The reign of Edward IV has claim to be the age of the Mayor..under the king , the mayor governed his municipality no less authoritively and a great deal more tightly than the king governed the realm . there is no reason to suppose the Bridgwater was any exception , and in 1469 there is no doubt that the first Mayor of Bridgwater governed the town with authority.

His name was John Kendall he was prominent in trade in the town and served as mayor from 1469 to 1472 and again in 1480 & 1484 . he was much employed in public business as a collector of customs on wools, hides and wool fills: it is possible that this appointment was one of profit to him and was made to give security for money lent. the Archives record his activity in trade , in lending money and helping fellow merchants . he was a leading and dominent figure of a busy place, his will was made in 1489 and he is buried in the Parish Church.

This is all we know of our first Mayor and even this is more than we know about most of his contempories ..

Richard Castleman , Mayor in 1575 founded a charity; the interest on £100 to be paid to the vicar of Bridgwater for the time being towards the maintenance of a week-day lecture in the Parish Church during lent.

Robert Blake, grandfather of the Admiral, was Mayor in 1574 , 1579 and 1587.

Humphrey Blake, the Admirals brother , was Mayor in 1640 and 1647

Thomas Venn was Mayor in 1684 and wrote a book on "Military Discipline" his father ,John Venn had been governor of Windsor Castle and was one of the Judges who sentenced King Charles I to death.

Edward Sealy J.P. MP and and Mayor in 1646 , 1654 and 1663 married Lucretia Gray a descendant of H.R.H John of Gaunt , Duke of Lancaster, third son of King Edward III

John Chubb Mayor in 1788 . though ambitious to be an artist his father counselled him " the pleasure of poetry, Misick and Painting and especially the last , greatly abates when we labour at it for Bread" .He must have taken his fathers advice , because he took over the family business , that of importers with their own wharf .he remained fond of the three arts and practiiced all of them especially the art of painting . he had a flair for satire , expressed both in verse and in portraits of his comtempories , especially the clergy he also painted many landscapes of Bridgwater and surrounding area ,many of these are in Blake Museum

Mrs Alice Potterton , Alderman and Justice of the Peace was the first woman to be elected Mayor of the Borough in May 1959 . in her energy and devotion to the towns interests and the gracious way she performed duties which had been until that time the prerogative of the Male Sex , she showed herself to be the equal of any men who preceded her in office as Mayor through five centuries , Her death in Jan 1967 was a great loss to the town she served so loyal