The Shire of Croydon is a local government area in western

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. The shire, administered from the town of

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, covers an area of . The council consists of a mayor plus four councillors, each of whom represents the entire Shire.

History

The area was originally settled as part of a

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New ...

in the 1880s, and at one time had a population of 7,000. The Croydon Division was created on 31 December 1887 under the ''Divisional Boards Act 1887''. With the passage of the ''Local Authorities Act 1902'', the Croydon Division became the Shire of Croydon 31 March 1903. At one stage the Town of Croydon was responsible for the town itself; however, this was dissolved into the Shire on 1 January 1909.

Amalgamation

Croydon, like many western local government areas, was not affected by amalgamations in 2007–2008, mainly because of the large geographical size and remoteness of the shire. Despite being rated as "weak" by the Financial Sustainability Review, analysis by the Local Government Commissioners revealed this to be due to factors upon which amalgamation would have no effect.

Towns and localities

The Shire of Croydon includes the following settlements: *

* Blackbull

Libraries

Croydon Shire Council operates a public library at Croydon.

Population

Chairmen and mayors

;Chairmen * 1892: E.S. Ross * 1927: William M. O'Flaherty

Mayors

* 2008 - 2012: Cornelia Bernardina (Corrie) Pickering * 2012- : Trevor Joseph Pickering

References

External links

Croydon Shire Council
(official site)
University of Queensland: Queensland Places: Croydon and Croydon Shire

Croydon's listing
on Queensland LG database {{DEFAULTSORT:Croydon Shire Local government areas of Queensland Australian gold rushes 1887 establishments in Australia North West Queensland