The Shire of Boonah 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 East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

Queensland, Australia, about southwest of Brisbane. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1880 until its merger with parts of the Shire of Beaudesert and City of Ipswich to form the Scenic Rim Region on 15 March 2008. The shire was part of the "

Scenic Rim The Scenic Rim is a group of forested mountain ranges of the Great Dividing Range, located south of Brisbane agglomeration, straddling the border between south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales, Australia. In 2021, the S ...

", a group of mountain ranges forming part of 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 ...

, and contained four national parks— Main Range, Mount French, Moogerah Peaks and Mount Greville National Park which is now part of Moogerah Peaks National Park.

History

The Goolman Division was incorporated on 11 November 1879 under the ''Divisional Boards Act 1879'' with a population of 1,542. It was centred on

Boonah Boonah is a rural town and locality in the Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Boonah had a population of 2,484 people. Geography The town is positioned near the Fassifern Valley, McPherson Range and Main Range ...

and its board consisting of six councillors. On 4 January 1884, there was an adjustment of boundaries between No. 2 subdivision of Mutdapilly Division and subdivision No. 2 of the Goolman Division. Initially, the Goolman Division had its office in

Flinders Flinders may refer to: Places Antarctica * Flinders Peak, near the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula Australia New South Wales * Flinders County, New South Wales * Shellharbour Junction railway station, Shellharbour * Flinders, New South Wa ...

(). However, in 1887, the railway line from Ipswich was extended to Boonah, and the Goolman Division office moved to Boonah. On 25 October 1890, part of the northern section of Goolman Division became part of the new Normanby Division. With the passage of the ''Local Authorities Act 1902'', Goolman Division became the Shire of Goolman on 31 March 1903. The Shire offices were in High Street, Boonah. The Goolman Shire War Memorial was unveiled in Boonah (then part of the Goolman Shire) on 19 May 1920 by General Birdwood and Councillor Alexander John Tait McKay. It is generally known as the Boonah War Memorial. On 14 October 1937 was renamed Shire of Boonah, which apparently means "bloodwood tree" in the local

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

language.

Greater Ipswich Scheme of 1949

On 29 January 1949, a new Local Government Act was enacted to further amalgamate local government in the Ipswich area, abolishing the Shires of Normanby and Rosewood. The City of Ipswich was enlarged (from 12¼ square miles to 30 square miles) to include the more urban parts of the

Shire of Moreton The Shire of Moreton was a local government area in South East Queensland, Australia, located about southwest of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. It represented an area surrounding but not including Ipswich, and existed from 1917 until 1995, whe ...

(formerly known as the

Shire of Ipswich The Shire of Ipswich is a former local government area in the south-east of Queensland, Australia. History The Greater Ipswich Scheme On 13 October 1916, a rationalisation of the local government areas in and around Ipswich was implemented. It ...

). The Shire of Moreton was then enlarged by the inclusion of the northern part of the Shire of Normanby and all the Shire of Rosewood. The southern part of the Shire of Normanby was transferred to an enlarged Shire of Boonah (a gain of 384 people and ). The council for the enlarged Shire of Boonah was subdivided into three divisions, each electing three councillors.

Amalgamations in 2000

In March 2000, Boonah added to its area part of the City of Ipswich, including

Mount Walker Mount Walker () is a snow-covered mountain which rises from the northeast part of Forbidden Plateau, 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) south of the head of Blanchard Glacier, in northern Graham Land, Antarctica. It was surveyed by Falkland Islands ...

, Warrill View and Rosevale, and the divisions were abolished, with a seven-member council representing the entire district.

Amalgamations of 2008

On 15 March 2008, under the ''Local Government (Reform Implementation) Act 2007'' passed by the

Parliament of Queensland The Parliament of Queensland is the legislature of Queensland, Australia. As provided under the Constitution of Queensland, the Parliament consists of the Monarch of Australia and the Legislative Assembly. It has been the only unicameral s ...

on 10 August 2007, Boonah merged with the southern rural section of the Shire of Beaudesert and the Harrisville– Peak Crossing section of the City of Ipswich to form the Scenic Rim Region.

Towns and localities

The Shire of Boonah included the following settlements: *

Aratula Aratula is a rural town and locality in the Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Aratula had a population of 532 people. Geography Aratula is approximately by road southwest of Ipswich. The Cunningham Highway ente ...

* Charlwood * Coulson * Fassifern * Harrisville¹ * Kalbar *

Maroon Maroon ( US/ UK , Australia ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word ''marron'', or chestnut. "Marron" is also one of the French translations for "brown". According to multiple dictionaries, there are var ...

* Moogerah *

Mount Alford Mount Alford () is a flat-topped, ice-free mountain (1,480 m) at the south side of Boggs Valley in the Helliwell Hills. Mapped by United States Geological Survey (USGS) from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1960–63. Named by Advisory Com ...

* Roadvale * Rosevale * Silverdale * Tarome * Templin * Warrill View ¹ - split with the City of Ipswich

Population

# The estimated 1947 population of the post-1949 area was 6,239.

Chairmen and mayors

* 1880: Charles William Hunt * 1915: William Ramsden Bowman (the great-grandson of

John Macarthur John MacArthur or Macarthur may refer to: *J. Roderick MacArthur (1920–1984), American businessman *John MacArthur (American pastor) (born 1939), American evangelical minister, televangelist, and author * John Macarthur (priest), 20th-century pro ...

) * 1927: W. Farley * 1943-1947 Harold RichterRichter, Sir Harold
—

. Retrieved 21 April 2016. * 1959–1961: Oliver Walter Hooper. He was the grandson of one of the original landowners of the area that became the town of Boonah. Many of the streets of Boonah are named after his aunts & uncles. Oliver was a member of the Boonah Shire Council for 15 years, becoming chairman (mayor) and dying during his second term. * 1994–2008: John Brent. he is one of the longest continuing serving elected members in Australia with almost 40 years of service and over twenty as mayor. He was first elected as a councillor in the Shire of Boonah in 1976 and was chairman of the Shire of Boonah since 12 April 1994, becoming mayor of the Scenic Rim Region in 2008 following the amalgamation.

References

External links

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