The District Council of Brown's Well 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 State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

from 1916 to 1997. The name stemmed from the Brown's Well pastoral station, which was located near the council seat of Paruna. Meetings were also held on a regular basis in the institute at

Alawoona Alawoona is a town in the Murray Mallee region of South Australia. At the , Alawoona had a population of 250. It lies on the Karoonda Highway and Loxton railway line where they both change direction from easterly to continue northwards for 35&nb ...

, which was the district's major centre. It was proclaimed on 16 November 1916, and held its first meeting on 16 December. The area had formerly been part of the

District Council of Loxton The District Council of Loxton was a local government area in South Australia from 1910 to 1997, centring on the town of Loxton. It was proclaimed on 12 May 1910, following the naming and settling of the town in 1907. The district included the ...

. The first council chamber was a ten by ten shed and it was reported that there were "no roads and very few grubbed tracks" and "the population of the entire district asvery small." A permanent council chambers building was opened in May 1929. In 1935, the council had a total population of 1,100, with 85 miles of main roads and 409 miles of district roads. In 1936, it comprised the cadastral hundreds of Allen, Kekwick and McGorrery, with a total land area of 340,800 acres, having increased since the initial proclamation. The main towns were Paruna, Alawoona, Cobera (now incorporated into Alawoona), Malpas,

Meribah Massah ( he, מַסָּה) and Meribah ( he , מְרִיבָה, also spelled "Mirabah") are place names found in the Hebrew Bible. The Israelites are said to have travelled through Massah and Meribah during the Exodus, although the continuous l ...

and

Veitch Veitch or Vetch is a Scottish surname, and may refer to: Veitch * Arthur Veitch (1844–1880), horticulturist * Bill Veitch (1870–1961), New Zealand politician * Champion Doug Veitch (born 1960), Scottish musician and songwriter * Colin Vei ...

. It was divided into six wards: North-East, South-East, North, South, South-West and North-West. Much of the area was isolated Mallee country that was still being opened up in the 1930s. In 1932, it was reported that the council's road-building works were sufficiently large that there was "not a single man in the whole of the area who was unemployed." The council ceased to exist on 3 May 1997, when it amalgamated with the

and the

District Council of Waikerie The District Council of Waikerie was a local government area in South Australia from 1914 to 1997, centring on the town of Waikerie. It was proclaimed on 19 February 1914 as a seven-member council comprising the cadastral Hundreds of Waikerie and ...

to form the

District Council of Loxton Waikerie The District Council of Loxton Waikerie is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Murray Mallee region of South Australia. The council seat lies at Loxton, South Australia, Loxton, while it maintains a branch office at Wai ...

. The Brown's Well council's former honour board was re-unveiled in the Loxton council offices in March 2016, following calls for its reinstatement from a former Brown's Well councillor.

Chairmen of the District Council of Brown's Well

* Cecil Stone (1916–1917) * L. V. Shannon (1917–1919) * Alex Cameron (1919–1939) * John Joseph Elwood (1939–1940) * Arthur Alan Petch (1940–1944) * Eric Milton Edwards (1944–1949) * Albert Wyndham Broad (1949–1951) * Eric Milton Edwards (1951–1952) * Albert Wyndham Broad (1952–1954) * William Westley Claude Tiller (1954–1958) * Victor Norman Henschke (1958–1962) * Thomas Allen Nance (1962–1963) * Victor Norman Henschke (1963–1964) * Norman John Flavel (1964–1967) * Kenneth Griffiths (1967-after 1985)

References

{{Former local government areas in South Australia Brown's Well