The Shire of Mulgrave was a

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

surrounding the

City of Cairns The City of Cairns was a local government area centred on the Far North Queensland city of Cairns. Established in 1885, for most of its existence it consisted of approximately around Cairns itself, with much of the metropolitan area being loca ...

in the Far North region of

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. The shire, administered from

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

, covered an area of ; it existed as a local government entity from 1879 until 1995, when it was dissolved and amalgamated into the

History

The

Cairns Division #REDIRECT Shire of Mulgrave (Queensland) The Shire of Mulgrave was a Local government in Australia, local government area surrounding the City of Cairns in the Far North Queensland, Far North region of Queensland. The shire, administered from Ca ...

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

. With the passage of the ''Local Authorities Act 1902'', the Cairns Division became the

Shire of Cairns Shire () is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries. It is generally synonymous with county (such as Cheshire and Worcestershire). British counties are among the oldes ...

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 The Electoral and Administrative Review Commission (1989–1993) was an agency of the Government of Queensland, Australia to investigate the electoral system and public administration of the state and local government in Australia, local governme ...

, 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

. 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

. The

Mulgrave Shire Council Chambers Mulgrave Shire Council Chambers is a heritage-listed former town hall at 51 The Esplanade, Cairns City, Queensland, Cairns City, Cairns, Queensland, Cairns, Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Charles Dalton Lynch & Walter ...

were listed on the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As ...

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: Northern Mulgrave area: * Barron * Barron Gorge * Brinsmead * Buchan Point * Caravonica * Clifton Beach * Ellis Beach *

Freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

* Holloways Beach * Kamerunga * Kewarra Beach * Lamb Range * Macalister Range * Machans Beach * Palm Cove * Redlynch * Smithfield * Stratford * Trinity Beach * Trinity Park * Yorkeys Knob Southern Mulgrave area: * Aloomba * Babinda * Bartle Frere * Bayview Heights * Bellenden Ker * Bentley Park * Bramston Beach * Deeral * East Russell * East Trinity *

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

* Eubenangee¹ * Fishery Falls * Fitzroy Island * Glen Boughton * Goldsborough * Gordonvale * Green Hill * Green Island * Kamma * Little Mulgrave * Meringa * Miriwinni * Mount Peter * Mount Sheridan * Ngatjan¹ * Packers Camp * Waugh Pocket * White Rock² * Woopen Creek * Wooroonooran³ * Woree * Wrights Creek ¹ - shared with Cassowary Coast Region
² - not to be confused with White Rock in

City of Ipswich The City of Ipswich is a local government area (LGA) located within the southwest of Greater Brisbane, which in turn, is situated within the vast South East region of the state of Queensland. Positioned between the City of Brisbane and the Ci ...

³ - shared with shared with Cassowary Coast Region and

Tablelands Region The Tablelands Region is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia inland from the city of Cairns, Queensland, Cairns. Established in 2008, it was preceded by four previous local government areas ...

Population

Chairmen

Cairns Division (1880–1903)

The chairmen of the Cairns Division were: : Richard Kingsford left to become

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of the newly formed Borough of Cairns in 1885.

Shire of Cairns (1903–1940)

Chairmen of the Shire of Cairns were:

Shire of Mulgrave (1940–1995)

The chairmen of the Shire of Mulgrave were:

Notable people

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

Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly This is a list of members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the state parliament of Queensland, sorted by parliament. See also * Queensland Legislative Assembly electoral districts This is a list of current and former Electoral dis ...

for

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * C ...

who was a Mulgrave Shire councillor from 1939 to 1946

References

External links

Local Government (Cairns, Douglas, Mareeba and Mulgrave) Regulation 1994
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulgrave Shire Former local government areas of Queensland 1995 disestablishments in Australia Populated places disestablished in 1995 1879 establishments in Australia