Town Clerk's Department took over management of Council's markets when CA 79, Corporation Assets and Stores Department, was abolished. It retained this function until 1956 when CA 94, City Markets Department, was created.

In 1961, the personnel management function was removed from the Town Clerk's Department when CA 90, Industrial and Personnel Department was created.

On 29 June 1970, Council resolved to change the title of the Town Clerk's Department to "Administration Department". The functions remained the same except that the audit, library, and properties departments were again abolished and became branches of the new Administration Department.CreationResolution of Council 16 November 1842AbolitionResolution of Council 29 June 1970

Position

Chauffeur [multiple departments]

Lady Mayoress' Attendant [Town Clerk's Department]

Officer [Town Clerk's Department]

Organist [Town Clerk's Department]

Patrol Boyman [Town Clerk's Department]

Records Clerk [Town Clerk's Department]

Solicitor [Town Clerk's Department]

Stenographer [Town Clerk's Department]

Switch Attendant [Town Clerk's Department]

Switchboard Operator [Electricity Department, Town Clerk's Department]

Assessor [multiple departments]

Assistant [Town Clerk's Department]

Assistant Audit Clerk [Town Clerk's Department]

Assistant Inspector [Town Clerk's Department]

Assistant Messenger [Town Clerk's Department]

Assistant Town Clerk [Town Clerk's Department]

Attendant [Town Clerk's Department]

Auditor [Town Clerk's Department]

Caretaker [Town Clerk's Department]

Carter [Town Clerk's Department]

Chief Clerk [Town Clerk's Department]

City Assessor [Town Clerk's Department]

City Auditor [multiple departments]

Agency

Circumlocution department

Leichhardt Municipal Council

Properties Department I

Industrial and Personnel Department

Audit Department II

Audit Department I

Libraries Department

Valuation and Properties Department

Corporation Assets and Stores Department

City Engineering and Building Surveyor's Department

Administration Department

Cleansing Department II

Person

Phegan, Catherine Theresa

Phegan, John Joseph

Anderson, Robert Murray McCheyne

Keck, Henry

Description

Start date16th November 1842End date29th June 1970Relationship legacy dataPRECEDED BY: Trustees of Hyde, Phillip and Cook Parks AG-0166 (21/12/1904)
PRECEDED BY: Valuation and Properties Department AG-0080 (06/11/1947)
PRECEDED BY: Corporation Assets and Stores Department AG-0079 (15/04/1931)
PRECEDED BY: Audit Department I AG-0083 (14/04/1931)
PRECEDED BY: Sydney Municipal Library AG-0081 (06/03/1929)
PRECEDED BY: Waterloo Municipal Council AG-0071 (01/01/1949)
PRECEDED BY: Paddington Municipal Council AG-0070 (01/01/1949)
PRECEDED BY: Redfern Municipal Council AG-0069 (01/01/1949)
PRECEDED BY: Newtown Municipal Council AG-0068 (01/01/1949)
PRECEDED BY: Glebe Municipal Council AG-0066 (01/01/1949)
PRECEDED BY: Erskineville Municipal Council AG-0065 (01/01/1949)
PRECEDED BY: Darlington Municipal Council AG-0064 (01/01/1949)
PRECEDED BY: Alexandria Municipal Council AG-0062 (01/01/1949)
RELATED TO: Sydney City Council OR-0001 (03/11/1842)
RELATED TO: Council administration FN-0026 (16/11/1842 to 29/06/1970)
RELATED TO: Chief Executive Officer FN-0024 (16/11/1842 to 29/06/1970)
RELATED TO: Electoral administration FN-0017 (16/11/1842 to 29/06/1970)
RELATED TO: Community services and facilities FN-0013 (06/03/1929 to 12/09/1960)
RELATED TO: Resumptions of land FN-0009 (01/01/1890 to 29/06/1970)
RELATED TO: Property management FN-0006 (01/01/1869 to 18/01/1900)
RELATED TO: Rating powers FN-0005 (16/11/1842 to 23/09/1935)
RELATED TO: Markets control FN-0001 (16/11/1842 to 18/01/1900)
RELATED TO: Property management FN-0006 (15/04/1931 to 18/09/1950)
RELATED TO: Rating powers FN-0005 (06/04/1947 to 29/06/1970)
RELATED TO: Public housing FN-0002 (01/01/1912 to 18/09/1950)
RELATED TO: Markets control FN-0001 (15/04/1931 to 19/03/1956)
RELATED TO: Parks and public spaces management FN-0014 (1/1/1857 to 31/8/1928)
SUBORDINATE AGENCY: City Solicitor AG-0074 (28/07/1843 to 29/06/1970)
SUBORDINATE AGENCY: Trustees of Hyde, Phillip and Cook Parks AG-0166 (08/10/1878 to 21/12/1904)
SUBORDINATE AGENCY: City Cleansing Department I AG-0092 (27/07/1907 to 01/08/1914)
SUBORDINATE AGENCY: Camperdown Memorial Rest Park Trust AG-0175 (28/01/1949 to 01/01/1970)
Source System ID40

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