The County of Bourke is one of the 37

counties of Victoria Cadastral divisions in Victoria are called counties, which are further subdivided into parishes and townships, for cadastral or land administration purposes. Cadastral divisions of county, parish and township form the basis for formal identifica ...

which are part of the

Lands administrative divisions of Australia Lands administrative divisions of Australia are the cadastre, cadastral divisions of Australia for the purposes of identification of land to ensure security of land ownership. Most States of Australia, states term these divisions as county, coun ...

, (used for land titles and no longer other administrative or political function). It is the oldest and most populous county in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and contains the city of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. Like other counties in Victoria, it is subdivided into

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

. The county was named after Irish born

Sir Richard Bourke General Sir Richard Bourke, KCB (4 May 1777 – 12 August 1855), was an Irish-born British Army officer who served as Governor of New South Wales from 1831 to 1837. As a lifelong Whig (Liberal), he encouraged the emancipation of convicts and ...

, the

Governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governors of the ...

between 1831 and 1837. It is bordered by the

Werribee River The Werribee River is a perennial river of the Port Phillip catchment that is located on the Werribee Plain, expansive lowland plain southwest of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The headwaters of a tributary, the Lerderderg ...

in the west; the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...

in the north;

Port Phillip Port Phillip (Kulin languages, Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped bay#Types, enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, ...

in the south; and by

Dandenong Creek The Dandenong Creek ( Aboriginal Bunwurrung: ''Narra Narrawong'' or ''Dandinnong'') is an urban creek of the Port Phillip catchment, located in the eastern and south-eastern Greater Melbourne region of the Australian east coast state of Vic ...

, a small part of the

Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stre ...

, and the

Plenty River The Plenty River is a perennial river of the Port Phillip catchment, located in the north-eastern Greater Melbourne region of the Australian state of Victoria. Course and features The Plenty River rises in the forested slopes of Mount Disappoin ...

in the east. The county was proclaimed in 1853. The "Melbourne and County of Bourke Police" was the name for the police force in the area before 1853. The County of Bourke was used on the name of the electoral roll in 1845. There was also the "Bourke County Court" in the 1850s, which became the

County Court of Victoria The County Court of Victoria is the intermediate court in the Australian state of Victoria. It is equivalent to district courts in the other states. The County Court is the principal trial court in the state, having a broad criminal and civi ...

. Melbourne is also referenced as being in "Bourke county" in the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is a 29-volume reference work, an edition of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. So ...

''.

Parishes

Following is a list of parishes within the County of Bourke. Many of the links below link to a modern suburb or town, which is situated within the parish. In most cases, the parish itself is much bigger than the modern suburb or town. Several of the parishes are also part of a neighbouring county. For example, Bylands, Forbes, Goldie, Lancefield and Newham parishes are located in the County of Bourke as well as the County of Dalhousie. Morang, Toorourrong and Yan Yean parishes are in the County of Bourke as well as the County of Evelyn. Finally, Ballan parish is situated within both the County of Bourke and the County of Grant.

References

Vicnames, place name detailsResearch aids, Victoria 1910

External links

Plans of the County of Bourke 1835-1855
{{Counties of Victoria Counties of Victoria (Australia) Geography of Melbourne

Parishes

See also

References

External links