Charles Borlase

Charles Borlase

Charles Bonython Borlase (1820 – 15 May 1875) was Mayor of Wellington, New Zealand in 1874. He had been a member of the first Wellington Town Board in 1863, and a Councillor to 1874. He held the position of Provincial Solicitor from 1857 until his death in 1875.

Background

Borlase was born in Calcutta, Bengal, India in 1820, although his family was from Cornwall. His father was Lieutenant-Colonel Charles B Borlase of the Dragoons. He was stationed with the East India Company in India at the time and died just before Borlase was born. The family returned to England where Borlase studied law and was admitted as a solicitor. For a time he was a law reporter with the London press before becoming a partner in a law firm. Through his families connections with the Molesworth's he migrated with his wife, Elizabeth Emma Borlase (née Holmes), and their three children (Charles, Charlotte, and William) on the Victory to Wellington on 16 August 1848.^[1] In the 1850s he moved from Wellington to the Wairarapa clearing land at Papawai. While there he was noted as being both generous and hospitable. In 1858 he returned to live in Wellington. Borlase was also the Judge for the Featherston horse races for a number of years. In Wellington he resumed his legal practice and was legal adviser to the Wellington Building Society.

Political career

Borlase was persuaded by Wakefield's Radical Party (called the Rowdies by Featherston's Constitutionalist opponents) to enter politics in 1857. He represented Wairarapa on the Wellington Provincial Council from November 1857 to August 1858, when he was defeated by Captain Smith.^[2][3] He then represented the City of Wellington electorate from March 1859 until his death in May 1875.^[2] He was on the Wellington Executive Council from March 1854; the source does not record an end date. He served another period on the Executive Council from June 1866 to June 1868, and was the Provincial Solicitor.^[4] In 1866 he represented the City of Wellington in Parliament until 1870. He was defeated in the 1871 election.^[5]

Civic career

He had been on the Wellington Town Board and then a Wellington City Councillor. In 1874 he was Mayor until his retirement from the position in December of that year. He continued as a Councillor until his death. Borlase became increasingly ill from February or March 1875 until his death at Wellington on 15 May 1875.^[6]

Notes

References

• Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer. 
• Perry, Stuart (1969) No Mean City Wellington City Council, includes a paragraph and a portrait or photo for each mayor
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103. 

Mayors of Wellington City
Mayors	elected by councillors George Hunter William Guyton Joseph Dransfield Charles Borlase William Sefton Moorhouse elected at large William Hutchison Joseph Dransfield George Allen William Hutchison George Fisher Arthur Winton Brown Samuel Brown John Duthie Charles Johnston Arthur Winton Brown Francis Bell Alfred Brandon Charles Luke George Fisher Francis Bell John Blair John Aitken Thomas William Hislop Alfred Newman Thomas Wilford David McLaren John Luke Robert Wright Charles Norwood George Troup Thomas Hislop Will Appleton Rob Macalister Frank Kitts Michael Fowler Ian Lawrence James Belich Fran Wilde Mark Blumsky Kerry Prendergast Celia Wade-Brown Justin Lester
Mayoral elections	Annual term 1875 1876† 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 Biennial term 1899 1901 1903† 1905 1907 1909 1910‡ 1911† 1912‡ 1913 1915 1917† 1919 1921 1923 1925 1927 1929 1931 1933† Triennial term 1935 1938 1941 1944 1947 1950 1953 1956 1959 1962 1965 1968 1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016
† Elected unopposed · ‡ By-election