About Ballarat council
Ballarat West was constituted a municipality on 17 December 1855 and on 14 January 1856, the first council was elected. The municipality became a borough on 21 October 1863 and was proclaimed a city on 7 September 1870.
Chairmen of the Municipality of Ballarat West
1856-57 James Oddie
1858-59 James Stewart MD
1860-61 William Collard Smith
1862-63 Robert Lewis
Mayors of the Town of Ballaarat West
1863-64 Matthew Campbell
1864-65 Joseph Attwood Doane
1865-66 Gilbert Duncan
1866-67, 1867-68 Thomas Davey
1868-69 James McDowell
Mayors of the City of Ballaarat West
1869-70 Thomas Cowan
1870-71 Henry Black Chalmers
1871-72 Robert Lewis
1872-73, 1876-77, 1882-83 Frederick Moses Claxton
1873-74 John Henry Williams
1874-75, 1887-88 William Collard Smith
1875-76, 77 Dan Brophy
1877-78 John Wightman Gray
1878-79 Henry Leggo
1879-80, 1884-85 Alex. Thomas Morrison
1881-82 J Noble Wilson
1883-84, 1890-91 John Hickman (died in office)
1885-86 Charles Salter
1886-87, 1893-94 Thomas Houlden Thompson
1888-89, 1895-96 John Gordon McDonald
1889-90 William Little
1890-91, 1891-92, 1897-98, 1902-03 Charles Collett Shoppee
1892-93 David Cooke
1894-95 Edward Morey
1896-97, 1917-18 Alexander Bell
1898-99 Henry Francis Elliot
1899-1900 John Heinz
1900-01, 1905-06 John Whykes
1901-02, 1906-07, 1913-14 James Job Brokenshire
1903-04, 1908-09, 1914-15 Richard Pearse
1904-05, 1911-12 John Martin Barker
1907-08, 1915-16 Fred Brawn
1909-10, 1916-17, 1920-21 William Duguid Hill
1910-11, 1918-19 Thomas Tuke Hollway
1912-13, 1919-20 George Crocker
Mayors of Greater Ballaarat (amalgamation with Ballaarat East)
1921-22, 1922-23 William Roberts Elsworth
1923-24 Robert John Cooke
1924-25 Abraham Levy
1925-26 Alfred Ernest Nicholson
1926-27 Alfred James Pittard
1927-28, 1942-43 Alex. Mackenzie
1928-29, 1936-37, 1943-44 Joseph Pryor
1929-30 George Bolster
1930-31 Arthur Richards Stewart
1931-32, 1932-33 James Harrison (d 4 Jul 1933)
1932-33 William James Hoare, J Harrison, AR Stewart
1933-34 Alfred John Darling
1934-35 Lazarus L Lederman
1935-36, 1940-41 Michael Martin
1937-38 John Henry Trekardo
1938-39, 1939-40 Alexander Mercer King
1941-42 William John Perkins
1944-45 Robert Hamlin Ramsay
1945-46 Herbert Leslie Coburn
1946-47, 1954-55 Alan Crocker Pittard
1947-48 George Stewart
1948-49 Frederick Charlton Wray
1949-50, 1955-56 Nathaniel Thomas Callow
1950-51 John C Rowe
1951-52, 1965-66 William Ernest Roff
1952-53, 1967-68, 1974-75, Arthur William Nicholson
1953-54 Francis John Cutts
1956-57, 1963-64, 1970-71 Kenneth Crago Webb
1957-58, 1964-65, 1971-72, 1977-78 John Alan Chisholm
1958-59 Gordon Lincoln Scott
1959-60 Frederick Wilson Oliver
1960-61 Alan Arthur Nicholson
1961-62 Arthur Dexter Mason
1962-63, 1968-69 Alexander Elliot Mills
1966-67 Leslie Nicholson
1968-69, 1975-76 Maurice James Brown
1972-73, 1979-80 John Francis McKay
1973-74 Alexander Charles Rizzoli
1976-77 Jessie Margaret Scott
1978-79, 1982-83 Melton Ernest James Foo
1980-81 Alfred Emerson Hancock
1981-82, 1989-90 Donald Henry Woodward
1983-84, 1985-86 Bryan Frederick Crebbin
1985-85 (Bruce) David McKnight
1986-87 James Edward Reeves
1987-88 Neil Steinmann
1988-89 Wanda Violet Chapman
1990-91 Vashti Lloyd
1991-92 Frank Williams
1992-93 James Coghlan
1993-94 Geoff Howard
Ballarat Commissioners (for local government amalgamation)
1994 John Sharpham
1994-95 Vern Robson, Bruce H Clark, Malcolm Lee
Mayors of the City of Ballarat
1996-97 James Coghlan
1997-98, 1998-99, 2008-09, 2009-10 Judy Verlin
1999-2001, 2004-05 John Barnes
2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08 David Vendy
2007-08 Stephen Jones
2010-11 Craig Fletcher
2011-2012 Mark Harris
2012-2013 John Burt
2013-2014 Joshua Morris
2014-2015 John Phillips
2015-2016 Des Hudson
2016-2019 Samantha McIntosh
2019-2020 Ben Taylor