The Corporation of the Town of Walkerville (or Town of Walkerville) is a small local government area in the central suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia.
The residents of the Town of Walkerville are represented by a mayor and eight councillors. The area is home to the highest concentration of top earners in South Australia, and was named "South Australia's richest postcode" in 2016.
History The District Council of Walkerville was first proclaimed on 5 July 1855, severing the area from the District Council of Yatala after a petition by local residents proclaimed a desire to break away from the larger District Council of Yatala (proclaimed in 1853). Initially, only the suburbs of Walkerville and Gilberton seceded from Yatala but within a few months, Medindie and North Walkerville (now part of Walkerville proper, east of Fuller Street) were annexed by Walkerville. The district boundaries remained unchanged until 1970 when Vale Park was annexed from the City of Enfield.
Early council meetings were held in a room at the local pub, the Sussex Arms. In 1893 the council seat moved across Stephen Terrace to the present location by the Walkerville Town Hall on Walkerville Terrace, Gilberton.
It was granted corporate town status on 1 October 1944, becoming the Town of Walkerville.
Suburbs Gilberton (5081) Medindie (5081) Vale Park (5081) Walkerville (5081)
Council
The council, and the councillors' registered interests, as of December 2022 are: WardPartyCouncillorMayorLiberalMelissa JonesDeputy MayorIndependentLiz TrotterArea CouncillorsIndependentAman KaurIndependentAnthony VanstoneIndependentJames NenkeIndependentJames WilliamsIndependentJay AllansonIndependentJohn ZeppelLiberalSteven Rypp
Mayors (formerly chairmen) of Walkerville
Before 1939, the known mayors are: JT Mellor (1906), appointed to the Municipal Tramways Trust Alfred Thiele (1935-1937) Louis David Waterhouse (1937-1938)
The following table lists the mayors from South Australian Government Gazettes, LGA reports and Mayoral biographical articles: NamePortraitTenureCouncil ConstituencyElectionsMayoral ElectionsJohn Creswell 1939 1944 Walkerville 1934, 1936, 1938, 1940, 1942, 1944, 1943, 1944 1946, 1947, 1951, 1953, 1955, 1957, 1959 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942Frank Wilson 1944 1946 North Walkerville 1942, 1944, 1946, 1948, 1950, 1952, 1954 1955George Shaw 1946 1948 Walkerville 1933, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944 1946, 1947 1946Frederick Rungie 1948 1951 Medindie 1941, 1943, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949 1948Howard Dayman 1951 1955 Walkerville 1945, 1946, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1955, 1956 1951, 1953Frank Wilson 1955 1956 North Walkerville 1942, 1944, 1946, 1948, 1950, 1952, 1954 1955Cecil Searle 1956 1961 North Walkerville 1953, 1956, 1959 1956, 1959Lancelot Milne 1961 1964 Medindie 1961, 1963 1961, 1963Ernest Phillipson 1964 1966 Medindie 1962, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1972 1964Leonard Ewens 1966 1969 Medindie Gilbert 1958, 1960, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1969 1966, 1968Edwin Scales 1969 1977 Gilbert Medindie 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976Kenneth Price 1977 1982 Medindie 1975, 1977, 1979, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1989 1977, 1979George Sparnon 1982 1987 Walkerville 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1982, 1985 1982, 1985Margot Vowles 1987 1991 Gilbert 1978, 1979, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997 1987, 1989Ian McBrydeSouth Australian Government Gazette, 4 April 1991South Australian Government Gazette, 8 April 1993 1991 1995 Medindie Walkerville 1979, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995 1991, 1993Rosemary Craddock 1995 2000 Medindie 1989, 19911993, 1995, 1997 1995, 1997John Rich 2000 2006 Gilbert & Medindie 1995, 19972000, 2003 2000, 2003David Whiting 2006 2010 Vale Park 1993, 19951997, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2010, 2014 2006Heather Wright 2010 2014 Vale Park 1993, 19951997, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2010, 2014 2006Anthony Reade 2014 2014 Vale Park 1997, 20002003, 2006, 2010 Raymond Grigg 2014 2018 2014 2014Elizabeth Fricker 2018 2022 Walkerville 2014, 2018 2018Melissa Jones 2022 present 2022 2022
Lance Milne (1961-1964)
Flight Lieutenant Kenneth Lancelot Milne CBE (16 August 1915 – 27 December 1995) was elected to the Council of the Town of Walkerville in July 1961 and was immediately elected mayor. His term began on 1 July 1961South Australian Government Gazette, 6 April 1961 and ended on 4 July 1964.South Australian Government Gazette, 26 March 1964 Milne defended the Trams that extended into suburban Adelaide and wished for them to be preserved for cultural significance.From A Times Correspondent - 1 March 1963 Also during his time on the council, Milne initiated action for a free public library in Walkerville and campaigned for the establishment of the town's YMCA Youth Centre.
Milne joined the Labor Party in the mid-1960s and supported the party in the 1966 Australian federal election. He resigned from the Walkerville council in December 1965 when he was appointed the Agent-General of South Australia in London by Premier Frank Walsh. Milne held many positions in the 1960s and 1970s, including President of the Municipal Association, Chairman of the Local Government Act Revision Committee, member of the Municipal Tramways Trust and Chairman of the State Government Insurance Commission. In December 1970, when the prospects of the United Kingdom joining the European Union started to grow greater, Milne said "If more countries go into the Common Market, it will start the gretatest war ever seen," later comparing the common market to the Roman Empire, stating that both would eventually become rich and subject to external pressures."War Warning", 10 December 1970 When his term as South Australian Agent-General ended in 1971, he was made a Freeman of London.
