TAMWORTH HISTORY
cheering at all the houses favourable to that gentleman and hooting at all those opposed to him. Mr Rusden’s supporters were not far behind, cheering and hooting a la Loder’s supporters.” At the completion of the 9 to 4 voting hours, Returning Officer P.G.King announced that Loder had won. Of the 1400 eligible electors on the roll, only 531 voted, with Andrew Loder gaining 380 votes to Rusden 151. Quoting the Examiner - “Mr Loder was then put in a chair and carried around the town, headed by a band and banners, one of which was the prettiest we have ever seen and bore the inscription ‘Loder for ever’ “ Interestingly, Loder remained in the office for only 9 months before resigning, soon become disillusioned with parliamentary culture and procedures. Could this happen to our elected candidate from last Saturday ?
majority. Lord was expected to win but Chaffey scored a surprise upset. On coming downstairs from the hotel balcony, Chaffey had to flee up Peel Street, pursued by irate Loyd supporters, luckily gaining sanctuary in the Caledonian Hotel where Coles is now located. Kevin Anderson would have been right, with a sub 3 hour Marathon to his credit but Barnaby I’m not so sure !
By 1876 Tamworth had a population of around 3 000, sufficient to form a Borough Council, leading to our first local government elections. A remarkable 33 candidates nominated, still a record to this day, the next best being 25 candidates in 1965. The election resulted in 8 Councillors - Henry Lye, Abraham Cohen, Edward Lewis, William Dowel, Philip Gidley King, Joseph Chaffey, John Denning and Daniel Regan. That’s 8 Councillors representing 3 000 people - today we have 9 Councillors representing 50 000 people ! AA company Superintendent Philip Gidley King was then elected as our first Mayor, going on to serve 5 consecutive terms. Then living 14 miles from town at the AA Co. headquarters at Goonoo Goonoo Station, his other (1875) house at what is now Calala Cottage Museum was a very handy addition to conduct his mayoral ship. Come 1913 there was an interesting 3-way election contest for the
Philip Gidley King, who became Tamworth’s first Mayor after Tamworth Borough Council elections in 1876.
Frank Chaffey - Yes, he won the 1913 election and also outsprinted his pursuers up Peel Street ! Frank Chaffey - Yes, he won the 1913 election and also outsprinted his pursuers up Peel Street !
seat of Tamworth in the State Legislative Assembly. The candidates were Harry Levien, Jack Lord and Frank Chaffey. Candidate speeches were given from the balcony of the Post Office Hotel in Peel Street. Levien’s speech went on for nearly 3 hours and he was the first eliminated in the vote. (How could anyone speak that long - those that know me - don’t answer !) A big crowd had gathered in Peel Street listening to the speeches, with Lord’s supporters in the
Stories submitted by Michael Cashman of the Tamworth Historical Society © 2020
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