Mayor Fletcher

As research progresses, more is becoming known about some of the early Mayors and Aldermen of Manly - Mayor William Fletcher, for example.

William Horner Fletcher was born in 1851 in Auckland, New Zealand, where his father, Rev Joseph Horner Fletcher was the headmaster of Wesley College. They were descendants of a close associate of John Wesley, William Horner.

The family moved to Brisbane, where William went to Ipswich Grammar School, and then to Sydney, where his father was Principal of Newington College. Joseph Fletcher was a pioneering devotee of rugby, and arranged for the first inter-school game of rugby in Australia, between Newington College and the King's School. William too was a keen sportsman, and played as 'quarter back' for the Waratah rugby club in the 1870s. He became the first secretary of the Southern Rugby Football Union in 1874. He was also secretary of the Sydney Amateur Athletic Club for a time. As a young man he was capable of strenuous feats - on one occasion he canoed alone from Penrith to Broken Bay, taking six days for the trip.

William became an accountant, and was admitted as a partner in the firm of David Fell and Co. In 1887 he married Miss Louise Moore, whose father Lewis Moore owned the large house Tramore in Darley Road, Manly. They set up home in the same street at Erlsdon, very near to Tramore.

He was elected to Manly Council and became Mayor in 1899 and 1900. His main concern while in office was to apply himself to the Council's accounts, to ensure that Manly Council did not require any form of Government subsidy over the period. He was also a founder and treasurer of Manly Cottage Hospital, and a considerable fund-raiser for the hospital.

On leaving Manly in 1919 he was presented with an illuminated testimonial from Manly Methodist Church. In retirement he lived at Neutral Bay, and served on the council of Newington College, Stanmore. He appears to have been one of the most likeable of Manly's Mayors. He died in 1931, aged 79, and a prize in his name was instituted at Newington College.

John MacRitchie

Sidewalk surfing

Police and civic leaders lined up to condemn “roller skate boards” in 1964. The boards, used in the brand new craze of “sidewalk surfing” were slammed as illegal, dangerous, and a menace to public safety. The Pacific Times carried an article on 10th December 1964 referring to a string of minor accidents treated at Mona Vale Hospital. At Warringah Mall, skate board riders had crashed through plate glass windows and had knocked down shoppers, and a ban had been placed on them by Mall management.
There was stated to be a “bonehead” element among the older types of rider, some of them as old as 17 or 18. Manly Council was to debate imposing a ban on skate boards at its next meeting. However, Aldermen discovered that they were powerless to cope with the situation, having only two rangers, who did not have the power to impound boards. “When the schools break up, motorists will be driving in a nightmare,” stated one Alderman, who conceded that some of the children were very clever at what they could do on a skateboard. The Council moved to ask the Department of Local Government to regulate skateboarding.

Alderman Samuel Bennett Bailey, a 19th century hero

There are several Aldermen of Manly for whom we do not have photographs. One of these mystery men is Alderman Samuel Bennett Bailey (1845-1896), who was a member of Manly Council in the late 1880s.
He was born in Cornwall, UK, the son of a builder and architect named William Bailey, who came to Sydney in 1848. William built the Catherine Hayes Hospital at Randwick and St Mary’s Church, and became Mayor of Newtown.
Samuel married Emma Green of Tamworth in 1870, at the Newtown Wesleyan Church. In April of that year, he found himself at Ulladulla at the time the ship Walter Hood was wrecked near Berrara. The wreck of the Walter Hood was a dramatic affair. In bad weather, Bailey and another man swam out in repeated unsuccessful efforts to get a line to men stranded on the wreckage of the ship. Several passengers and crew drowned before conditions abated and the rest were brought to safety. For his bravery, Bailey was awarded the silver medal of the Royal Humane Society in January 1872.
For a few years, he kept the Commercial Stores at Merriwa, NSW, before moving to the North Shore in the early 1880s. He came to Manly circa 1887, where he lived at ‘Restormel’, 4 East Promenade, built by his father (Restormel is a place in Cornwall), and practised as a land agent. He was elected to Manly Council in February 1886, with 329 votes. Shortly after, Alderman Charles Hayes was ousted from office by a decision of the Supreme Court, and Bailey was one of four Aldermen who resigned in consequence. Fresh elections were held, and he topped the poll with 381 votes. He resigned again in June 1887, perhaps because he was about to be declared insolvent.
The following year he registered a patent for “an improved medium to be used for advertising purposes” – it is not clear what this was, but it had something to do with theatrical advertisements. By 1890 he had become a journalist. He died on 15 October 1896, and is buried at Rookwood cemetery (Old Wesleyan section).
Samuel and Emma had at least seven children. One of them, Mrs Bernice Druce, wrote to the Sydney Morning Herald in 1925 to retell the story of her father’s heroism in the wreck of the Walter Hood.