A First - First Citizen
William Corcoran Mayor of Chorley 1974-75
William Corcoran
The Man Little detail is known of William (Bill) Corcoran's, early life, except that he married Constance (Connie) M Croasdale in Chorley during the last quarter of 1948, and was elected onto the Municipal Borough of Chorley in about 1957 as a member of the Labour Party. In 1967 when Plessey Electronics opened in Carr Lane, Bill was one of their first employees and worked as factory maintenance staff and then convenor of the shop stewards. He later worked as a driver for Scottish and Newcastle Breweries and lived in Pall Mall, Chorley. Under the Local Government Act 1972, Chorley became the core of a larger non-metropolitan district. Bill became the leader of the Labour group and chaired this new body for 12 months from 1973 until 1974 when, following local government reorganisation on 1st April the Borough of Chorley was formed following a merger of the then existing Municipal Borough of Chorley, with the Urban Districts of Adlington, Withnell and Chorley Rural District. On Monday 1st April he took part in an informal but historial ceremony at Chorley Town Hall, when he was was invested with the chain of office by the last Mayor of the old Chorley Borough, Alderman W Wilcock and handed the ceremonial mace. Three weeks later on Monday 20th May he was unanimously elected as the first Mayor of the new Borough Council, and Connie as Mayoress. Bill was proposed for the office by representatives of both the Labour and Conservative parties, during which tribute was paid to his hard work in local Government and his sense of humour.
His proposer Councillor Karl Sandham said of Bill that his asset was “His sheer strength of personality”. His seconder Councillor John Wilson thought “He was one of the best story tellers in the district. Had he decided to make his profession in the theatre rather than in local government, he could well have been on the television programme The Comedians”. In response Bill promised to serve to the best of his ability and said that Connie would do her best to help him. On Sunday 26th May Bill led a delegation, following a traditional procession, to the first Civic Service of the new Borough in St. Mary's Church. He was. Accompanied by the the local Member of Parliament George Rodgers. Bill was struck by an illness at the beginning of his term of office, but despite this early setback he came through 'with flying colours' to become one of the towns most popular Mayors, according to Councillor Sandham. Little further detail is presently known about his time in office. Bill attended his last full Council Meeting as Mayor in the first week of May 1975. It was said that “Without his strength and personality the new council would have gone through a difficult time; he had created certain standards by which other Mayors would be judged and many would find it difficult to follow in his footspteps”. A week later however in what must have been a period of high drama locally, and a week before he was due to hand over the Mayorality, Bill was deposed as leader of the Labour Group on the Council at their annual meeting, he lost his post by a narrow margin of 10 votes to 11. At a Planning and Development meeting held a few days later he told the meeting "Any comments I make tonight are my own. I have lost the confidence of my group and am no longer its leader". However in an interesting, and dramatic turn of events, the Councillor who was elected as Leader, Karl Sandham, turned down the position for personal reasons and Bill was re-elected as Leader. At the Councils annual meeting on Wednesday 21st May 1975 Bill handed over the Mayorality to Councillor Patrick Keane.
The Story The Past Mayor and Mayoresses Jewels awarded to Councillor Bill Corcoran and his wife Connie, were seen on E Bay during August 2012. They were watched for several days, and there appeared to be no interest in them as no bids were placed. It was planned to watch until after bidding closed and then make an offer if they were not won. However, at the last moment before the close of the auction a bid was placed and they were won by an unknown vendor for the asking price! Following the initial frustration felt and regret at not having placed a bid, attempts were made to ‘forget them’; but a few days later, and not having been able to erase them from memory, the vendor was sent an e mail asking if all had gone well with the sale. He replied, stating that the sale had fallen through with the winner who had been from Russia! Following some further exchanges a deal was struck and the gold jewels belonging to William and Constance were acquired for posterity. For several months they sat unresearched, until contact was made with Lancashire Library Services and Chorley Borough’s Mayor’s Secretary, who very quickly responded with some excellent newspaper articles from Bill's term of office allowing the above brief biography to be pieced together. The Mayor's Secretary, also kindly agreed to send a photograph of Bill in Chain of Office, this appears above and is a welcome addition to the research. Ancestry.com also provided some limited detail. Another example of not waiting if something is initially appealing, and of how easy it might have been for this important part of Chorley’s history to have left the country and possibly consigned to the international gold melting pot!
Blazon: ‘Or on a chevron gules, three escocheons argent, each charged with a blue botled slipped and leaved proper, on a chief of the second a crown vallary of the first.
Motto: Be Aware Translation: Firstly a gold coloured shield with a chevron imposed on the shield coloured red, on the chevron, three shield shaped cut-outs coloured silver, on these cut-outs a naturalistic blue petalled flower with leaves and stalks. Secondly a chief or broad band at the top of the shield coloured, as the chevron, red, with an imposed open crown coloured as the shield, gold. Copyright Lancashire County Library and Information Service. |
Borough of Chorley
The Borough of Chorley is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. It is named after its largest settlement, the town of Chorley. The present Borough of Chorley was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the then existing municipal borough of Chorley with the urban districts of Adlington and Withnell, and Chorley Rural District. Parishes With exception of the town of Chorley, which remains an unparished area, the borough has twenty-three civil parishes: Adlington, Anderton, Anglezarke, Astley Village, Bretherton, Brindle, Charnock Richard, Clayton-le-Woods, Coppull, Croston, Cuerden, Eccleston, Euxton, Heapey, Heath Charnock, Heskin, Hoghton, Mawdesley, Rivington, Ulnes Walton, Wheelton, Whittle-le-Woods, and Withnell. Wards. Chorley Council is made up of forty-seven councillors, representing the following twenty electoral wards:
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Parliamentary Constituency
The Chorley Parliament constituency is a constituency in the House of Commons, and until recently it was coterminous with the borough. Through boundary changes, Croston, Eccleston, Bretherton and Mawdesley were transferred to the South Ribble constituency.
With special thanks to Lancashire County Library Services and Chorley Borough Council, especially the Mayor's Secretary for their assistance in helping with the research.
The Chorley Parliament constituency is a constituency in the House of Commons, and until recently it was coterminous with the borough. Through boundary changes, Croston, Eccleston, Bretherton and Mawdesley were transferred to the South Ribble constituency.
With special thanks to Lancashire County Library Services and Chorley Borough Council, especially the Mayor's Secretary for their assistance in helping with the research.
Jewel Details:
- Past Mayors Jewel: Chorley Borough William Corcoran Mayor 1974-75
- Past Mayoress Jewel: Unnamed
This page last updated 5 Jun 14