MFH Home
  Family Trees
  Records
  Wills
  MIs
  Studies
  Memories  
  People
  Places
  Related Families
  Odds & Ends
  Mail David

Now we come to that side of Colonel May's life which has had most to do with the town as a whole, viz., his Municipal and Mayoral work. As might be expected of one with such ancestors, he early took an interest in Municipal affairs, and on May 12th, 1863, when he was scarcely twenty-six years of age, he was elected to fill a casual vacancy in the Town Council. This term expired on November 1st, 1864, but he was then re-elected, and also in 1867. At the close of that term (1870) the increasing demands on his time by his duties in the Militia, in which he had just been promoted to Captain, and of his business, compelled him to retire from the Corporation, but eight years later, when he had resigned his connection with the Militia, he was induced to again offer himself as a candidate for the Town Council, and at a bye-election in November he was triumphantly returned, and from then he continued a member of the Municipal body till March 19th of this year, when his resignation was tendered. On November 9th, 1886, he was elected an Alderman, and was re-elected in 1892 and 1898, Many changes have taken place in the Council since Colonel May first entered the Chamber - not one of the members now remain - and frequent have been the stormy scenes and the difficult tasks, but through all he ever commanded the respect of his colleagues, and could always rise to any emergency. Though in later years he has not had much to do with the routine work of the Council, he nevertheless was always au courant with what was going on, and was able to grasp the situation in a way which must have been surprising to many younger and perhaps more active members. He has a high ideal of the dignity of Municipal life, and throughout his career in the Corporation he set an example of honour and uprightness which has had a most beneficial effect on that body. Though naturally he frequently differed from some of his colleagues, he would be the last man in the world to seek to take any advantage of an opponent, and would never countenance anything calculated to trail the Municipal flag in the mire. Five years after his return to Municipal life, viz., on Nov. 9th, 1883, Councillor May was first chosen to fill the civic chair, and, as might be expected, on his election a good deal was said about the way in which his ancestors had distinguished themselves in that chair.

On the very day of his first election as Mayor, Councillor May gave evidence not only that he intended to be liberal in hospitality, but also that he meant to get somewhat out of the old ruts. Not content with giving the customary lunch to the Corporation and officials after the Council meeting, he gave a grand banquet in the evening, and here he introduced for the first time at a public dinner in Basingstoke the practice of serving the guests from a sideboard instead of placing the joints on the table. No hint had been given of the new departure, and when all the guests had assembled, grace had been said, and they sat down to an apparently empty table, a good deal of disconcertation and not a little chagrin was evident. Some of the guests thought they were being fooled, and one worthy Alderman, long since gone to his rest, gave audible expression to that feeling. But the surprise and the gloom soon disappeared as the waiters flitted quickly to and fro to supply the needs of the guests, and all the while the worthy host smiled quietly. From that day this practice of serving has always prevailed at first-class dinners in Basingstoke.

During his first year of office Councillor May fully justified the anticipations of his colleagues, and of the inhabitants of the Borough generally, by the way in which he discharged the Mayoral. duties and dispensed hospitality, and so after an interval of a year he was again placed in the chair. At the close of his second Mayoralty he was elevated to the Aldermanic bench, and, previously, on the same day was elected Mayor for the third time.

By the way a little tale hangs on these two Mayoralties in succession. Somehow or other the members of the Corporation had got it into their heads that the jubilee of Queen Victoria's reign was to be celebrated in 1886, and Councillor May was regarded as the ideal Mayor for such an auspicious year. It was not till after his election for the year 1885-86 that the mistake was discovered, and then, of course, the only thing to be done was to ask. him to serve again the next year, which he readily consented to do.

During his first Mayoralty Colonel May laid the foundation stone of the Lesser Market, and during his third he laid one of the foundation stones of the Board Schools.

Though his two previous Mayoralties had given the utmost satisfaction, yet it was in this third year of office (1886-87) that he came well to the front, by the way in which he led the inhabitants in the celebration of the jubilee of Queen Victoria. Not only did he subscribe largely to the local jubilee Fund and dispense hospitality with a princely hand, but he also erected, at his own cost, the magnificent clock tower, which is now a familiar landmark on the Town Hall, and placed thereon the clock which has been, and will continue to be, a great boon to the inhabitants. The way in which the Mayoralty was carried out in that year made a deep impression on the inhabitants of the Borough, and therefore it is not surprising to find him again elected to the chair a few years later, viz., in 1893. Still less surprising that when for the year 1896-7 a Mayor was needed who would fitly lead the town in the celebration of the Diamond jubilee, Basingstoke turned once more to Colonel May. That year (1896-7) was a doubly important one, for not only did it witness the Diamond jubilee of our late beloved Queen, but it was also the Centenary of the first Mayoralty of Thomas May, the great uncle of Lieut.-Colonel May. The first event was celebrated in a right loyal manner in June, whilst the second was observed with the greatest heartiness in September of the same year. Apart from providing numerous festivities for the inhabitants, Colonel May marked his fifth year of office by erecting a wing to the Cottage Hospital, an institution in which he has always taken the greatest interest. He was amongst the Mayors presented to Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace at the time of the Diamond jubilee, and later received the Diamond jubilee Medal, which was specially struck for presentation by her late Majesty to the Lord Mayors and Mayors of the Kingdom.

More to follow soon....