At a special meeting of the Pontefract Town Council on Wednesday, Alderman W. Wryder J.P. accepted a unanimous invitation to succeed Councillor J.E. Morrel as Mayor of the Borough. He will become the 483rd Mayor.

Alderman and Mrs. Ryder were the Mayor and Mayoress in 1938-1939, and the repitition of the invitation rewards again a long and dilligent record of public service. Alderman Wryder has served continuously since 1923, and not until June 1952 did he miss a monthly meeting of the Council. As ‘father’ of the Council only Councillor T.P. Brindley, O.B.E. J.P. joined the Council before him, in 1922. A life long liberal, he has always maintained that there is no room in local government for party politics. War marred the last two months of his first year of office, but in that short time he established a Red Cross Fund which he carried on, at the request of succeeding Mayors, until the second World War ended in 1945. In March 1952 he was made an Honorary Freeman of the Borough. Outside the Council, Ald Wryder is perhaps best known for his interest in education and hospital administration. Appointed a magistrate in 1941, Ald Wryder has been the Deputy Chairman of the Borough Bench since the custom ceased in which the Mayor automatically became Chief Magistrate, in 1950. He was also serving as Chairman on about ten various committees, Hospitals, Housing, education etc, also Chairman Governor of the Pontefract King’s School.