Lands administrative divisions of New South Wales
The lands administrative divisions of New South Wales refers to the 141 counties within the Colony of New South Wales, that later became the Australian state of New South Wales.
The counties were further subdivided into 7,419 parishes. There are also three land divisions, approximately one hundred land districts, and several other types of districts as well as land boards used at various periods. There were also thirteen hundreds proclaimed in Cumberland County, which were later abolished. These divisions are part of the lands administrative divisions of Australia. Unlike the local government areas of New South Wales, which have gone through restructuring periods by the government, the counties have been the same since the nineteenth century.
Creation of county areas
The first county proclaimed was Cumberland on 6 June 1788. Northumberland was named in 1804. Several other counties were established around Sydney; by the 1820s there were nine counties. They were: Roxburgh, Northumberland, Durham, Westmoreland, Cumberland, Argyle, Camden, Ayr and Cambridge. They were in the approximate area of the present day cadastral units except that some of them were larger and took up land which was in 1834 assigned to other counties. Ayr and Cambridge were not used in the 1834 counties, taking up area which is approximately in what became Macquarie County and Brisbane County.Instructions were given to Governor Brisbane in 1825 to survey New South Wales and divide it into counties of various sizes, hundreds, and parishes between 15 and 25 square miles. The Nineteen Counties were surveyed by Thomas Mitchell in 1834. Thirteen hundreds were proclaimed in Cumberland county, but not in anywhere else in New South Wales, and these were repealed in 1888.
As the counties are based on area, rather than population, there are huge differences in the populations of the coastal counties with those for the remote west. The whole of Sydney with several million people is located within Cumberland County, while there are many counties for areas in the Far West which have a very low population.
Use
The counties have little official function and are only now used for land titles and geographic surveying, and as an area of coverage within some industrial awards. Yancowinna County is also legally the only part of the state in the South Australian time zone.Genealogy records from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries for New South Wales commonly use the town name followed by the county. The 1911 Britannica lists all towns in New South Wales the same way, such as Albury, Goulburn county, Broken Hill, Yancowinna county and Wagga-Wagga, Wynyard county.
Early land districts
Parts of the land which were outside the Nineteen Counties were divided into squatting districts in the early nineteenth century . In 1846 New South Wales was divided into settled districts, intermediate districts and unsettled districts. In 1861 the system of settled and unsettled districts were abolished with the Crown Lands Acts, while new types of districts called first and second class settled districts, as well as town land and suburban land came into being. The various districts used:- Albert District. Erected 4 November 1851. Warrego District was split off in 1862.
- Bligh District, east of the Macquarie River. Erected 22 May 1839. In 1852, it was described as being 5 million acres, with 140,000 sheep, 40,000 cattle and 2,000 horses.
- Clarence River District. Erected 1 March 1842, from Port Macquarie District. In 1852, it was described as being 5 million acres, with 200,000 sheep, 40,000 cattle and 2,000 horses.
- Gwydir District. Erected 4 Dec 1847, subdivided from Liverpool Plains district.
- Lachlan District – between the Lachlan River and Murrumbidgee River. Erected 22 May 1839.
- Liverpool Plains District. Erected 22 May 1839; Gwydir was split off in 1847. In 1852, it was described as being larger than 10 million acres, with 400,000 sheep, 220,000 cattle and 4,000 horses. There was an Electoral district of Liverpool Plains in the same area in the nineteenth century, and the Liverpool Plains Shire is the modern shire.
- Lower Darling District. Erected 4 December 1847; later called simply Darling.
- Maneroo District - south of the Moruya River and Queanbeyan River, and east of the Murrumbidgee River. Erected 22 May 1839. In 1852, it was described as having 400,000 sheep, 115,000 cattle and 5,000 horses.
- Macleay River District. Erected 1 March 1842 from out of Port Macquarie District.
- Murrumbidgee District. Erected 22 May 1839. In 1852, it was described as being 12 million acres, with 400,000 sheep, 100,000 cattle and 3,000 horses.
