Links in a Chain - The Mayors of Bolton

This one-year Project is supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund on behalf of the Mayor's Office.

It aims to document and celebrate the lives and achievements of over 540 local men and women who have served their communities as Mayors of Bolton since 1838 and as Mayors and Chairmen of the seven other townships that constitute the present Borough - Farnworth, Kearsley, Horwich, Blackrod, Westhoughton, Little Lever and South Turton.

From millionaires to mill lasses, they have all been chosen to represent the best of Bolton at home and abroad - in good times and bad, in triumph and tragedy. Their very different lives reflect the fascinating and interconnected histories of our towns - the links in a chain.

Click here to find out more about the Mayoral Insignia including the history of Bolton's unusual Mayor's chain which displays emblems and monograms representing each individual Mayor from the first, Charles James Darbishire in 1838 to Walter Wharton Tong who became Mayor in 1940.

To see images of each link in the Chain click here to choose an individual Mayor of Bolton.

Contributions and Feedback

If you have memorabilia, photographs or other information relating to the Mayors and Chairmen covered by the project we would really like to hear from you! We are not asking for items to be donated - we just want to scan or photograph items to share them with a wider audience.

To get in touch please click here to use our online feedback form or contact:

Ken Beevers on (01204) 403344