Mayors of 200 years ago

[Nick Carver]

Can anyone tell me whether it is likely that the mayor of a large town in the 1700s or 1800s was most likely to be a member of the gentility or whether such a post would have been filled by a successful tradesman or somebody else altogether? Perhaps it is impossible to tell, but even that information would be useful.

Reason I ask is that I have found a list of mayors for one town and two of them have the family name of one of my lines, where the name is not so common as to immediately put it down as a coincidence. Neither is it so rare as to make an assumption that they are relatives a fair assumption.

Any suggestions most welcome,
Thanks

[suttontrust]

The Mayors were elected from among the aldermen who were in turn elected by a very small number of voters, the burgesses, so someone who got to be Mayor would have been someone of substance.  It was an expensive business, and often men didn't actually want to do it.  It should be pretty easy to trace through the record office locally who these Mayors were and so see if they are your relatives.