The Whittlesea Road District was proclaimed in December 1862. Road Districts were one of the earliest forms of local government in Victoria. As well as providing a model for future local governance, they also provided a planned approach to the development of roads in Victoria.
The first Whittlesea District Road Board was elected at a public meeting at Forbes’s Whittlesea Hotel on Saturday 28 February, 1863. George Sherwin was elected Chairman. David Johnston of Richlands farm, John Wishart of Whittlesea, Thomas A.L. Hughes of Glenvale and James Morris of Yan Yean were elected as the board members. The board met once a month at the Whittlesea Court House. Its first clerk was Thomas Thompson. He was replaced in 1869 by James Ryan, who served as clerk with the Whittlesea Road District Board and later as secretary with the Shire of Whittlesea until 1899.
