Town of Southport

Summary

The Town of Southport was a local government area in South East Queensland, Australia.

Map of Southport Division and adjacent local government areas, March 1902

History edit

On 11 November 1879, the Nerang and Coomera Divisions was created as two of 74 divisions within Queensland under the Divisional Boards Act 1879.[1][2]

On 6 July 1883, Southport Division was formed from part of subdivision No. 1 of Nerang Division and part of subdivision No. 1 of Coomera Division.[3][4][5][6]

On 6 Feb 1889, part of Southport Division was separated to be a municipal Shire of Southport,[7] but this shire was abolished on 30 June 1892 and the original division was restored.[8]

With the passage of the Local Authorities Act 1902, the entire Southport Division became the Shire of Southport on 31 March 1903.[9]

On 12 April 1918, the Shire of Southport became the Town of Southport on 12 Apr 1918.[10]

A new town hall was in opened in 1935 and listed on the Queensland Heritage Register in 1998.[11]

Amalgamations in 1948 edit

On 9 December 1948, as part of a major reorganisation of local government in South East Queensland, an Order in Council replacing ten former local government areas between the City of Brisbane and the New South Wales border with only four.[12][13] The former ten were:

The four resulting local government areas were:

  • Town of South Coast, an amalgamation of the Towns of Southport and Coolangatta with the Burleigh Heads part of Nerang (which later became City of Gold Coast)
  • the new Shire of Albert: a merger of Beenleigh, Coomera, Nerang (except for the Burleigh Heads area), the southern part of Tingalpa and the eastern part of Waterford[14]
  • an enlarged Shire of Beaudesert, an amalgamation of Beaudesert and Tamborine with the western part of Waterford
  • the new Redland Shire, an amalgamation of Cleveland and the northern part of Tingalpa (which later became Redland City)

The Order came into effect on 10 June 1949, when the first elections were held.

Chairmen and mayors edit

Chairmen of the Division of Southport
Chairman Term
Robert F. Johnston 1883, 1900–1902
William Charles Welsh 1884–1889
C. A. Beetham 1890–1891
George Andrews 1892
Thomas M. Kirk 1893–1896
W. Downs 1897
Edward Hicks 1898
Edward Proud 1899
Chairmen of the Shire of Southport
Chairman Term
Theodor Lenneberg 1889
William Lather 1890–1891
Edward Hicks 1903, 1905, 1911
Edward Fass 1904, 1917
C. A. Beetham 1904*
Ernest Freeman 1906, 1913–1916
J. W. Proud 1907
H. Soegaard 1908
George Andrews 1909, 1912
John Siganto 1910
Mayors of the Town of Southport

Following Southport's change of status to a Town, Edward Hicks was elected its first mayor at a meeting on 11 May 1918. From then on, mayors were popularly elected at triennial elections.

Mayor Term Notes
Edward Hicks 1918–1921
Edward Fass 1921–1924
Washington Waters[15] 1924–1927
Joseph Hendry Grice 1927–1930
C. H. Steadman 1930–1933
Henry Wilson 1933–1936
Joseph Wood Proud 1936–1948 [16]

Election results edit

1933 edit

1933 Queensland local elections: Southport[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent J. W. Proud (elected) 716
Independent J. R. Brown (elected) 666
Independent M. T. Anderson (elected) 568
Independent W. Waters (elected) 511
Independent A. R. Andrews (elected) 477
Independent E. H. Foreman (elected) 476
Independent A. A. Ledbury 475
Independent J. Shepard 427
Independent V. H. Whelan 423
Independent A. E. Reid 398

References edit

  1. ^ "Agency ID 1447, Nerang Divisional Board". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  2. ^ "Agency ID 606, Coomera Divisional Board". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  3. ^ "Proclamation [Southport Division constituted]". Queensland Government Gazette. 14 July 1883. p. 33:255.
  4. ^ "Proclamation [Cooma Division amended]". Queensland Government Gazette. 14 July 1883. p. 33:254.
  5. ^ "Proclamation [Nerang Division amended]". Queensland Government Gazette. 14 July 1883. p. 33:253.
  6. ^ "Agency ID 1835, Southport Divisional Board". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  7. ^ "Shire of Southport". Queensland Government Gazette. 9 February 1889. p. 46:461-462.
  8. ^ "Agency ID 10413, Southport Shire Council I". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  9. ^ "Agency ID 10411, Southport Shire Council II". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  10. ^ "Agency ID 10412, Southport Town Council". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  11. ^ "Southport Town Hall (former) (entry 601649)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  12. ^ "New coast names". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane: National Library of Australia. 10 December 1948. p. 3. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  13. ^ "DETAILS OF SOUTH COAST SHIRES". Queensland Times (DAILY ed.). Ipswich, Queensland: National Library of Australia. 10 December 1948. p. 1. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  14. ^ "Agency ID 290, Albert Shire Council". Queensland State Archives. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  15. ^ Pugh, Theophilus Parsons (1927). Pugh's Almanac for 1927. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  16. ^ "Hollywell – suburb in City of Gold Coast (entry 46053)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  17. ^ "Local Government Elections". Trove. Brisbane Courier.

27°58′3.74″S 153°24′46.88″E / 27.9677056°S 153.4130222°E / -27.9677056; 153.4130222