150 years: Past Mayors of Cheltenham – Councillor Martin Horwood

2026 is the 150th anniversary of the Cheltenham Mayoralty. This page is a work in progress inspired by my conversation with the Cheltenham Local History Society , of which the Mayor is President for the year, shortly after I took up both offices in May 2026. I am indebted to former mayor Alderman Brian Cassin and his Trase Cheltenham History site, the late Peter Smith of CLHS and Cheltenham Borough Council for their records and research. The mistakes are all mine and I would very much welcome any notes, links, portraits or biographical information on any of the office-holders listed (for instance why the bust of Sir Charles Irving in the Town Hall says that he was three times Mayor of Cheltenham when I can only see two terms of office). Corrections of factual errors, misspellings or any other mistakes would be particularly appreciated – email mayor@cheltenham.gov.uk.

Number (term of office)	Dates (start)	Dates (end)	Number (person in office)	Name	Alderman or councillor	Party	Portrait	Notes or links
1	1876	1877	1	William Nash Skillicorne	Alderman	L		Grandson of Henry Skillicorne, discoverer of the spa https://www.bgas.org.uk/tbgas_bg/v136/251-262-Hodson.pdf
2	1877	1878	2	Baron de Ferrieres	Alderman	L
3	1878	1879	3	Henry Willmott	Alderman
4	1879	1882	1	Willam Nash Skillicorne	Alderman	L
5	1882	1887	4	George Parsonage	Councillor
6	1887	1888	5	John Haddon	Alderman
7	1888	1891	6	Newman Burfoot Thoyts	Alderman
8	1891	1893	7	John Charles Griffith [sic?]	Alderman
9	1893	1895	8	Edward Bestbridge Wethered	Alderman
10	1895	1898	9	Richard Rogers	Alderman
11	1898	1901	10	George Norman	Alderman
12	1901	1903	9	Richard Rogers	Alderman
13	1903	1904	7	John Charles Griffiths [sic?]	Alderman
14	1904	1905	11	George Dimmer	Councillor
15	1905	1907	12	William Nash Skillicorne	Alderman			Son of No 1
16	1907	1908	11	George Dimmer
17	1908	1910	13	James Tynte Agg-Gardner		C
18	1910	1912	14	Charles Henry Margrett	Alderman
19	1912	1913	13	James Tynte Agg-Gardner		C
20	1913	1915	12	William Nash Skillicorne	Alderman	L		Son of No 1
21	1915	1918	15	Thomas Rees Jones	Councillor
22	1918	1921	16	John David Bendall	Alderman
23	1921	1923	17	Clara Frances Winterbotham	Councillor	L		Cheltenham’s first woman councillor (co-opted 1918, re-elected 1920) and first woman mayor. Properly Clarissa but known as Clara. Excellent profile by James Hodsdon at https://cheltlocalhistory.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/J14-1998.pdf
24	1923	1926	18	Walter James Manser Dicks	Councillor
25	1926	1930	14	Charles Henry Margrett	Alderman
26	1930	1932	19	Peter Philip Taylor	Alderman
27	1932	1933	20	Capt John Henry Trye, C.B.E., R.N.(Retired)	Councillor
28	1933	1935	21	Edward Lawrence Ward	Councillor
29	1935	1937	22	Daniel Leopold Lipson	Councillor	L?
