| Shire of Mulgrave Queensland | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Location withinQueensland | |||||||||||||||
| Population | 54,783 (1991 census)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| • Density | 31.8821/km2 (82.5742/sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Established | 1879 | ||||||||||||||
| Abolished | 1995 | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 1,718.3 km2 (663.4 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Council seat | Cairns | ||||||||||||||
| Region | Far North Queensland | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
TheShire of Mulgrave was alocal government area surrounding theCity of Cairns in theFar North region ofQueensland. The shire, administered fromCairns, 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 theCity of Cairns.
TheCairns Division was created on 11 November 1879 as one of 74 divisions around Queensland under theDivisional Boards Act 1879 with a population of 34.[2][3]
On 3 June 1880, part of the Cairns Division was separated to create theDouglas Division.[4]
On 3 September 1881, theTinaroo Division was created on 3 September 1881 under theDivisional Boards Act 1879 out of parts of the Cairns,Hinchinbrook andWoothakata Divisions.[5]
Following a petition by local residents, on 28 May 1885, theBorough of Cairns was established under theLocal Government Act 1878, being excised from theCairns Division.[6][7][8]
With the passage of theLocal Authorities Act 1902, the Cairns Division became theShire of Cairns on 31 March 1903.[3][9] Originally based in the town ofGordonvale, which historically was calledMulgrave, its offices were located at Cairns Esplanade, Cairns.
On 20 December 1919, the Shire absorbed territory from the abolishedShire of Barron, which was divided between the Shires of Cairns andShire of Woothakata.[10]
On 16 November 1940, the Shire of Cairns was renamed Shire of Mulgrave.[9][11]
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, theElectoral 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 theCity of Cairns. TheLocal 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 newCity of Cairns.[11]
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TheMulgrave Shire Council Chambers were listed on theQueensland Heritage Register on 6 January 1999.[12] It was used as the Cairns & Tropical North Visitor Information Centre from 2016 to 2023.[13] The building has since been renovated and incorporated into the Cairns Gallery Precinct.[14]
The Shire of Mulgrave included the following settlements:
Northern Mulgrave area: | Southern Mulgrave area: |
|
1 - shared withCassowary Coast Region
2 - not to be confused withWhite Rock inCity of Ipswich
3 - shared with shared withCassowary Coast Region andTablelands Region
| 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 |
The chairmen of the Cairns Division were:[15]
| Chairman | Term |
|---|---|
| Simon Louis Loeven | 1880–1881 |
| William Peter Redden | 1882 |
| Archibald Meston | 1883–1884 |
| Richard Ash Kingsford[1] | 1885 |
| Jean Baptiste Loridan | 1885[16] |
| 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 |
Chairmen of the Shire of Cairns were:[17]
| 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 |
The chairmen of the Shire of Mulgrave were:[18]
| 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 |
In addition to the chairmen, other notable people associated with the shire include:
16°55′26.8″S145°46′28″E / 16.924111°S 145.77444°E /-16.924111; 145.77444