City of Halifax fonds

In 1749 the first settlers arrived in Halifax to found a town which could provide an adequate base for the British military on the north-Atlantic coast. Prior to incorporation in 1841, civic administration was in the hands of governors and magistrates appointed by Britain, and justices of the peace who managed local affairs and performed legal duties in meetings referred to as general or quarter-sessions. Although the system had at times drawn heavy criticism, an elected system of local governance didn’t emerge until an act was passed in 1841 to incorporate the city. The act vested administration of municipal affairs in a council consisting of a mayor, six aldermen and twelve common councilmen. Stephen Binney became Halifax’s first mayor. From 1841 thru 1996 the civic administration of the city underwent many changes, for example, the office of common councilmen was dissolved shortly after incorporation, the number of wards and councillors fluctuated, as did the method of selecting a mayor. On 1 April 1996, city governance underwent the most significant change since incorporation, when the City of Halifax amalgamated with the City of Dartmouth, the Municipality of the County of Halifax, and the Town of Bedford to form Halifax Regional Municipality. A complete list of the mayors of Halifax prior to 1996 is available in H. Millard Wright’s One Region Many Leaders. Bibliography “Municipal Facts, Figures, and History - The History of Municipal Government in Nova Scotia,” Government of Nova Scotia, http://www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/muns/info/history/originHIST1.asp (accessed November 24, 2006). Wright, H. Millard. One Region Many Leaders. Halifax: Halifax Regional Municipality, 2002. c. 1, p. 1.