Thursday, August 10, marks 160 years since the Borough of Sale was proclaimed in 1863, marking the introduction of local government to the area.
It was declared the Town of Sale on 1903 and the City of Sale on May 1, 1950, before merging with Maffra, Rosedale, Avon and parts of neighbouring shires in 1994 to become the Shire of Wellington.
The first Mayor was Nehemiah Guthridge, a former Collins Street ‘estate and general agent’ who had also supplied goldfield needs. He moved to Sale in 1862 following a disastrous investment in private railway, and took over a business he ran as Gippsland Hardware Company.
Guthridge had experience as a Melbourne City Councillor and state politician, and this was welcomed by the new council. He was elected Mayor three more times and, except for a one-year break, served on council until his death in 1878.
He was a leader in lakes shipping, involved in the establishment of the Wesleyan church, became a trustee of Gippsland Hospital and served as treasurer of the North Gippsland Agricultural and Pastoral Society.
He is remembered in Guthridge Parade and Lake Guthridge – the latter first mockingly named in his honour by fellow councillors, who did not share his foresight regarding its potential as a recreational attraction.
With Foster Street – the main business centre at the time – the council first met in an empty property in the street until the erection of the council chambers in 1866. The chambers and subsequent 1880s office extension were designed by local architect John Healthfield Pettit, and are now the home of the Sale Museum. Still boasting the original council table and chairs and the Mayor’s reception room furnishings, the museum has a number of local government items, including images of all the mayors of the municipality until it became the Shire of Wellington.
The museum is open from 1.30 pm to 4pm each Wednesday and Sunday afternoon.
The second district municipality was Avon Shire, which was declared a Roads District on September 13, 1864 and a shire on October 10, 1865. Lemuel Bolden, who had chaired the Roads Board, became the first shire president.
Originally part of Avon Shire, Maffra Shire was incorporated as a shire in October 1875. Its first shire president was Henry Gordon Glassford.
Rosedale Shire was incorporated as a roads district on February 26, 1869 and became a shire on February 17, 1871, with Donald McLeod leading both the Roads Board and the inaugural council.