- New England District. Erected 22 May 1839.
- Port Macquarie District.. Erected 22 May 1839. Subdivided into Clarence and Macleay in 1842.
- Warrego District. Erected 8 August 1862, from out of Albert District.
- Wellington District, between the Lachlan River and Macquarie River. Erected 22 May 1839.
Land divisions, boards and districts
Land District | Land Board | Land Board | Land Division |
Albury | Wagga Wagga | Wagga Wagga | Eastern |
Armidale | Armidale | Armidale | Eastern |
Balranald South | Hay | Hay | Central |
Balranald | Hay | Western | Western |
Barmedman East | Forbes | Central | |
Barmedman | Forbes | Central | |
Bathurst | Orange | Orange | Eastern |
Bega | Cooma | Goulburn | Eastern |
Bellingen | Grafton | Eastern | |
Berrima | Sydney | Eastern | Eastern |
Bingara | Moree | Moree | Central |
Bombala | Cooma | Goulburn | Eastern |
Boorowa | Goulburn | Goulburn | Eastern |
Bourke | Bourke | Western | Western |
Braidwood | Goulburn | Goulburn | Eastern |
Breewarrina | Bourke | Western | Western |
Breewarrina East | Bourke | Central | |
Campbelltown | Sydney | Eastern | |
Carcoar | Orange | Orange | Eastern |
Casino | Grafton | Grafton | Eastern |
Cassillis | Maitland | Eastern | |
Cobar | Bourke | Western | Western |
Cobar East | Bourke | Central | |
Condobolin | Forbes | Forbes | Central |
Cooma | Cooma | Goulburn | Eastern |
Coonabarabran | Tamworth | Tamworth | Central |
Coonamble | Dubbo | Dubbo | Eastern |
Cootamundry | Wagga Wagga | Wagga Wagga | Eastern |
Cootamundry Central | Wagga Wagga | Eastern | |
Corowa | Wagga Wagga | Wagga Wagga | Central |
Cowra | Orange | Orange | Eastern |
Deniliquin | Hay | Hay | Central |
Dubbo | Dubbo | Dubbo | Eastern |
Dungog | Maitland | Maitland | Eastern |
Eden | Cooma | Goulburn | Eastern |
Forbes | Forbes | Forbes | Central |
Glen Innes | Armidale | Armidale | Eastern |
Gosford | Sydney | Maitland | Eastern |
Goulburn | Goulburn | Goulburn | Eastern |
Grafton | Grafton | Grafton | Eastern |
Grenfell | Forbes | Forbes | Central |
Gundagai | Wagga Wagga | Wagga Wagga | Eastern |
Gunnedah | Tamworth | Tamworth | Central |
Gunning | Goulburn | Goulburn | Eastern |
Hay North | Hay | Western | Western |
Hay | Hay | Hay | Central |
Hillston North | Hay | Western | Western |
Hillston | Hay | Hay | Central |
Inverell | Armidale | Armidale | Eastern |
Kempsey | Grafton | Grafton | Eastern |
Kiama | Sydney | Sydney | Eastern |
Lismore | Grafton | Grafton | Eastern |
Lithgow | Sydney | Orange | Eastern |
Liverpool | Sydney | Eastern | |
Maitland | Maitland | Maitland | Eastern |
Metropolitan | Sydney | Sydney | Eastern |
Milton | Sydney | Sydney | Eastern |
Molong | Orange | Orange | Eastern |
