The Shire of Rosalie 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 ...

in the

Darling Downs The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generally ...

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 ...

, Australia, immediately northwest of the regional city of

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

. The shire, administered from the town of

Goombungee Goombungee is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Goombungee had a population of 1,066 people. Geography Goombungee is north-west of Toowoomba ...

, covered an area of , and existed as a local government entity from 1879 until 2008. In 2008, it amalgamated with several other councils in the Toowoomba area to form the

Toowoomba Region The Toowoomba Region is a Local government in Australia, local government area (LGA) on the border of Darling Downs and South East Queensland regions of Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, the LGA was preceded by several other local go ...

Geography

The Shire of Rosalie was centred approximately north-northwest of the city of Toowoomba, west of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

and northwest of the Gold Coast. The shire offices were located in

, with the shire boundary stretching in a triangular pattern north to Yarraman, southwest to Bowenville and southeast to Gowrie Junction.

Commerce and industry

Industry in Rosalie Shire centred on the towns of Yarraman and Goombungee. Goombungee contains M & S Steel Buildings, and Leicht's Country Industries Australia. Other enterprises within the Shire included cluster industries, a private dairy factory,

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit tree, fruit- or nut (fruit), nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also so ...

s, boutique cheese-makers,

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

s and

wineries A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the cultivation and production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feat ...

, accommodation operators, tour operators, aged care facility provision, an immigration hostel, a

correctional facility In criminal justice, particularly in North America, correction, corrections, and correctional, are umbrella terms describing a variety of functions typically carried out by government agency, government agencies, and involving the punishment, ...

and host-farming (farm-stay holidays). Goombungee was in many ways the centre of Rosalie Shire. A town with approximately 750 persons, the shire's head office was in Goombungee, along with the main branch of the library. Recently moving to new premises nearby, the library made way for a dedicated

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

within the Shire Office's building. Also located in Goombungee are the Goombungee State School, swimming pool, general store, Australia Post office, police station, hardware store, Pioneer Arms Hotel, historical society, two garages, road depot, large sporting oval including lighted tennis courts, hairdresser, doctor's offices and just south, a nine-hole golf course.

History

Rosalie Shire was one of the earliest areas settled in the

region of

South East Queensland South East Queensland (SEQ) is a Bioregion, bio-geographical, Megalopolis, metropolitan and Statistics, statistical Regions of Queensland, region of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of ...

. The first settlers in the area were Henry Hughes and Henry Isaac, who squatted on land surrounding Gowrie Creek and took up a frontage along the creek. They were soon followed by others who took up sheep runs in the Darling Downs portion of the Shire. Soon the whole area was occupied by only three vast stations: Gowrie-Goombungee, Westbrook and Rosalie Plains. In the 1860s, railways — particularly the main Western line near the Shire's southern boundary — became a lifeline and permitted agricultural development and expansion to occur.

Governance

The first local government was the Rosalie Division incorporated on 11 November 1879 under the ''Divisional Boards Act 1879'' with a population of 1409. With the passage of the ''Local Authorities Act 1902'', Rosalie Division became Shire of Rosalie on 31 March 1903. Initially, the boundaries of the Shire were far from clear, with many adjustments being made with adjoining Shires up until 1914. Declining terms of trade for dairy farmers in the post-World War II period, along with mechanisation in agriculture, led to a decline in the Shire's population, reaching its lowest level since early settlement in the mid-1970s. However, wine-making, tourism and the growth of

as an urban centre into the Shire's southern areas provided something of a revival. The council consisted of an elected mayor and eight councillors, and was not subdivided into wards. On 15 March 2008, under the ''Local Government (Reform Implementation) Act 2007'' passed by the

Parliament of Queensland The Parliament of Queensland is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature, legislative body of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. As provided under the Constitution of Queensland, the Parliament consists o ...

on 10 August 2007, the Shire of Rosalie merged with the

City of Toowoomba The City of Toowoomba was a local government area on the border of Darling Downs and South East Queensland regions of Queensland, Australia, encompassing the centre and inner suburbs of the regional city of Toowoomba. The City covered an area ...

and the Shires of Cambooya, Clifton, Crows Nest, Jondaryan,

Millmerran Millmerran , known as Domville between 1 June 1889 and 16 November 1894, is a town and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Millmerran had a population of 1,545 p ...

and Pittsworth to form the

Towns and localities

The Shire of Rosalie includes the following settlements: *

* Acland * Bowenville¹ *

Evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

* Glencoe * Gowrie Junction^{1, 2} *

Kingsthorpe Kingsthorpe is a suburb and civil parish of Northampton, England. It is situated to the north of Northampton town centre and is served by the A508 and A5199 roads which join at Kingsthorpe's centre. The 2011 Census recorded the population of ...

¹ * Meringandan West * Cooyar * Upper Yarraman * Yarraman ¹ - split with the former

Shire of Jondaryan The Shire of Jondaryan was a local government area located in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia, immediately west of the regional city of Toowoomba. The shire, administered from the town of Oakey, covered an area of , and existe ...

² - split with the former

Population

Chairmen and mayors

* 1880–1894: John Frederick McDougall,

Member of the Queensland Legislative Council Following are lists of members of the Queensland Legislative Council Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by t ...

1860—1895 * 1894–1895: R. Sharpe * 1895–1896: Henry Venn King * 1896–1897: Daniel McMahon * 1897–1898: John Mathieson * 1898–1899: H.P. Dunn * 1899–1900: F. Wockner * 1900–1901: R. Sharpe * 1901–1902: Henry Venn King * 1902–1903: Daniel McMahon * 1903–1904: Henry Venn King * 1904–1905: John Bews * 1905–1906: J.S. Lee * 1906–1907: John Bews * 1907–1910:

Alfred James Luke Alfred James Luke (9 March 1871 – 11 September 1920) was a politician in Queensland, Australia. He was a Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. Political life Alfred Luke was a member of the Rosalie Shire Council and its chairm ...

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 the

electoral district of Aubigny The electoral district of Aubigny was a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Queensland. It was first created in a redistribution ahead of the 1873 colonial election, and existed until the 1972 state election. Based in the Darlin ...

1912–1915 * 1910–1911: Henry Venn King * 1911–1929:

Arthur Edward Moore Arthur Edward Moore (9 February 1876 – 7 January 1963) was an Australian politician. He was the Country and Progressive National Party Premier of Queensland, from 1929 to 1932. He was the only Queensland Premier not to come from the ra ...

for the

1912–1941 and

Premier of Queensland The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is appointed ...

1929–1932 * 1929–1936: Morris Harland * 1936–1939: Henry John Winten * 1939–1946: J.J. Gleeson * 1946–1962: S.A. Plant * 1962–1973: W.F. Kajewski * 1973–1997: Alick Williams * 1997–2008: Noel Strohfeld

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosalie Shire Former local government areas of Queensland Darling Downs Toowoomba 1879 establishments in Australia 2008 disestablishments in Australia Populated places disestablished in 2008