Ernest Phillipson (1964-1966) Captain Ernest Charles Phillipson (31 August 1911 – 22 September 2001)Australian War Memorial - Studio portrait of SX3289 Lieutenant Ernest Charles Phillipson, from Glenelg, South Australia who ... was born in August 1911 to Ernest Phillipson and Adelaide Constance Phillipson (nee Connor), who were both immigrants to South Australia.Genealogy SA: Phillipson, Ernest Charles He served in the Australian military from 1938 to 1945 and married Kathleen Mary Powell (3 April 1916 – 7 May 2008Savill Death Tributes Index - Phillipson, Kathleen Mary) on 4 July 1940.National Archives of Australia: B883, SX3289 During his early life, Phillipson was a farmer. Before and after the War, he was the Manager of the Airways Department at S.S. Coy Ltd., Adelaide.
In 1954, Phillipson was elected to the Council of the Town of St. Peters (in the modern day the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters) for the Stepney ward.South Australian Government Gazette, 17 May 1956 After serving on the council for 8 years, he announced he would resign his position at the upcoming elections in 1962. He was elected to the Walkerville Council while his term as a councillor at the Town of St. Peters was de facto still active.South Australian Government Gazette, 28 June 1962 In the Walkerville Council elections of June 1962, Phillipson was elected as an Alderman for the Medindie Ward. Phillipson was a member of most of the council committees and the chairman of many. In the next bi-annual elections, he was elected to the vacant office of mayor, replacing Lance Milne, who later became involved in South Australian politics at the state level.South Australian Government Gazette, 20 May 1965 He resigned after only one term as mayor in 1966 and was re-elected to the Medindie Ward in 1966, 1968, 1970 and 1972 before he retired from the council at age 63 in April 1974.South Australian Government Gazette, 11 April 1974
After his retirement he was appointed by the Governor of South Australia to the Forestry Board of South Australia in 1975. His term was renewed in 1978 and expired on 31 December 1982.South Australian Government Gazette, 26 June 1975South Australian Government Gazette, 29 June 1978South Australian Government Gazette, 13 December 1979 Phillipson died at his home in North Adelaide in September 2001 and was buried at Saint Judes Cemetery in Brighton in the Western Suburbs.
Leonard Ewens (1966-1969) Leonard Thomas Ewens (11 April 1910 – 23 July 1981)RootsWeb ancestral records (L.T. Ewens) completed a Diploma II in Commerce at the University of Adelaide in December 1929.Adelaide News - University Results, 2 December 1929 He married Margaret Norah Dawson in February 1932. Adelaide News - Social Notes, 4 February 1932
He was appointed to the inaugural Architects Board of South Australia as registrar on 1 March 1940, at the same time as Guy Makin was appointed as chairman. Local architect Herbert Jory was one of six elected architects on the board.
Ewens served in the Australian Navy during WWII.Australian Virtual War Memorial - Ewens, Leonard Thomas He enlisted in August 1940 and was discharged in January 1946. Prior to joining the council, Ewens worked as a chartered accountant.South Australian Government Gazette, 20 October 1955 Ewens was a member of the State Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants from 1946–1957.
Ewens was elected to the Walkerville Council for the Medindie Ward in July 1958 (declared elected October 1958) in a supplementary election.South Australian Government Gazette, 30 October 1958 He was mayor of the Town of Walkerville from his election in July 1966South Australian Government Gazette, 6 April 1967 to July 1969, when he retired and the 1969 council elections occurred.South Australian Government Gazette, 17 April 1969 After losing the Medindie Ward, Ewens was later elected in a supplementary election to govern the Gilbert Ward for one term (1969–70).South Australian Government Gazette, 19 June 1969 He did not re-contest the ward in the 1970 elections.
Ewens was Chairman of the Junior Red Cross from 1955-1960 and Honorary Treasurer from 1965–1973. Ewens and his wife Margaret represented the Australian Red Cross at the international conference in Tehran in 1973. He was later appointed a member of the Board of Management of the State Bank of South Australia.South Australian Government Gazette, 5 November 1970 Ewens died in July 1981 and was buried in the Enfield Memorial Cemetery.
Ned Scales (1969-1977) Lieutenant Edwin Charles Scales MBE (8 February 1903 – 28 May 1987)Australian Virtual War Memorial - Scales, Edwin Charles generally known as Ned Scales,Savill Death Tributes Archive - S was born in to Charles Albert Scales and Hannah Maud Berry (nee Berry).Genealogy SA: Scales, Edwin Charles Scales attended St Peter's College and the University of Adelaide, passing English Literature & Geometry in 1919,Adelaide Observer, 3 January 1920 and Physics in 1921.Daily Herald, 21 December 1921 He married Millicent Barton Hack in 1933.Adelaide News, 11 February 1933 Scales was fined for parking his car too far away from the curb in Brighton.The Advertiser, 22 March 1938 He enlisted in the Australian Military in July 1942 and served during World War II in the 26 Motor regiment before being discharged in August 1945.
In July 1958, Scales was elected to the Town of Walkerville Council, representing the Gilbert ward.South Australian Government Gazette, 10 July 1958 He was re-elected in the Gilbert Ward in 1960,South Australian Government Gazette, 19 May 1960 1962,South Australian Government Gazette, 5 April 1962 1964, 1966South Australian Government Gazette, 14 April 1966 and 1968.South Australian Government Gazette, 11 April 1968 Scaled was elected Mayor of Walkerville in May 1969, with his term starting in July 1969, succeeding Leonard Ewens, who then took over the Gilbert Ward which Scales had vacated to take office.South Australian Government Gazette, 22 May 1969