Moree | Moree | Moree | Central |
Moruya | Sydney | Eastern | |
Mudgee | Orange | Orange | Eastern |
Murrurundi | Tamworth | Tamworth | Eastern |
Murwillumbah | Grafton | Grafton | Eastern |
Muswellbrook | Maitland | Maitland | Eastern |
Narrabri | Tamworth | Moree | Central |
Narrandera | Wagga Wagga | Hay | Central |
Newcastle | Maitland | Maitland | Eastern |
Nowra | Sydney | Sydney | Eastern |
Nyngan | Dubbo | Eastern | |
Orange | Orange | Orange | Eastern |
Parkes | Forbes | Forbes | Central |
Parramatta | Sydney | Sydney | Eastern |
Paterson | Maitland | Eastern | |
Penrith | Sydney | Sydney | Eastern |
Picton | Sydney | Sydney | Eastern |
Port Macquarie | Maitland | Grafton | Eastern |
Queanbeyan | Cooma | Goulburn | Eastern |
Raymonod Terrace | Maitland | Eastern | |
Rylstone | Orange | Orange | Eastern |
Scone | Maitland | Maitland | Eastern |
Singleton | Maitland | Maitland | Eastern |
Stroud | Maitland | Maitland | Eastern |
Tamworth | Tamworth | Tamworth | Eastern |
Taree | Maitland | Maitland | Eastern |
Tenterfield | Armidale | Armidale | Eastern |
Tumbarumba North | Wagga Wagga | Eastern | |
Tumbarumba | Wagga Wagga | Eastern | |
Tumut | Wagga Wagga | Wagga Wagga | Eastern |
Urana | Wagga Wagga | Wagga Wagga | Central |
Wagga Wagga | Wagga Wagga | Wagga Wagga | Central |
Walcha | Armidale | Armidale | Eastern |
Walgett North | Moree | Western | Western |
Walgett | Moree | Moree | Central |
Warialda | Moree | Moree | Central |
Warren | Dubbo | Eastern | |
Wellington | Orange | Orange | Eastern |
Wentworth | Hay | Western | Western |
Wilcannia | Bourke | Western | Western |
Windsor | Sydney | Sydney | Eastern |
Wollombi | Maitland | Eastern | |
Wollongong | Sydney | Sydney | Eastern |
Wyalong | Forbes | Central | |
Yass | Goulburn | Goulburn | Eastern |
Young | Goulburn | Wagga Wagga | Eastern |
Table of counties
County | Year of erection | number of parishes | Coordinates |
Argyle | 1821 | 50 | |
Arrawatta | 1862 | 70 | |
Ashburnham | 1850 | 60 | |
Auckland | 1843 | 55 | |
Baradine | 1862 | 78 | |
Barrona | 1884 | 28 | |
Bathurst | 1829 | 67 | |
Benarba | 1862 | 102 | |
Beresford | 1848 | 49 | |
Bland | 1862 | 65 | |
Blaxland | 1862 | 92 | |
Bligh | 1829 | 47 | |
Booroondarra | 1884 | 36 | |
Bourke | 1862 | 55 | |
Boyd | 1862 | 39 | |
Brisbane | 1829 | 58 | |
Buccleuch | 1848 | 35 | |
Buckland | 1848 | 33 | |
Buller | 1850 | 45 | |
Burnett | 1862 | 56 | |
Cadell | 1862 | 28 | |
Caira | 1862 | 80 | |
Camden | 1805 | 55 | |
Canbelego | 1875 | 52 | |
Clarence | 1848 | 40 | |
Clarendon | 1850 | 36 | |
Clarke | 1862 | 51 | |
Clive | 1850 | 54 | |
Clyde | 1862 | 80 | |
Cook | 1829 | 45 | |
Cooper | 1862 | 76 | |
