This article provides a list of divisional boards in the Australian state of Queensland between 1879 and 1903.
When Queensland separated from New South Wales as a colony in its own right in 1859, it inherited New South Wales's local government legislation, the Municipalities Act 1858, which allowed the creation of a municipality with its own elected council to manage local affairs, upon the petition of householders in the area. However, by 1878 only eighteen towns had incorporated in this way. The Government of Queensland passed the Local Government Act 1878, based on Victorian legislation enacted four years earlier, to allow more diverse forms of local government, but this quickly proved unsuitable to Queensland's requirements given its large, sparsely populated areas.
Its response was to enact the Divisional Boards Act 1879 (43 Vic No. 17), which established a new form of local government by dividing all unincorporated parts of Queensland into 74 divisions, and creating for each an elected divisional board which was responsible for a range of services and amenities within its area. Each board had a number of councillors, and a chairman who was appointed from amongst their number. The legislation was amended several times before being replaced by the Divisional Boards Act 1887 (51 Vic No. 7). By 1901, there were 30 municipalities, 6 shires and 120 divisions in Queensland.
In 1902, the Local Authorities Act (2 Edw. VII, No. 19) replaced all divisions with shires and brought them under the same legislation as that which governed the municipalities. This took effect on 31 March 1903.
On 11 November 1879, 74 divisions came into existence upon the proclamation of the Act:
| Division | Office | Region | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amalgamated into Stanthorpe Division on 25 June 1880. | ||||
| Wide Bay–Burnett | Renamed Nanango Division in 1888. | |||
| Bundaberg | Wide Bay–Burnett | |||
| Central Queensland | ||||
| Central Queensland | ||||
| Absorbed into Municipality of Brisbane on 13 January 1903. | ||||
| South East Queensland | ||||
| Central Queensland | ||||
| Brisbane | Renamed Belmont Division on 3 November 1894. | |||
| Wide Bay–Burnett | Abolished and recreated as Borough of Bundaberg on 22 April 1881 with same boundaries. | |||
| South East Queensland | ||||
| Maryborough | Wide Bay–Burnett | |||
| South East Queensland | ||||
| Cairns (Esplanade) | ||||
| Gladstone | Central Queensland | |||
| South East Queensland | ||||
| Cooktown | Far North Queensland | |||
| Charters Towers | ||||
| Abolished and replaced by Carpentaria Division on 11 January 1883. | ||||
| South East Queensland | Renamed Esk Division on 2 June 1880. | |||
| Far North Queensland | ||||
| Gympie | Wide Bay–Burnett | Gympie area. Merged into Widgee Division in January 1895. | ||
| Warwick | Darling Downs | |||
| North Rockhampton | Central Queensland | |||
| South East Queensland | ||||
| Darling Downs | ||||
| Wide Bay–Burnett | Abolished and recreated as Borough of Gympie on 25 June 1880 with same boundaries. | |||
| Far North Queensland | ||||
| Toowoomba | Darling Downs | |||
| North Queensland | ||||
| Darling Downs | ||||
| Brisbane | Renamed Enoggera Division on 28 March 1888. | |||
| Toowoomba | Darling Downs | |||
| Wide Bay–Burnett | ||||
| Darling Downs | ||||
| South West | ||||
| South East Queensland | ||||
| South East Queensland | ||||
| Central Queensland | Amalgamated late 1880s into Broadsound Division. | |||
| Brisbane | Renamed Kedron Division in 1901. | |||
| South West | ||||
| Wide Bay–Burnett | ||||
| Mackay | North Queensland | |||
| South East Queensland | ||||
| Far North Queensland | ||||
| Wide Bay–Burnett | ||||
| Darling Downs | ||||
| Darling Downs | ||||
| South East Queensland | ||||
| South East Queensland | ||||
| Central Queensland | ||||
| Townsville | North Queensland | |||
| Wide Bay–Burnett | ||||
| Wide Bay–Burnett | ||||
| South East Queensland | ||||
| Brisbane | Became Shire of Toowong on 20 May 1880. | |||
