Divisional Boards Act 1879
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Initially, Queensland’s local government operated under New South Wales legislation —the Municipalities Act 1858 — which allowed householders to petition for the creation of a municipality with its own elected council to manage local affairs, but by 1878, these arrangements had only created eighteen towns across the colony and five of which lay norh of Rockhampton — Bowen (established 1863), Townsville (1866), Mackay (1869), Cooktown (1876), and Charters Towers (1877).
While the Local Government Act 1878, derived from Victorian legislation enacted in 1874, permitted a wider variety of local government structures, this proved inadequate for Queensland’s vast and sparsely populated regional areas.
The Divisional Boards Act 1879 established a new form of local government by dividing all unincorporated parts of Queensland into 74 divisions, each with an elected divisional board responsible for a range of services and amenities within its area. The boards contained up to nine members and had the power to collect rates. The Government contributed £2 for every £1 raised by rating (pound-for-pound after five years), with the divisional boards responsible for health regulations, road-building, and other local works.
Divisions created under the Act in the North:
Broadsound Division, administered from St. Lawrence
Cairns Division, administered from Cairns
Daintree Division, administered from Cooktown
Dalrymple Division, administered from Charters Towers
Doonmunya Division, administered from Normanton (Abolished and replaced by Carpentaria Division on 11 January 1883.)
Einasleigh Division, administered from Georgetown
Hann Division, administered from Maytown
Hinchinbrook Division, administered from Ingham
Pioneer Division, administered from Mackay
Ravenswood Division, administered from Ravenswood
Thuringowa Division, administered from Townsville
Wangaratta Division, administered from Bowen
Woothakata Division, administered from Thornborough
Divisions created subsequent to the Act in The North:
Ayr Division 16 January 1888 Separated from Thuringowa Division[11]
Barron Division 20 December 1890 Separated from Tinaroo Division
Burke Division 30 January 1885 Separated from Carpentaria Division[16][17]
Cardwell Division 18 January 1884 Separated from Hinchinbrook Division[18][19]
Carpentaria Division 11 January 1883 Replaced the abolished Doonmunya Division[5][6]
Cloncurry Division 7 February 1884 Separated from Carpentaria Division[22][23]
Croydon Division 31 December 1887
Douglas Division 3 June 1880 Separated from Cairns Division[24]
Emerald Division 4 June 1902, Separated from Peak Downs Division
Herberton Division 11 May 1895 Separated from Tinaroo Division; absorbed Borough of Herberton
Hughenden Division 20 July 1882 Separated from Doonmunya Division[32]
Johnstone Division 28 October 1881 Separated from Hinchinbrook Division[34]
Longreach Division 9 May 1900 Separated from Aramac Division
Mackinlay Division 9 December 1891 Separated from Boulia and Cloncurry divisions
Nebo Division 7 February 1883 Separated from Broadsound Division[40][41]
Peak Downs Division 20 September 1884 Separated from Belyando Division
Tinaroo Division 2 September 1881 Formerly parts of Cairns, Hinchinbrook and Woothakata divisions[48]
Torres Division 30 October 1885 Covered Thursday Island, Separated from Hann Division[51][52]
Walsh Division 15 May 1889 Separated from Woothakata Division[53]
The legislation was amended several times before being replaced by the Divisional Boards Act 1887. At Federation, Queensland had 156 Local Government Authorities: 30 municipalities, 6 shires and 120 divisions. The Local Authorities Act 1902 replaced all divisions with shires and brought them under the same legislation as that which governed the municipalities.
Sources:
G. C. Bolton, A Thousand Miles Away, pp. 169-170.Wikipedia: List of divisional boards in
Ross Fitzgerald, Lyndon Megarrity and David Symons, Made in Queensland: A New History,p. 124
Queensland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_divisional_boards_in_Queensland
