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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Cairns Shire Council

The Shire of Mulgrave was a local government area surrounding the City of Cairns in the Far North region of Queensland. The shire, administered from Cairns, covered an area of 1,718.3 square kilometres (663.4 sq mi); it existed as a local government entity from 1879 until 1995, when it was dissolved and amalgamated into the City of Cairns.

History

Map of the Cairns Division and Cairns Municipality and adjacent local government areas, March 1902
Chambers of the Cairns Divisional Board, circa 1890

The Cairns Division was created on 11 November 1879 as one of 74 divisions around Queensland under the Divisional Boards Act 1879 with a population of 34.

On 3 June 1880, part of the Cairns Division was separated to create the Douglas Division.

On 3 September 1881, the Tinaroo Division was created on 3 September 1881 under the Divisional Boards Act 1879 out of parts of the Cairns, Hinchinbrook and Woothakata Divisions.

Following a petition by local residents, on 28 May 1885, the Borough of Cairns was established under the Local Government Act 1878, being excised from the Cairns Division.

With the passage of the Local Authorities Act 1902, the Cairns Division became the Shire of Cairns on 31 March 1903. Originally based in the town of Gordonvale, which historically was called Mulgrave, its offices were located at Cairns Esplanade, Cairns.

On 20 December 1919, the Shire absorbed territory from the abolished Shire of Barron, which was divided between the Shires of Cairns and Shire of Woothakata.

On 16 November 1940, the Shire of Cairns was renamed Shire of Mulgrave.

The character of the Shire changed over time, and by the time of the 1991 census, 88% of the Shire's population resided within Cairns's metropolitan area. On 21 November 1991, the Electoral and Administrative Review Commission, created two years earlier, produced its second report, and recommended that local government boundaries in the Cairns area be rationalised, and that the Shire of Mulgrave be abolished and absorbed into the City of Cairns. The Local Government (Cairns, Douglas, Mareeba and Mulgrave) Regulation 1994 was gazetted on 16 December 1994. On 22 March 1995, the Shire was abolished and became part of the new City of Cairns.

Mulgrave Shire Council Chambers (also known as Cairns Shire Offices), The Esplanade, Cairns

The Mulgrave Shire Council Chambers were listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 6 January 1999. It was used as the Cairns & Tropical North Visitor Information Centre from 2016 to 2023. The building has since been renovated and incorporated into the Cairns Gallery Precinct.

Towns and localities

The Shire of Mulgrave included the following settlements:

- shared with Cassowary Coast Region
- not to be confused with White Rock in City of Ipswich
- shared with shared with Cassowary Coast Region and Tablelands Region

Population

Year Population
1933 10,303
1947 10,485
1954 13,477
1961 14,427
1966 15,312
1971 16,985
1976 23,025
1981 31,335
1986 41,711
1991 54,783

Chairmen

Chambers of the Cairns Divisional Board, ca. 1890

Cairns Division (1880–1903)

The chairmen of the Cairns Division were:

Chairman Term
Simon Louis Loeven 1880–1881
William Peter Redden 1882
Archibald Meston 1883–1884
Richard Ash Kingsford 1885
Jean Baptiste Loridan 1885
Hamilton Thorncliffe S. Douglas 1885–1886
James Kenny 1887–1888
Thomas Mackay 1889
Richard A. Tills 1890
James Kenny 1891–1892
William Henry Swallow 1893–1897
William John Munro 1898–1902
Richard Kingsford left to become Mayor of the newly formed Borough of Cairns in 1885.

Shire of Cairns (1903–1940)

Chairmen of the Shire of Cairns were:

Chairman Term
William John Munro 1902–1911
George Russell Mayers 1912–1918
Seymour Herbert Warner 1919–1929
Wilfred Mylchreest Simmonds 1930–1935
John Albert Martin 1936–1940

Shire of Mulgrave (1940–1995)

The chairmen of the Shire of Mulgrave were:

Chairman Term
John Albert Martin 1940–1941
Jim P. Tully 1941–1944
William Charles (Bill) Griffin 1944–1951
Charles E. Campbell 1952–1963
George Kenneth Alley 1964–1979
Thomas Alfred Pyne 1979–1995

Notable people

In addition to the chairmen, other notable people associated with the shire include:

References

  1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (1993). 2730.3 Census counts for small areas : Queensland. Australian Bureau of Statistics. ISBN 0-642-17236-6.
  2. ^ "Proclamation [Cairns Division constituted]". Queensland Government Gazette. 11 November 1879. p. 25:1008.
  3. ^ "Agency ID 2090, Cairns Divisional Board". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  4. ^ "Proclamation [Cairns & Douglas Divisions]". Queensland Government Gazette. 5 June 1880. p. 26:1317-1318.
  5. ^ "Proclamation [Tinaroo Division constituted]". Queensland Government Gazette. 10 September 1881. p. 29:564.
  6. ^ "Borough of Cairns: Order in Council". Queensland Government Gazette. 30 May 1885. p. 36:1733.
  7. ^ "Borough of Cairns: Order in Council". Queensland Government Gazette. 5 December 1885. p. 37:2017.
  8. ^ "Agency ID 89, Cairns Municipal Council". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  9. ^ "Agency ID 1180, Cairns Shire Council". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  10. ^ "Agency ID 319, Barron Shire Council". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  11. ^ "Agency ID 1429, Mulgrave Shire Council". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  12. ^ "Mulgrave Shire Council Chambers (former) (entry 601913)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  13. ^ "Cairns & Great Barrier Reef's Official Tourism Site". tropicalnorthqueensland.org.au. Archived from the original on 20 April 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  14. ^ "Cairns Gallery Precinct". 20 May 2022.
  15. ^ "Chairmen of the Cairns Divisional Board" (PDF). Cairns Heritage Page. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  16. ^ "Cairns Divisional Board". Cairns Post (Qld. : 1884 – 1893). Qld.: National Library of Australia. 6 August 1885. p. 2. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
  17. ^ "Chairmen of the Cairns Shire Council" (PDF). Cairns Heritage Page. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 March 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  18. ^ "Chairmen of the Mulgrave Shire Council" (PDF). Cairns Heritage Page. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 March 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2014.

16°55′26.8″S 145°46′28″E / 16.924111°S 145.77444°E / -16.924111; 145.77444