The Shire of Stephens 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 inner southern suburbs 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 ...

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. The shire, administered from

Annerley Annerley is a Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Annerley is located by road south of the Brisbane CBD. In the , Annerley had a population of 11,891 people. Geography Much of the subur ...

, covered an area of , and existed as a local government entity from 1886 until 1925, when it was amalgamated into the

City of Brisbane The City of Brisbane is a local government area (LGA) which comprises the inner portion of Greater Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. Its governing body is the Brisbane City Council. The LGAs in the other mainland state capitals ...

under the ''City of Brisbane Act 1924''.

History

On 11 November 1879, the Yeerongpilly Division was created as one of 74 divisions within Queensland under the ''Divisional Boards Act 1879''. On 14 October 1886, following a successful petition from ratepayers to create a new division, Stephens Division was severed from subdivision No. 1 of Yeerongpilly Division. It had a board of six members (3 being elected by each of 2 subdivisions); the first board elections were held in February 1887. With the passage of the ''Local Authorities Act 1902'', Stephens Division became the Shire of Stephens on 31 March 1903. A major project undertaken by the shire was the creation of the Yeronga Memorial Park. The land (bounded by Ipswich Road, Villa Street, Park Road & School Road) was originally set aside in 1882 as a recreational reserve. Between 1917 and 1921 the shire redeveloped the park as a memorial to local participation in World War I, 14% of the population having enlisted for military service. The park is listed on both 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 ...

and the

Brisbane Heritage Register The Brisbane Heritage Register is a heritage register containing a list of culturally-significant places within the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mai ...

. In 1923 the Stephens Croquet Club was established in the Yeronga Memorial Park consisting of two lawns and a clubhouse. The offices for the shire were located on Ipswich Road, between Victoria Terrace and Junction Terrace. In 1923, it was planned to develop a new council chambers, offices and a School of Arts, but this was delayed given the proposal to create

Greater Brisbane South East Queensland (SEQ) is a bio-geographical, metropolitan and statistical region of the state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of approximately 4.0 million people out of the state's population of 5.5 million. The area cover ...

which would have resulted in the abolition of Stephens Shire. On 1 October 1925, the Shire of Stephens was abolished and its area became part of the new

. The shire offices and associated land were sold in 1929. The building was relocated to the rear of the block and turned to face the street behind (its street address is now 15 Ealing Street) and was altered for use as a residence. It is listed on the

. The name ''Stephens'' survives in the Stephens Croquet Club which continues to operate under that name.

Chairmen and presidents

* 1903: P. Marshall * 1905, and another year between 1904 and 1907: Alexander McNab * 1906: H. W. Luya * 1908: Mr McCosker * 1925: F. A. Stimson * George Grimes

Population

The population of Stephen Shire was: Population-of-Shire-of-Stephens

Localities

* Fairfield * Greenslopes (split with Shire of Coorparoo) * Holland Park West * Moorooka * Tarragindi (split with Shire of Yeerongpilly) * Yeerongpilly (split with Shire of Yeerongpilly) * Yeronga

References

External links