His successor as Superintendent was Frederic Alonzo Carrington, who had left New Zealand under something of a cloud, in 1843, having surveyed the site of New Plymouth, and returned to the colony in 1857 where he hoped to establish an iron industry and to improve port facilities. In 1862 Carrington was appointed Government Engineering Surveyor for Taranaki and, in co-operation with the military, worked on a system of establishing roads in the province. Following the end of the fighting he entered local politics and was elected as last Superintendent of Taranaki for two terms-from September 9, 1869 to October 31, 1876, when the provinces were abolished under the Municipal Corporations Act. During the 1870s Taranaki stirred from its long stagnation. The European population increased from 4500 in 1871 to 5465 in 1874 and to some 15,000 in 1881, most of whom were concentrated on the coast to the north, south and in New Plymouth. Assisted immigration during this time brought 2100 people to the province, a mere two per cent of all assisted immigrants in the 70s, but it almost doubled New Plymouth's population. Carrington's superintendency was notable for his allocation for a quarter of the province's revenue towards the improvement of port facilities. His work in this direction is well docurnented. In 1870 he was elected to the House of Representatives for the Omata seat, and from 1871 to 1879 he was the member for Grey and Bell. Carrington died at New Plymouth on July 15, 1901. Since New Plymouth was proclaimed a borough in 1876 there have been 20 mayors of the town, many of whom have been referred to in earlier chapters of this book. Some of them served only a short time; other had several years in office; two have died in office: James Clark, killed in an air accident in 1920, and his successor Frank Wilson who died after a short illness in 1927 after 7 years in office. J. E. Wilson, elected in 1914, was sworn in at hospital where he had been ill since before the election and it was three months before he was able to attend his first council meeting. In the first 50 years of settlement few mayors served more than two or three years. Everard Gilmour broke this pattern. He had a remarkable local body career. He was mayor from 1933 to 1953 and, except for two years, a member of the Taranaki Hospital Board from 1917 until 1958. Before the 1953 election the deputy-mayor A. G. Honnor, declined invitations to stand for mayor because he felt Gilmour, through long service, had earned the right to receive the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, who were to visit New Plymouth in 1954. Other candidates were not so charitable, and E. O. E. Hill defeated Gilmour. Hill was a talented, cultured man. During his comparatively short term as mayor the New Plymouth library and museum complex was approved, the fountain was installed in the Pukekura Park lake; parking meters were introduced and trams were replaced by trolley buses. In 1956 Honnor ousted Hill, and for 12 years he presided over the city's administration until he retired in 1968. AlfHonnor was a builder. During his mayorality he 'saw the negotiations for the new airport at Brown Road come to fruition; he was a moving force behind the gas and electricity development and played a major part in the negotiations for the power station at Ngamotu. A 'people's' man, he was unassuming and reserved, but he gained the respect of all sections of the community for his sagacity and his ability to home in on the essentials of most issues. His son, John, was elected to the Council in 1979.
Honnor's place was assumed by Denis Vaughan Sutherland, mayor until 1980. A keen all-round sportsman and owner of a sports equipment shop in Devon Street, he was a top amateur golfer. Before and since becoming a councillor in 1965 he was deeply involved in public affairs. He, like other public figures, has had his critics as mayor, but there are many things of which he is justifiably proud: these include the Bowl of Brooklands (he was chairman of the Trust) which became an internationally-known attraction; the development of the YMCA complex opposite the Council Chambers; the Devon Street Mall and the city's transportation plan. There have been only seven town clerks since the Borough Council was constituted. Longest serving was F. E. ('Fin') Bellringer, who held that office for 50 years before retiring in 1952. Marking that event, in addition to tributes from his colleagues and citizens, the Taranaki Daily News said of him: 'Seldom ... can a man look back across half a century and see in the city he knows and loves a score or more of permanent memorials to his own farsightedness and pertinacity. Such, however, is the record of Mr Bellringer.' Mayors, Councillors, council officers and their staffs have, over the years, served New Plymouth well. They have seen it grow from a straggling village with a population of little more than 2,000 to a substantial modern city of nearly 40,000. This story of the first 140 years of New Plymouth's existence as a settlement cannot better be concluded than with a quotation from a report to the Council: 'The fact that so many public spirited citizens of New Plymouth have already done so much for the town, augurs well for the future. Only by steady, continuous work and thought for the welfare of the future community can real success be achieved. There will naturally be some differences of opinion ... it needs an immensity of faith in the future of the town and consistent effort towards its improvement; but, given these essentials, the work will be carried on with a certainty of success.' This prophetic statement was taken from a report presented to the Borough Council in March, 1916, by W. R. Davidge, a British town planning expert. There have indeed been differences of opinion; there have been errors and omissions (the errors and omissions in this book are the property of the author), but Davidge's comments are as applicable today as they were in 1916. The future Well, as New Plymouth continues to develop it is certain that there will be many 'public-spirited citizens' willing and ready to help it. 'Mauri mahi Mauri ora' The industrious heart lives