| South West | Renamed Balonne Division on 11 March 1901. | |||
| Goondiwindi | Darling Downs | |||
| South East Queensland | ||||
| Darling Downs | Renamed Booringa Division on 18 July 1891. | |||
| Dalby | Darling Downs | |||
| Bowen | North Queensland | |||
| Darling Downs | ||||
| South East Queensland | ||||
| Gympie | Wide Bay–Burnett | |||
| Far North Queensland | ||||
| Brisbane |
| Name of division | Date created | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 February 1889 | Separated from Murweh Division | ||
| 16 January 1888 | Separated from Thuringowa Division | ||
| 19 January 1888 | Separated from Bulimba Division | ||
| 25 August 1892 | Separated from Kargoolnah Division | ||
| 24 December 1887 | Separated from Diamantina Division | ||
| 20 December 1890 | Separated from Tinaroo Division | ||
| 24 September 1887 | |||
| 3 June 1880 | Separated from Paroo Division | ||
| 21 May 1880 | Separated from Wallumbilla Division | ||
| 30 January 1885 | Separated from Carpentaria Division | ||
| 18 January 1884 | |||
| 11 January 1883 | Replaced the abolished Doonmunya Division | ||
| 29 May 1885 | Separated from Tingalpa Division | ||
| 7 February 1884 | |||
| 31 December 1887 | |||
| 3 June 1880 | Separated from Cairns Division | ||
| 20 April 1881 | Separated from Banana Division | ||
| 25 January 1890 | |||
| 4 June 1902 | Separated from Peak Downs Division | ||
| 6 April 1899 | Separated from Gogango Division | ||
| 28 January 1886 | Separated from Kolan Division | ||
| 26 August 1880 | Separated from Diamantina Division; abolished 22 November 1887. | ||
| 14 September 1883 | Separated from Tinana Division | ||
| 2 October 1890 | Separated from Toombul Division | ||
| 11 May 1895 | Separated from Tinaroo Division; absorbed Borough of Herberton | ||
| 30 June 1900 | Separated from Isis Division | ||
| 20 July 1882 | Separated from Doonmunya Division | ||
| 27 December 1902 | Separated from Aramac Division | ||
| 2 June 1880 | Renaming of the remnants of former Toowong Division after the Shire of Toowong was split off | ||
| 1 January 1887 | Separated from Burrum Division | ||
| 28 October 1881 | Separated from Hinchinbrook Division | ||
| 4 January 1888 | Separated from Bulimba Division Renamed Wynnum Division 3 November 1892. | ||
| 1 July 1886 | Separated from Widgee and Barambah Divisions, abolished 30 July 1886, re-constituted 17 November 1887 | ||
| 25 April 1888 | Separated from Tarampa Division | ||
| 9 May 1900 | Separated from Aramac Division | ||
| 9 December 1891 | Separated from Boulia and Cloncurry divisions | ||
| 5 July 1890 | Separated from Caboolture Division | ||
| 7 January 1902 | Separated from Calliope Division | ||
| 7 February 1883 | Separated from Broadsound Division | ||
| 25 October 1890 | Separated from Mutdapilly Division | ||
| 20 September 1884 | Separated from Belyando Division | ||
| 21 January 1888 | Separated from Caboolture Division | ||
| 7 April 1888 | Separated from Caboolture Division | ||
| 18 April 1889 | Separated from Inglewood Division | ||
| 25 October 1890 | Separated from Walloon Division | ||
| 24 January 1891 | Separated from Yeerongpilly Division | ||
| 6 July 1883 | Separated from Coomera and Nerang Divisions | ||
| 16 October 1886 | Separated from Yeerongpilly Division | ||
| 30 June 1881 | Separated from Kargoolnah Division | ||
| 4 October 1890 | Separated from Tabragalba Division | ||
| 11 October 1890 | Separated from Indooroopilly Division | ||
| 2 September 1881 | Formerly parts of Cairns, Hinchinbrook and Woothakata divisions | ||
| 1 November 1883 | Separated from Nundah Division | ||
| 30 October 1885 | Covered Thursday Island, Separated from Hann Division | ||
| 15 May 1889 | Separated from Woothakata Division | ||
| 11 February 1887 | Separated from Ithaca Division | ||
| 23 September 1886 | Separated from Aramac Division | ||
| 9 January 1880 | Abolished 7 January 1888, merged into new Borough of South Brisbane | ||
| 30 October 1885 | Separated from Barolin Division |