Last night – Tuesday 02 May – Councillor Nick Fogg was elected unanimously to be Town Mayor for the third time by his cohort of Councillors present at the Mayor-Making ceremony held in the Court Room of the Town Hall.
OK, it wasn’t quite a ‘Coronation’, not like the ‘big one’ that will take place in Westminster this coming Saturday, but rather than the placing of a bejewelled furry metal hat (Crown) on the head of the appointee whilst being anointed with some form of exotic oil, in Marlborough Cllr Fogg had to do with putting on a substantial and ornate gold Mayoral Chain over the heavy bright red furry robes of office whilst wearing a simple black bicorn hat.
As noted above this is the third time that Councillor Nicholas Fogg has been the focus of Mayor-Making. First time was in the mid-Eighties, in 1985, and then again fourteen years ago in 2009. Whilst there are several other ‘twice Mayors’ of recent times (outgoing Mayor Cllr Lisa Farrell, Cllrs Mervyn Hall and Mark Cooper), few have held the position three times. Although in the annals of the Town’s archives records show that since 1310, which is the earliest recorded Mayor (although the role does go back further, to the Charter of 1204 and maybe even before that) there are several eight time Mayors, and even one nine time holder of the office. Whether these are all the same individuals, maybe family members with the same (similar?) names, impossible to say, but across the past few decades Councillor Fogg is the only three-time holder of the position of Marlborough Town Mayor.
What does the role entail? What are the responsibilities commensurate with the position of Mayor of Marlborough? Essentially it’s a civic and ceremonial role, although the Mayor is also the ‘Chair of Council’ – i.e. they chair the meetings of the full Town Council. They don’t hold any decision-making authority as such. The Mayor is the figurehead for Marlborough: they represent the town elsewhere at all functions, and they will ‘speak’ for the town as the senior representative citizen.
But unlike several decades ago, the Mayor is no longer the local Magistrate. Even in the mid-Twentieth Century the Mayor was the upholder of the law in the town, and the cells in the Town Hall basement (accessed via a trapdoor from the main Court Room, where last night’s ceremony was held), prisoners were kept prior to release or transfer to gaol elsewhere – depending on the decision of the Mayor / Magistrate.
But that’s now very much in the past and Councillor Fogg’s role now will be to represent and promote the town to the local audience, but also on a far wider scale to wherever Marlborough has a presence.
Below are a selection of pics from last night’s ceremony, click on any to enlarge:
Marlborough LitFest’s first film/book tie-in at The Parade Cinema is a sell-out success
