The Shire of Esk 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 se ...

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 , established_ ...

, Australia, located about west - northwest of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. It stretched from the

Lockyer Valley The Lockyer Valley is an area of rich farmlands that lies to the west of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and east of Toowoomba. The Lockyer Valley is rated among the top ten most fertile farming areas in the world, and the intensively cultiv ...

north and west to 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 up the valley of the

Brisbane River The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the Go ...

. Esk covered an area of , and existed from 1879 until its merger with the Shire of Kilcoy to form the

Somerset Region The Somerset Region is a local government area located in the West Moreton region of South East Queensland, Australia, about northwest of Brisbane and centred on the town of Esk. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Shire of Esk and th ...

on 15 March 2008.

History

The Durundur Division was incorporated on 11 November 1879 under the ''Divisional Boards Act 1879'' with a population of 1428. Its name was changed to Esk Division on 2 June 1880 by proclamation. On 18 January 1884, there was an adjustment of boundaries between Highfields Division's subdivisions Nos. 1 and 2 and Esk Division. With the passage of the ''Local Authorities Act 1902'', Esk became a Shire on 31 March 1903. The council consisted of an elected mayor and ten councillors, and was not subdivided. In 1980, the Council of the Shire of Esk adopted the head of the

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

as its logo, honouring a gift from

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

in September 1873 to the district. In 1984 the official logo was adopted. The Weeping Bottlebrush was adopted as the shire's floral emblem on 10 August 1994. 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, the Shire of Esk merged with the Shire of Kilcoy to form the

Towns and localities

The Shire of Esk included the following settlements: * Esk * Borallon * Caboonbah * Clarendon *

Colinton Colinton ( gd, Baile Cholgain) is a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland situated south-west of the city centre. Up until the late 18th century it appears on maps as Collington. It is bordered by Dreghorn to the south and Craiglockhart to the north ...

* Coolana *

Coominya Coominya is a rural town and locality in the Somerset Region in South East Queensland, Australia. The town is located west of the state capital, Brisbane and approximately from Wivenhoe Dam. In the , Coominya had a population of 1,200 people. ...

* Dundas * Fairney View * Fernvale * Glamorgan Vale * Harlin *

Lake Somerset The Somerset Dam is a mass concrete Mass concrete is defined by American Concrete Institute Committee 207 as "any volume of concrete with dimensions large enough to require that measures be taken to cope with the generation of heat from hydratio ...

Lake Wivenhoe Lake Wivenhoe is the name both a lake formed by the Wivenhoe Dam and the locality which contains it in the Somerset Region, Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Qu ...

* Lark Hill * Linville *

Lowood Lowood is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Somerset Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Lowood had a population of 4,159 people. Geography The town is on the Brisbane River, west of the ...

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the greatest town between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detm ...

* Moore * Mount Hallen * Mount Tarampa *

Prenzlau Prenzlau (, formerly also Prenzlow) is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, the administrative seat of Uckermark (district), Uckermark District. It is also the centre of the historic Uckermark region. Geography The town is located on the Uecker, Ucke ...

Rifle Range A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, venue or field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice or competitions. Some shooting ranges are operated by military o ...

* Tarampa * Toogoolawah * Vernor * Wanora

Population

Chairmen and Mayors

March 1880 - December 1885: Frederick Lord * January 1886 - March 1888: James Henry McConnel * March 1888 - February 1889: Frederick Lord * February 1889 - February 1891: Thomas Pryde * February 1891 - February 1893: Frederick Lord * February 1893 - February 1894: George Charles Taylor * February 1894 - February 1896: Patrick Clifford * February 1896 - February 1899: James Henry McConnel * March 1899 - February 1901: Walter Francis * March 1901 - January 1902:

Henry Plantagenet Somerset Henry Plantagenet Somerset (19 May 1852 – 11 April 1936) was a pioneer pastoralist and politician in Queensland, Australia. Somerset was a liberal politician who represented the district of Stanley in the Queensland Legislative Assembly fr ...

* February 1902 - February 1905: Walter Francis * March 1905 - February 1906: Alexander Smith * February 1906 - February 1907: Charles Stuart Lord (son of Frederick Lord) * February 1907 - February 1908: Frederick Seib * February 1908 - February 1909: John MacDonald * February 1909 - February 1910: Alexander Smith * February 1910 - February 1911: Charles George Handley * February 1911 - February 1912: Alexander Smith * March 1913 - May 1914: James Henry McConnel * May 1914 - July 1914: Alexander Smith * July 1914 - March 1915: Herbert Prescott Gardner * March 1915 - March 1916: Eric Walter McConnel * March 1916 - February 1917: Alexander Smith * February 1917 - January 1919: George Bishop * January 1919 - February 1920: William Roy Butler * February 1920 - August 1921: Michael Frederick Thompson * August 1921 - April 1930: Alexander Smith * April 1930 - August 1940: William Lewis * 1940 - July 1952: James Barbour, junior * September 1952 - 1961: William Wells * 1961 - 1967: Norman Joseph McInnes * 1967 - September 1983: Kenneth Edgar Haslindgden * October 1983 - : Lester Joseph Williams * * 1991–2004: Jean Bray * 2004–2007: Graeme Lehmann; after amalgamation continued as Mayor of

References

External links