Lands Administrative Divisions of Australia - History

History

Counties were used since the earliest British settlement in Australia, with the County of Cumberland proclaimed by Captain Phillip on 4 June 1788. In 1804 Governor King divided Van Diemen's Land into two counties; Buckingham in the south and Cornwall in the north. The parishes date to the surveys conducted after 1825, with the instructions given to Governor Brisbane on 23 Jun 1825 to divide the colony into counties, hundreds and parishes. At this time there were five counties already proclaimed in New South Wales: Cumberland, Westmoreland, Camden, Argyle and Northumberland. The Nineteen Counties in south eastern New South Wales were the limits of location of the colony in a period after 1829, with the area outside them originally divided into districts, and later also into counties and parishes. Counties were established soon after the foundation of other Australian colonies.

Many of the counties have English names, often the names of counties in England, such as Devon, Dorset, Cornwall and Kent Counties in Tasmania. Less frequently, some have Aboriginal names such as the County of Yungnulgra in New South Wales, and County of Croajingolong in Victoria.

The use of counties, hundreds and parishes was popular in Australia in the 19th century, with many maps of Australian colonies showing these divisions, and towns and cities often listed in their county. Legal cases referenced counties, and many genealogical records for Australia in the 19th century list the county and parish for location of birth, deaths and marriages . The 1911 Britannica also describes Australian towns and cities as being in their respective county, including most of the capital cities: Melbourne, County of Bourke ; Sydney, County of Cumberland ;Brisbane, County of Stanley ; Adelaide, County of Adelaide; and Hobart, County of Buckingham . However it is not mentioned that Perth was located in the County of Perth, as even by this time county names were infrequently used in Western Australia, where they did not cover all of the settled areas, unlike the other states. Instead the system of land divisions and land districts was used, with most of Perth located in the land districts of Swan, Canning and Cockburn Sound, all in the South West Division of Western Australia.

Counties and parishes are also still referenced in property law, and in industrial relations instruments, for example in a New South Wales award which excludes people from the County of Yancowinna. Similar award examples exist in the other states and territories that have been subdivided into counties. The County of Yancowinna is also the only part of New South Wales which is in a different time zone to the rest of the state, as mentioned in the Australian Standard Time Act of 1987 . Counties are also used on paperwork for mortgage securities in banks. Parishes and counties are also mentioned in definitions of electoral districts.