David Gilpin (6 April 1863 – 21 May 1952), was an Australian schoolteacher, businessman, accountant and local government politician who served two terms as

Lord Mayor of Sydney The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of Sydney is the head of the Council of the City of Sydney, which is the local government area covering the central business district of Sydney in the State of New South Wales, Australia. The Lord Mayor has be ...

and was the last Mayor of Camperdown, leading the negotiations that led to Camperdown Council's amalgamation with the

City of Sydney The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, th ...

in 1908.

Early life

David Gilpin was born on 6 April 1863 at Carlisle, Cumberland, England, and emigrated to Australia aged 3 with his parents in 1866, arriving in Brisbane before moving to Sydney in 1867. Gilpin began his career in 1883 when he was appointed a public school teacher, serving in various country schools. As a teacher he married Mary Ann Southam at Tilba Tilba on 21 October 1884 and they had five sons and two daughters. Later becoming a Sydney produce merchant and accountant, Gilpin settled with his family in the inner Sydney suburb of Camperdown.

Political career

Gilpin first took elected office as an

Auditor An auditor is a person or a firm appointed by a company to execute an audit.Practical Auditing, Kul Narsingh Shrestha, 2012, Nabin Prakashan, Nepal To act as an auditor, a person should be certified by the regulatory authority of accounting and au ...

for the Council of the small

Municipality of Camperdown The Municipality of Camperdown was a local government area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The municipality was proclaimed in 1862 and, with an area of 1.6 square kilometres, covered the entire suburb of Camperdown, as well as small part ...

in February 1904, but, as secretary of Camperdown Ratepayers Association, soon stood for election as an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

for Belmore Ward, to which he was elected in February 1906. Gilpin however joined the council during a period of severe crisis; the council had been running insolvent for the last few years and the Town Hall where council met was fully mortgaged. In the years before his election, Camperdown aldermen had been seeking to amalgamate with one or several of their neighbouring councils, with little success. Gilpin was elected mayor after the February 1908 municipal elections, and tasked himself with concluding the negotiations for Camperdown amalgamating with the

. Gilpin presided over the final meeting of Camperdown council held on 7 December 1908, with Gilpin noting that "I am very pleased to say that the result of the negotiations, in the form of the present Bill, was unanimously agreed to by this council, and has met with the approval of all the ratepayers of Camperdown. The primary object for which we were elected was the extinction of Camperdown as a municipality, and in a few days this will be an accomplished fact." The council officially ceased to exist and was absorbed into the City of Sydney when the ''Sydney Corporation (Amendment) Act 1908'' was passed by the

Parliament of New South Wales The Parliament of New South Wales is a bicameral legislature in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New South Wales Legislative Council (upper house). Eac ...

, with the council area becoming the Camperdown Ward returning two aldermen. In January 1909, Gilpin was elected alongside his fellow former Camperdown alderman and mayor, Charles Mallett, to the Camperdown Ward of the City of Sydney. Gilpin became one of the council's representatives on the Metropolitan Board of Water Supply and Sewerage in March 1922. Joining the

Civic Reform Association The Civic Reform Association, variously known as the Civic Reform Movement and the Citizens' Reform Association, was an Australian non-aligned ratepayers' organisation that was formed by approximately seventy people at the Sydney Town Hall on 20 ...

when it was created, Gilpin became honorary secretary and was elected Lord Mayor of Sydney for 1923 and 1924. Gilpin lost his bid for re-election to his Camperdown Ward seat on the council in the 1924 municipal elections and forfeited his seat on the Water Board as a result. However, when the Water Board was reconstituted in March 1925 shortly after as an elected, rather than appointed body, Gilpin, who now lived in Burwood, stood for election and was successful for the Fifth Constituency (Annandale, Ashfield, Burwood, Concord, Enfield, Glebe, Homebush, Leichhardt, Lidcombe, and Strathfield). After gaining re-election for a further four-year term in 1927, Gilpin was defeated in his 1931 bid for re-election by the Mayor of Leichhardt, Andrew Noble Campbell.

Later life and legacy

Gilpin's wife, Mary Ann, died at their residence, "''Kayla''", on Parkes Street,

Wentworth Falls Wentworth Falls (Postcodes in Australia, postcode: 2782) is a town in the Blue Mountains (New South Wales), Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, situated approximately west of the Sydney central business district, and about east of Katoo ...

on 5 November 1938. Gilpin died on 21 May 1952, aged 89 and was buried at Wentworth Falls Church of England Cemetery. Gilpin Street in Camperdown is named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilpin, David Australian accountants Australian schoolteachers Civic Reform Association politicians English emigrants to colonial Australia Mayors and Lord Mayors of Sydney Mayors of places in New South Wales 1863 births 1952 deaths