30	1937	1938	20	Capt John Henry Trye, C.B.E., R.N.(Retired)	Councillor
31	1938	1941	23	John Howell, C.B.E., F.R.C.S	Councillor
32	1941	1943	24	T. Wilfred Waite	Councillor
33	1943	1944	25	A.S.F. Pruen	Alderman
34	1944	1946	17	Clara Frances Winterbotham, M.B.E., J.P.	Alderman	L		See 23 above
35	1946	1949	26	Horace Trinley Bush, J.P.	Councillor
36	1949	1951	27	Percy Tyler Smith	Alderman
37	1951	1952	28	Arthur James Bettridge, O.B.E.	Alderman
38	1952	1954	29	Theodore Leslie Thompson	Councillor
39	1954	1955	30	Alfred William Mann	Councillor
40	1955	1956	31	Lt. Col. C.W. Biggs, O.B.E.	Alderman
41	1956	1957	32	George Readings	Alderman
42	1957	1959	33	Charles Graham Irving	Councillor	C
43	1959	1961	34	Arthur George Dye, O.B.E.	Councillor
44	1961	1962	35	Francis Louisa Carter (sic?)	Alderman
45	1962	1963	36	Alfred Ernest Trigg	Councillor
46	1963	1965	37	David Henry St Lawrence Morris	Councillor
47	1965	1967	38	Bertram Walter Taylor	Councillor
48	1967	1968	39	Hiram Frederick William Bishop	Alderman
49	1968	1969	40	The Rev. Charles Henry Markham, O.B.E.	Councillor
50	1969	1970	41	May Nugent Phyllis Dent	Alderman	C
51	1970	1971	42	Ernest James Morris Eldridge, O.B.E., T.D.	Councillor
52	1971	1972	33	Charles Graham Irving	Alderman	C
53	1972	1973	43	Terence Mostyn Joyner	Alderman
54	1973	1974	44	Aimbury Dodwell	Alderman
55	1974	1975	45	David H. James-Martin Jones, M.B.E.,M.A. [sic]	Councillor
56	1975	1976	46	Leonard Felix Frederick Gaylard	Councillor
57	1976	1978	47	Victor George Stanton	Councillor
58	1978	1979	48	John Anthony Aston	Councillor
59	1979	1980	49	Dudley George Aldridge, C.C.	Councillor
60	1980	1981	50	Ken Hammond	Councillor	L
61	1981 (May)	1981 (July)	51	Miss K.Mary Godwin	Councillor
62	1981	1982	52	Mrs J. Molly Watson	Councillor	L
63	1982	1983	53	F.G. Herbert	Councillor
64	1983	1984	54	R.S. Marchant, C.C.	Councillor
65	1984	1985	55	Gerry Bingham	Councillor	L
66	1985	1986	56	P.G. Pennell J.P.	Councillor
67	1986	1987	57	D.N. Perry, T.D.	Councillor
68	1987	1988	58	Gil J. Wakeley	Councillor	L
69	1988	1989	59	Mrs Maureen A. Stafford	Councillor	C
70	1989	1990	60	Eric J. Phillips	Councillor	L
71	1990	1991	61	William V.P. Bullingham	Councillor	C
72	1991	1992	62	Jim H. Pennington	Councillor
73	1992	1993	63	Brian J. Cassin	Councillor	LD		Trase Cheltenham History website
74	1993	1994	64	R.A. Wilson	Councillor
75	1994	1995	65	Ms D.M.A. Griggs	Councillor
76	1995	1996	66	Les C. Freeman	Councillor
77	1996	1997	67	Mrs Pat M. Thornton	Councillor	LD
78	1997	1998	68	Les G. Godwin	Councillor
79	1998	1999	69	Rev. Jeremy M. Whales, S.Th.,M.A.	Councillor	LD
80	1999	2000	70	David J. Banyard	Councillor
81	2000	2001	71	Mrs Daphne N. Pennell	Councillor
82	2001	2002	72	Clive R. Lloyd	Councillor	LD
83	2002	2003	73	Kenneth Buckland	Councillor	C
84	2003	2004	74	Garth Barnes	Councillor
85	2004	2005	75	Rob Garnham	Councillor	C
86	2005	2006	76	Brian Chaplin	Councillor	C
87	2006	2007	77	Jackie Fletcher	Councillor	C
88	2007	2008	78	John Rawson	Councillor	LD
89	2008	2009	79	Robin Macdonald	Councillor	C
90	2009	2010	80	Lloyd Surgenor	Councillor	LD
91	2010	2011	81	Mrs Anne Regan	Councillor	C (earlier LD)
92	2011	2012	82	Mrs Barbara Driver	Councillor	C
93	2012	2013	83	Colin Hay	Councillor	LD
94	2013	2014	84	Mrs Wendy Flynn	Councillor	LD (later Green)
95	2014	2015	85	Simon Wheeler	Councillor	LD
96	2015	2016	86	Duncan Smith	Councillor	C
97	2016	2017	87	Mrs Chris Ryder	Councillor	C
98	2017	2018	88	Mrs Klara Sudbury	Councillor	LD (earlier C)
99	2018	2019	89	Bernard Fisher	Councillor	LD
100	2019	2021	90	Roger Whyborn	Councillor	LD		Term extended during Covid pandemic
101	2021	2022	91	Sandra Holliday	Councillor	LD
102	2022	2023	92	Steve Harvey	Councillor	LD
103	2023	2024	93	Matt Babbage	Councillor	C
104	2024	2025	94	Paul Baker	Councillor	LD
105	2025	2026	95	Dr David Willingham	Councillor	LD
106	2026		96	Martin Horwood	Councillor	LD