Courallie | 1862 | 54 | |
Cowley | 1848 | 23 | |
Cowper | 1862 | 117 | |
Culgoa | 1884 | 46 | |
Cumberland | 1788 | 57 | |
Cunningham | 1862 | 59 | |
Dampier | 1848 | 41 | |
Darling | 1850 | 36 | |
Delalah | 1884 | 23 | |
Denham | 1862 | 44 | |
Denison | 1862 | 31 | |
Dowling | 1862 | 51 | |
Drake | 1850 | 39 | |
Dudley | 1848 | 37 | |
Durham | 1829 | 63 | |
Evelyn | 1884 | 41 | |
Ewenmar | 1862 | 53 | |
Farnell | 1884 | 34 | |
Finch | 1875 | 120 | |
Fitzgerald | 1884 | 31 | |
Fitzroy | 1862 | 46 | |
Flinders | 1862 | 71 | |
Forbes | 1862 | 38 | |
Franklin | 1862 | 44 | |
Georgiana | 1829 | 59 | |
Gipps | 1862 | 71 | |
Gloucester | 1829 | 79 | |
Gordon | 1850 | 39 | |
Gough | 1862 | 63 | |
Goulburn | 1850 | 38 | |
Gowen | 1850 | 51 | |
Gregory | 1862 | 91 | |
Gresham | 1850 | 33 | |
Gunderbooka | 1875 | 45 | |
Harden | 1850 | 42 | |
Hardinge | 1862 | 45 | |
Hawes | 1848 | 39 | |
Hume | 1862 | 43 | |
Hunter | 1829 | 64 | |
Inglis | 1850 | 22 | |
Irrara | 1884 | 47 | |
Jamison | 1862 | 64 | |
Kennedy | 1862 | 61 | |
Kilfera | 1884 | 15 | |
Killara | 1875 | 53 | |
King | 1829 | 48 | |
Landsborough | 1875 | 25 | |
Leichhardt | 1862 | 105 | |
Lincoln | 1850 | 52 | |
Livingstone | 1862 | 54 | |
Macquarie | 1830 | 62 | |
Manara | 1884 | 43 | |
Menindee | 1862 | 29 | |
Mitchell | 1862 | 40 | |
Monteagle | 1850 | 35 | |
Mootwingee | 1884 | 39 | |
Mossgiel | 1884 | 87 | |
Mouramba | 1884 | 64 | |
Murchison | 1862 | 48 | |
Murray | 1829 | 54 | |
Nandewar | 1862 | 33 | |
Napier | 1850 | 29 | |
Narran | 1875 | 97 | |
Narromine | 1862 | 46 | |
Nicholson | 1862 | 70 | |
Northumberland | 1804 | 68 | |
Oxley | 1862 | 43 | |
Parry | 1848 | 35 | |
Perry | 1862 | 58 | |
Phillip | 1829 | 45 | |
Poole | 1884 | 12 | |
Pottinger | 1850 | 64 | |
Raleigh | 1848 | 31 | |
Rankin | 1875 | 36 | |
Richmond | 1848 | 36 | |
Robinson | 1884 | 46 | |
Rous | 1848 | 74 | |
Roxburgh | 1829 | 48 | |
Sandon | 1850 | 44 | |
Selwyn | 1862 | 48 | |
St Vincent | 1862 | 76 | |
Stapylton | 1862 | 57 | |
Sturt | 1829 | 42 | |
Taila | 1862 | 42 | |
Tandora | 1884 | 27 | |
Tara | 1862 | 54 | |
Thoulcanna | 1884 | 19 | |
Tongowoko | 1884 | 20 | |
Townsend | 1862 | 111 | |
Ularara | 1884 | 29 | |
Urana | 1862 | 73 | |
Vernon | 1848 | 44 | |
Wakool | 1862 | 98 | |
Waljeers | 1862 | 60 | |
Wallace | 1848 | 65 | |
Waradgery | 1862 | 83 | |
Wellesley | 1848 | 49 | |
Wellington | 1829 | 59 | |
Wentworth | 1862 | 71 | |
Werunda | 1875 | 33 | |
Westmoreland | 1814 | 46 | |
White | 1862 | 47 | |
Windeyer | 1862 | 47 | |
Woore | 1884 | 32 | |
Wynyard | 1850 | 53 | |
Yancowinna | 1884 | 50 | |
Yanda | 1875 | 55 | |
Yantara | 1884 | 33 | |
Young | 1875 | 58 | |
Yungnulgra | 1884 | 39 |