The Shire of Rosalie was a local government area in the

Darling Downs The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was general ...

region of

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, immediately northwest of the regional city of

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 ...

. The shire, administered from the town of

Goombungee Goombungee is a rural town and locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Goombungee had a population of 1,026 people. Geography Goombungee is 35 km north-west of Toowoomba in the Darling Downs. The ...

, covered an area of , and existed as a local government entity from 1879 until 2008. In 2008, it amalgamated with several other councils in the Toowoomba area to form the

Toowoomba Region The Toowoomba Region is a local government area located in the Darling Downs part of Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by several previous local government areas with histories extending back to the early 1900s and bey ...

Geography

The Shire of Rosalie was centred approximately north-northwest of the city of Toowoomba, west of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

and northwest of the Gold Coast. The shire offices were located in

, with the shire boundary stretching in a triangular pattern north to Yarraman, southwest to Bowenville and southeast to

Gowrie Junction Gowrie Junction is a rural locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. It is north-west of Toowoomba. In the , Gowrie Junction had a population of 2,030 people. The town of Gowrie is in the eastern part of the locality (). Geograp ...

Commerce and industry

Industry in Rosalie Shire centred on the towns of Yarraman and Goombungee. Goombungee contains M & S Steel Buildings, and Leicht's Country Industries Australia. Other enterprises within the Shire included cluster industries, a private dairy factory,

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of ...

s, boutique cheese-makers,

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineya ...

s and

wineries A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, b ...

, accommodation operators, tour operators, aged care facility provision, an immigration hostel, a

correctional facility In criminal justice, particularly in North America, correction, corrections, and correctional, are umbrella terms describing a variety of functions typically carried out by government agencies, and involving the punishment, treatment, and s ...

and host-farming (farm-stay holidays). Goombungee was in many ways the centre of Rosalie Shire. A town with approximately 750 persons, the shire's head office was in Goombungee, along with the main branch of the library. Recently moving to new premises nearby, the library made way for a dedicated art gallery within the Shire Office's building. Also located in Goombungee are the Goombungee State School, swimming pool, general store, Australia Post office, police station, hardware store, Pioneer Arms Hotel, historical society, two garages, road depot, large sporting oval including lighted tennis courts, hairdresser, doctor's offices and just south, a nine-hole golf course.

History

Rosalie Shire was one of the earliest areas settled in the

region of

South East Queensland South East Queensland (SEQ) is a bio-geographical, metropolitan, political and administrative region of the state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of approximately 3.8 million people out of the state's population of 5.1 million. Th ...

. The first settlers in the area were Henry Hughes and Henry Isaac, who squatted on land surrounding Gowrie Creek and took up a frontage along the creek. They were soon followed by others who took up sheep runs in the Darling Downs portion of the Shire. Soon the whole area was occupied by only three vast stations: Gowrie-Goombungee, Westbrook and Rosalie Plains. In the 1860s, railways — particularly the main Western line near the Shire's southern boundary — became a lifeline and permitted agricultural development and expansion to occur.

Governance

The first local government was the Rosalie Division incorporated on 11 November 1879 under the ''Divisional Boards Act 1879'' with a population of 1409. With the passage of the ''Local Authorities Act 1902'', Rosalie Division became Shire of Rosalie on 31 March 1903. Initially, the boundaries of the Shire were far from clear, with many adjustments being made with adjoining Shires up until 1914. Declining terms of trade for dairy farmers in the post-World War II period, along with mechanisation in agriculture, led to a decline in the Shire's population, reaching its lowest level since early settlement in the mid-1970s. However, wine-making, tourism and the growth of

as an urban centre into the Shire's southern areas provided something of a revival. The council consisted of an elected mayor and eight councillors, and was not subdivided into wards. On 15 March 2008, under the ''Local Government (Reform Implementation) Act 2007'' passed by the Parliament of Queensland on 10 August 2007, the Shire of Rosalie merged with the

City of Toowoomba The City of Toowoomba was a local government area in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia, encompassing the centre and inner suburbs of the regional city of Toowoomba. The City covered an area of , and existed as a local governmen ...

and the Shires of Cambooya, Clifton, Crows Nest, Jondaryan, Millmerran and

Pittsworth Pittsworth is a rural town and locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Pittsworth had a population of 3,294 people. Geography Pittsworth township is south-west of Brisbane via the Warrego Highway, so ...

to form the

Towns and localities

The Shire of Rosalie includes the following settlements: *

* Acland * Bowenville¹ *

Evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

* Glencoe *

^{1, 2} *

Kingsthorpe Kingsthorpe is a suburb and civil parish of Northampton, England. It is situated to the north of Northampton town centre and is served by the A508 and A5199 roads which join at Kingsthorpe's centre. The 2011 Census recorded the population of ...

¹ * Meringandan West * Upper Yarraman * Yarraman ¹ - split with the former Shire of Jondaryan
² - split with the former

Population

Chairmen and mayors

* 1880–1894:

John Frederick McDougall John Frederick McDougall (1820—1896) was a pastoralist and politician in Queensland, Australia. He was a Member of the Queensland Legislative Council. Early life John Frederick McDougall was born on 31 August 1820 in Parramatta, New South W ...

Member of the Queensland Legislative Council Following are lists of members of the Queensland Legislative Council The Queensland Legislative Council was the upper house of the parliament in the Australian state of Queensland. It was a fully nominated body which first took office on 1 May ...

1860—1895 * 1894–1895: R. Sharpe * 1895–1896: Henry Venn King * 1896–1897: Daniel McMahon * 1897–1898: John Mathieson * 1898–1899: H.P. Dunn * 1899–1900: F. Wockner * 1900–1901: R. Sharpe * 1901–1902: Henry Venn King * 1902–1903: Daniel McMahon * 1903–1904: Henry Venn King * 1904–1905: John Bews * 1905–1906: J.S. Lee * 1906–1907: John Bews * 1907–1910: Alfred James Luke,

Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly This is a list of members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the state parliament of Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivis ...

for the

electoral district of Aubigny The electoral district of Aubigny was a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Queensland. It was first created in a redistribution ahead of the 1873 colonial election, and existed until the 1972 state election. Based in the Darling ...

1912–1915 * 1910–1911: Henry Venn King * 1911–1929: Arthur Edward Moore,

for the

1912–1941 and

Premier of Queensland The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is ap ...

1929–1932 * 1929–1936: Morris Harland * 1936–1939: Henry John Winten * 1939–1946: J.J. Gleeson * 1946–1962: S.A. Plant * 1962–1973: W.F. Kajewski * 1973–1997: Alick Williams * 1997–2008: Noel Strohfeld

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosalie Shire Former local government areas of Queensland Darling Downs Toowoomba 1879 establishments in Australia 2008 disestablishments in Australia Populated places disestablished in 2008