Former mayors, 1981-1990

• Party: Labour
• Term of Office:1990 - 1991
• Mayoress:Mrs Eileen O'Donovan
• Deputy Mayor:Councillor John P. Howarth
• Charity Appeal:In aid of Kirkwood Hospice and Martin House Hospice for children.

Details:

• Born Limerick City. County Limerick, Ireland.
• Lived in Chester and worked for the Burmah Oil Company Ltd at Ellesmere Port.
• Spent some time working in the Bailiwick of Jersey.
• Represented Dewsbury West Ward from 1978.
• Chair of Education Committee and Deputy Leader.
• Chair of the North of England Education Conference.
• National Development Officer for the British Amateur Rugby League Association.

• Party: Labour
• Term of Office:1989 - 1990
• Mayoress:Mrs Doreen Watson
• Deputy Mayor:Councillor David A. Wright
• Charity Appeal:In aid of the blind and the handicapped.

Details:

• Represented Denby Dale Ward since 1975.
• A former Chairman of Denby Dale Parish Council.
• A former collier at Woolley Colliery and Park Colliery for thirty nine years.
• Chaired the Environmental, Planning and Social Services Committees.

• Party: Conservative
• Term of Office:1988 - 1989
• Mayoress:Miss Pamela Baguley
• Deputy Mayor:Councillor L. Drake
• Charity Appeal: In aid of Kirklees Children in Need with the aim of raising £50,000.

Details:

• Served twenty six years as a councillor.
• Employed as a woollen manufacturer for Ben Hall and Son Limited.
• Started off in the Liberal Party but elected as a Conservative in 1967.
• Went on to occupy all of the main positions in the Conservative Group on Kirklees Metropolitan Council including Chief Whip, Deputy Leader and Leader.
• Served as Chairman of the West Yorkshire Police Authority.

• Party: Labour
• Term of Office:1987 - 1988
• Deputy Mayor:Colin Watson
• Mayoress: Mrs Joan Speight

Details:

• Chairman of the Highways Committee.
• Served as Chief Whip for the Labour Group on Kirklees Metropolitan Council.

• Party: Labour
• Term of Office:1986 - 1987
• Deputy Mayor:Councillor Thomas Patrick O'Donovan, B.A. (Hons)
• Charity Appeal: In aid of physically and mentally handicapped children.

Details:

• Born in Hemsworth.
• Member of the former Dewsbury Health Authority.
• Closely involved with fostering and adoption committees.
• Chairman of the Kirklees Social services Committee.
• Served as Mayoress to Councillor Marjorie Fisher.
• Deputy Chairman of Social Services Committee.
• While serving as Mayor of Kirklees she was honoured to meet Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother at a function in Ripon.
• Died in 1998.

• Party: Labour
• Term of Office:1985 - 1986
• Mayoress: Mrs Barbara Walker
  
• Deputy Mayor:Councillor Jack Brooke
• Charity Appeal: In aid of Dewsbury Hospital.

Details:

• Technician at British Telecommunications and a former collier.
• Previously a member of Batley Municipal Borough Council.
• Appointed a Justice of the Peace.

• Party: Labour
• Term of Office:1984 - 1985
• Mayoress: Mrs Doris Dawson
• Deputy Mayor:Councillor Colin Walker
• Charity Appeal: In aid of the restoration of canals in the area.

Details:

• The Mayor's Appeal resulted in a lock on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal near Firth Street being named the Stanley Dawson Lock in his honour (see photograph above).
• Worked as a machine tool fitter at David Brown Gears Ltd of Lockwood for fifty one years.
• President of the Crosland Moor Community Centre.
• Governor of various schools.
• Had five children.
• Prior to joining the Labour party, he was a member of the Independent Labour Party which finally united with the Labour Party in 1975.
• During the 1930s he was a clerk at the Check Office.
• He was elected to the County Borough of Huddersfield Council in 1964, lost his seat in 1967 but was subsequently re-elected in 1971.
• Elected to both Kirklees Metropolitan Council and West Yorkshire County Council in 1973.
• Lost his Kirklees seat in 1976 and his West Yorkshire seat in 1977 but was re-elected to Kirklees in 1979.
• Served as Deputy Chairman of the Development Services Committee.
• President of Lockwood's Old Folks' Treat and the Crosland Moor Community Association.
• Chairman of Thornton Lodge Gala Committee and the Environmental Health Committee.
• Previously served on Batley Municipal Borough Council.
• Died in 1991.

• Party: Labour
• Term of Office:1983 - 1984
• Deputy Mayor:Councillor Bernard Murphy
• Charity Appeal: In aid of a coronary machine for Staincliffe Hospital in Batley.

Details:

• Unmarried.
• Apprentice upholsterer at Bickers of Dewsbury.
• Leader and President of Thornhill Youth Club since its inception.
• Had his own upholstery business for fourteen years from 1949.
• He served previously as Mayor of the County Borough of Dewsbury (1971 - 72).
• Successfully opposed plans for high rise flats in Dewsbury.
• Chairman of the Housing Committee at both Dewsbury and Kirklees councils.
• Died aged eighty six in 2002.

• Party: Labour
• Term of Office:1982 - 1983
• Mayoress: Mrs Mary Wood
  
• Deputy Mayor:Councillor Harry Oldroyd
• Charity Appeal: In aid of training for young people.

Details:

• One of the first to volunteer for military service in 1939, joining the Royal Air Force Regiment and then transferring to the Coldstream Guards.
• Served for seven years on Batley Municipal Borough Council.
• Ran a greengrocer's and worked for British Relay Service Ltd, a broadcasting company.
• Director of the Rugby League Football Club and served as Umpire for Dewsbury and District Cricket League for thirty years.
• Member of the Royal Air Force Association.
• Died aged seventy nine in 2003.

• Party: Labour
• Term of Office:1981 - 1982
• Mayoress: Mrs Barbara Pickles
  
• Deputy Mayor:Councillor Stanley Dawson

Details:

• Born in Dewsbury and attended Wheelwright Grammar School.
• Worked as a train driver for British Railways and spent fifty years at David Brown Gears Ltd.
• A committed Christian Whitley Parish Church.
• Elected to the County Borough of Dewsbury Council in 1962 and served continuously until its abolition.
• National organiser for the Association of Councillors and Secretary of the North - East branch since 1969.
• Appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1967 and served as Deputy Chairman of the Dewsbury Bench.
• Served as Chairman of Kirklees Metropolitan District Council in 1976.
• Chairman of the Kirklees Finance Committee, Resources and Dewsbury Partnership.
• Lost his seat on Kirklees Metropolitan Council in 1976 but was re-elected in 1979.
• Elected to the West Yorkshire County Council.
• Branch Secretary of the Associated Society of Steam Locomotive Engineers and Firemen.