Gympie’s story of local government begins with gold-rush chaos on the Mary River and grows into a long line of mayors who helped turn a rough mining camp into a regional city and, today, a broad-based local government region.Formal civic leadership began in 1880 when the Gympie Division was replaced by the Borough of Gympie, giving residents their own elected council and a mayor to represent local interests.
Early mayors such as Matthew Mellor, William Ferguson and George Ryland were often prominent miners, businessmen or politicians, reflecting the way gold, commerce and state politics were tightly intertwined in the town’s early years. As Gympie grew, the borough later became the Town and then the City of Gympie, with mayors playing key roles in building infrastructure, promoting the district and navigating the boom–and‑bust cycles of mining and agriculture.
Through the twentieth century, Gympie’s mayoral history was shaped by long‑serving figures who guided the community through wars, economic change and local government reform. Leaders such as Luke J. Thomas and Ronald Witham each held office for extended periods, overseeing projects that modernised roads, public facilities and civic institutions for a growing population. Later amalgamations, including the creation of the Shire of Cooloola in 1993 and the Gympie Region in 2008, broadened the mayor’s role from representing the city itself to speaking for a much larger rural and town population.
From Goldfield To Borough
When gold was discovered at Gympie in 1867, the district developed rapidly but was initially managed through broader rural authorities rather than its own municipality. On 11th November 1879 the Queensland Government created the Gympie Division under the Divisional Boards Act 1879, recognising the area’s growing population and the need for basic services.
Gympie Division
1880 – 1880 William Henry Couldery
In 1880, mining entrepreneur William Henry Couldery became the first chairman of the newly created Gympie Divisional Board, effectively running the Gympie Division as its inaugural local government leader.
William Henry Couldery
Local residents quickly argued that booming Gympie deserved full municipal status rather than being treated as just another rural division. Their lobbying paid off on 25 June 1880 when the Gympie Division was abolished and replaced by the Borough of Gympie, which then held its first municipal elections on 25 August 1880.
Borough of Gympie
The Borough of Gympie was a gold‑rush era municipality, proclaimed in 1880 so the rapidly growing Gympie goldfield could govern its own urban services and civic affairs.
1880 – 1882 Matthew Mellor Matthew Mellor was the first mayor of the Borough of Gympie and also served as chairman of the Widgee Divisional Board and was a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Wide Bay and Gympie.
1882 – 1883 William Ferguson
1883 – 1884 William Smyth
1884 – 1886 William Ferguson
1886 – 1890 Lieut Col William Jeremiah Ferguson
1890 – 1891 Edward Bytheway
1891 – 1892 John L Mathews
1892 – 1893 Abraham Hutchinson
1893 – 1894 John L Mathews
1894 – 1895 William Suthers
Borough of Gympie (inc Glastonbury)
On 4 January 1895 the Glastonbury Division was abolished and its territory was divided between Widgee Division and the Borough of Gympie, expanding Gympie’s municipal area to take in part of the neighbouring gold‑mining district of Glastonbury.
1895 – 1896 Edward Bytheway
1896 – 1897 William Suthers
1897 – 1898 Matthew Mellor
1898 – 1899 Daniel Mulcahy
1899 – 1899 George Ryland
1899 – 1901 Daniel Mulcahy
1902 – 1902 Edgar Benjamin Davidson
1902 – 1902 Daniel C Dowling
Town of Gympie
1903 – 1904 David Elder Reid
Under Mayor David Elder Reid in 1903–04, Gympie was navigating the transition from a gold‑rush town to a more stable city, with a returned Boer War officer and trained chemist at the helm who combined civic leadership with technical and military experience.
City of Gympie
In 1904 Gympie was officially a town, not yet a city, with Mayor Gilbert Garrick overseeing a maturing former goldfield that was investing in civic infrastructure such as extended waterworks and substantial public buildings like the School of Arts.
1904 – 1905 Gilbert Garrick
1905 – 1907 George Frederick Lister
1907 – 1908 Walter George Ambrose
1908 – 1909 George A Buist
1909 – 1911 William Edward Burbridge
1911 – 1912 Richard H Cox
1912 – 1913 Walter G Ambrose
1913 – 1914 Alfred George Ramsey
1914 – 1916 Peter Green
1916 – 1917 Samuel D Weller
1917 – 1918 George H Mackay
1918 – 1919 R. Stitt
1919 – 1920 W.H. Sedgman
1920 – 1924 Luke J Thomas
1924 – 1927 George Thomas
1927 – 1930 Luke J Thomas
1930 – 1931 Alexander Glasgow
1931 – 1937 Dr Luther Morris
1937 – 1941 Luke J Thomas
1941 – 1970 Ronald N Witham
1970 – 1976 James E Kidd
1976 – 1988 Mick Venardos
1988 – 1993 Joan E Dodt
Cooloola Shire Council
The Shire of Widgee was abolished on 2 November 1993 when a state regulation implemented recommendations to amalgamate it with the City of Gympie, creating the new Shire of Cooloola, with former Widgee chairman Adrian McClintock elected as the first Cooloola Shire mayor later that month.
1993 – 1997 Adrian McClintock
1997 – 2008 Mick Venardos
Gympie Regional Council
On the 15th March 2008, the Shire of Cooloola merged with the Shire of Kilkivan and Division 3 of the Tiaro Shire (Theebine and Gunalda), to form the Gympie Region. The new name was Gympie Regional Council.
2008 – 2014 Ron Dyne
2015 – 2020 Mick Curran
2020 – Present Glen Hartwig
List of Mayor and Councillors Per Year (Work in Progress)
1906
- Mayor G.F. Lister
- Elliott
- Ambrose
- Buist
- Ramsey
- Reid
- Ashford
- Burbridge
1908
- Mayor G.A. Buist
- Burbridge
- Green
- Cox
- Ramsey
- Nicholson
- Reid
- Lister
- Ambrose
1910
- Mayor Burbridge
- D.E. Reid
- P. Green
- Richard Cox
- A.G. Ramsey
- W.G. Ambrose
- Lister
- Niemann
- Nicholson
Town Clerk: A. Ranson
1913
- Mayor A.G. Ramsey
- G.H. Mackay
- P. Green
- S.D. weller
- McSweeney
- L.J. Thomas
- Garrick
- Niemann
1918
- Mayor R. Stitt
- A.T. Braswell
- L.J. Thomas
- S.D. Weller
- W. H. Sedgman
- Powell
- Stuart
- Shoebridge
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