Argyle County was one of the original

Nineteen Counties The Nineteen Counties were the limits of location in the colony of New South Wales, Australia. Settlers were permitted to take up land only within the counties due to the dangers in the wilderness. They were defined by the Governor of New Sout ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and is now one of the 141

Cadastral divisions of New South Wales For lands administrative purposes, New South Wales is divided into 141 counties, which are further divided into parishes. The counties were first set down in the Colony of New South Wales, which later became the Australian state of New South Wa ...

. It includes the area around

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...

. It is bounded by Lake George in the south-west, the

Shoalhaven River The Shoalhaven River is a perennial river that rises from the Southern Tablelands and flows into an open mature wave dominated barrier estuary near Nowra on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia. Location and features The Shoalhaven ...

in the east, and the

Wollondilly River The Wollondilly River, an Australian perennial river that is part of the HawkesburyNepean catchment, is located in the Southern Tablelands and Southern Highlands regions of New South Wales. The river meanders from its western slopes near Crook ...

in the north-east. Argyle County was named by Governor Macquarie after his native county in Scotland. He named it while inspecting the area in 1820. In 1829 the Act for Instituting and regulating Courts of General and Quarter Sessions in New South Wales established courts in the county at Cookbundoon, Goulburn Plains and Inverary. James Byrne was Assistant Surveyor for the County in 1832. In 1835 Argyle had a magistrate and police force. In 1852 it had an area of and population of 5,565. It was also described as having productive land and inexhaustible water. In 1857,

Charles Cowper Sir Charles Cowper (), (26 April 1807 – 19 October 1875) was an Australian politician and the Premier of New South Wales on five occasions from 1856 to 1870. Cowper did useful work but does not rank among the more distinguished Australian ...

was a major landowner in the area, and held in the county. The

Electoral district of Argyle Argyle was an electoral district for the Legislative Assembly in the Australian State of New South Wales from 1856 to 1904, including Argyle County surrounding Goulburn. The town of Goulburn was in Southern Boroughs from 1856 to 1859 and th ...

was the former state electoral district for the area between 1856 and 1904. The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition mentions Goulburn as being in the county. The Greater Argyle Council was formed in 2004 after a proposal to make a new local government area to focus on the County of Argyle, formed from an amalgamation of the former City of Goulburn and parts of Mulwaree Shire. It was renamed the

Goulburn Mulwaree Council Goulburn Mulwaree Council is a local government area located in the Southern Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is located adjacent to the Hume Highway and the Southern Highlands railway line. The estimated resident popul ...

in October 2004.Goulburn Mulwaree Council meeting, Nov. 2004 Renaming of Argyle to Goulburn Mulwaree

Parishes within this county

A full list of parishes found within this county; their current LGA and mapping coordinates to the approximate centre of each location is as follows:

References

External links

1840s map of Argyle County at the National Library
{{Counties of New South Wales Counties of New South Wales