First incorporated on 27 November 1861 as the "Municipality of Parramatta", the first mayor was emancipated convict John Williams who arrived in the colony in 1835. The council became known as the "Borough of Parramatta" on 23 December 1867 following the enactment of the
Municipalities Act, 1867, and became a Municipality again following the 1906 Local Government Act. On 27 October 1938, the
Local Government (City of Parramatta) Act was passed by the
Parliament of New South Wales and proclaimed by the governor,
Lord Wakehurst, making the town the "City of Parramatta". From 1 January 1949 the "City of Parramatta" was re-formed following the passing of the
Local Government (Areas) Act 1948, when the councils of
Ermington and Rydalmere (incorporated 1891),
Dundas (incorporated 1889) and
Granville (incorporated 1885) were merged into the council area. The
Parramatta local government area was further expanded through the transfer of 10.7 km2 from the
Municipality of Blacktown in 1972 taking in Winston Hills which has not serviced since this time. In recognition of Parramatta's role Bi-centennial (coinciding with the Australian Bi-centennial), the title of 'Lord Mayor' was granted on 12 December 1988 by
Queen Elizabeth II on the recommendation of Premier
Nick Greiner. This made Parramatta the third Australian city that was not a capital to receive such an honour, after
Newcastle and
Wollongong.
2016 amalgamation A
2015 review of local government boundaries by the
NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended that the City of Parramatta be reformed, adding areas from several adjoining councils. The NSW Government subsequently proposed a merger of parts of Parramatta (Woodville Ward),
Auburn and
Holroyd and a second merger of parts of the rest of Parramatta and parts of Auburn,
The Hills,
Hornsby, and Holroyd to form a new council. On 12 May 2016, Parramatta City Council was abolished by the NSW Government. Parts of Auburn City Council (south of the
M4 Western Motorway) and Parramatta City Council (Woodville Ward), and Holroyd City Council merged to form the
Cumberland Council as a new local government area and the remainder of the Parramatta City Council, Auburn City Council north of the M4 Western Motorway (including
Sydney Olympic Park), and small parts of Hornsby Shire, Holroyd and The Hills Shire were merged into the reformed "City of Parramatta". ==Suburbs in the local government area==