Full description
The Municipal District of Uralla (1882-1906), later the Municipality of Uralla (1906-1947), was a municipality in the New England region of the eastern division of New South Wales, constituted under the Municipalities Act 1867 and subsequent legislation. (1) It was established in the parish of Uralla, county of Sandon.
The Municipalities Act 1867 (31 Victoria Act No.12) provided for the establishment of a municipality on receipt of a petition signed by at least 50 persons who would be taxed in respect of property or household residence within the area to be incorporated. The petition was to be published in the Gazette and a local newspaper. If no counter-petition signed by a greater number of persons was received within three months, the Governor could proclaim the area a municipality and define its boundaries. Municipalities proclaimed under the Act might be designated a borough or a municipal district, based on population and area. Boroughs were cities or towns, suburbs of the City of Sydney, or a populous country district, with a population of at least 1000 and an area of no more than nine square miles. A municipal district required a population of at least 500 and an area of no more than 50 square miles. (2)
A petition to establish the Municipal District of Uralla was gazetted on 6 December 1881 (3), and in the absence of a counter-petition the new municipal district was proclaimed on 24 April 1882. (4) The organiser of the petition was appointed as returning officer, with the task of organising an election for 23 May (5) for the six aldermen. The result was not gazetted, but the mayoral appointment was announced in early June. (6) The appointment of the town clerk was also not notified, but the 1883 election notice shows that the returning officer had become the clerk. (7) By September 1882 Uralla had collected 40 pounds in rates, 10 of which had been spent on the valuation process. (8) In 1885 a population area of 7000 acres, exclusive of the village of Uralla, was reserved under the Crown Lands Act 1884 (48 Victoria Act No.18) in the parishes of Uralla, Dangarsleigh, Arding, Gostwick, and Devon. (9)
When first established, Uralla was an island of local authority in lands under control of the Colony of New South Wales. The Local Government (Shires) Act 1905 (Act No.33, 1905) incorporated all previously unincorporated territory of the eastern and central divisions of New South Wales into new local government jurisdictions, to be called shires. On 7 March 1906, the territory surrounding Uralla became the Shire of Gostwyck. (10)
The Municipal District of Uralla became the Municipality of Uralla on 31 December 1906. Under the Local Government Extension Act, 1906 (Act No.40, 1906) the terms municipal district and borough ceased to be used. (11) In 1907 Uralla was listed as having six aldermen, and no ward divisions. (12)
The Valuation of Land Act 1916 (Act No.2, 1916) was not applied to Uralla while an independent municipality, so the council was responsible for land valuations. No boundary alterations were notified between its proclamation in 1882 and its dissolution. (13)
On 1 January 1948 the Municipality of Uralla and the Shire of Gostwyck were amalgamated to form the new Shire of Uralla, under a provisional council. (14)
Endnotes
1. An Act to Establish Municipalities, 1867 (31 Victoria Act No.12), s.10.
2. Ibid, s.8.
3. NSW Government Gazette No.505, 6 December 1881, pp.6289-90.
4. NSW Government Gazette No.162, 24 April 1882, p.2245.
5. NSW Government Gazette No.183, 8 May 1882, p.2521.
6. NSW Government Gazette No.223, 6 May 1882, p.3057.
7. NSW Government Gazette No.62, 20 February 1883, p.966.
8. NSW Government Gazette No.376, 22 September 1882, p.4954.
9. NSW Government Gazette No.346, 14 August 1885, pp.5286-87.
10. NSW Government Gazette No.121, 7 March 1906, pp.1593, 1612.
11. Local Government Extension Act, 1906 (Act No.40, 1906) s.3, Sch.1, s.9; NSW Government Gazette No.286, 31 December 1906, p.7019.
12. NSW Government Gazette No.146, 20 November 1907, pp.6309-10.
13. NSW Government Gazette No.139, 5 December 1947, p.2821.
14. Ibid., pp.2821-23.
User Contributed Tags
Login to tag this record with meaningful keywords to make it easier to discover
