60-687: Kowen is a district in the Australian Capital Territory in Australia . It is situated in the northeast corner of the ACT, to the east of Sutton Road and the town of Queanbeyan , New South Wales . Kowen is primarily covered by pine forests, and is also used for farming. The main highway between the ACT and the south coast region, the Kings Highway , runs directly through the Kowen. The 1966 Act describes
120-511: A 'district under a governor', and a 'care'. In the UK, shire became synonymous with county , an administrative term introduced to England through the Norman Conquest in the later part of the eleventh century. In contemporary British usage, the word counties also refers to shires, mainly in places such as Shire Hall . In regions with rhotic pronunciation, such as Scotland , the word shire
180-533: A 1,000 acre expansion of pine plantations across the new Federal Territory district. When most of Canberra's forest estate was destroyed in the January 2003 bushfire, the Kowen plantation was the only forest that remained undamaged. The Australian Defence Force joint command and control facility, known as Headquarters Joint Operations Command (HQJOC), is situated adjacent to the Kowen District, about halfway between
240-553: A county in the north-east of England from the early 12th century until 1572, when it was incorporated into Northumberland . In Scotland, barely affected by the Norman conquest of England , the word "shire" prevailed over "county" until the 19th century. Earliest sources have the same usage of the "-shire" suffix as in England (though in Scots this was oftenmost "schyr"). Later the "Shire" appears as
300-700: A former Anglo-Saxon kingdom . Similarly Cornwall was a British kingdom before it became an English county. The term "shire" is not used in the names of the six traditional counties of Northern Ireland . Counties in England bearing the "-shire" suffix comprise: Bedfordshire , Berkshire , Buckinghamshire , Cambridgeshire , Cheshire , Derbyshire , Gloucestershire , Hampshire , Herefordshire , Hertfordshire , Huntingdonshire , Lancashire , Lincolnshire , Leicestershire , Northamptonshire , Nottinghamshire , Oxfordshire , Shropshire , Staffordshire , Warwickshire , Wiltshire , Worcestershire and Yorkshire . These counties, on their historical boundaries , cover
360-577: A land administration county. However, there have been some land administration counties which did have county councils: Cumberland (1945–63), Northumberland (1948–63) and Rous (1940-pres., with trading name of Rous Water There were only five counties in the Northern Territory, which were divided into hundreds. Darwin is located in the Hundred of Bagot in the Palmerston County : usually only
420-570: A larger population than all the other counties in South Australia combined. Another reason is that many of the counties' borders follow rivers, having been proclaimed before settlements developed, which means that towns which typically grow up on rivers often find themselves in more than one county. Wangaratta , for instance, is located at the junction of the Ovens and King rivers, and is thus in three counties; Moira , Delatite and Bogong . Some of
480-526: A little more than half the area of England. The counties that do not use "-shire" are mainly in three areas, in the south-east, south-west and far north of England. Several of these counties no longer exist as administrative units, or have had their administrative boundaries reduced by local government reforms. Several of the successor authorities retain the "-shire" county names, such as North Yorkshire , East Yorkshire , South Yorkshire , West Yorkshire , and South Gloucestershire . The county of Devon
540-493: A more bucolic lifestyle is possible. Before the Province of New York was granted county subdivisions and a greater royal presence in 1683, the early ducal colony consisted of York Shire , as well as Albany and Ulster , after the three titles held by Prince James : Duke of York , Duke of Albany , Earl of Ulster . While these were basically renamed Dutch core settlements, they were quickly converted to English purposes, while
600-421: A narrower sense, to ancient counties with names that ended in "shire". These counties are typically (though not always) named after their county town . The suffix -shire is attached to most of the names of English, Scottish and Welsh counties. It tends not to be found in the names of shires that were pre-existing divisions. Essex , Kent , and Sussex , for example, have never borne a -shire , as each represents
660-541: A separate word. "Shire" names in Scotland comprise Aberdeenshire , Ayrshire , Banffshire , Berwickshire , Clackmannanshire , Cromartyshire , Dumfriesshire , Dunbartonshire , Inverness-shire , Kincardineshire , Kinross-shire , Kirkcudbrightshire , Lanarkshire , Morayshire , Nairnshire , Peeblesshire , Perthshire , Renfrewshire , Ross-shire , Roxburghshire , Selkirkshire , Stirlingshire , and Wigtownshire . In Scotland four shires have alternative names with
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#1732852674267720-724: A town and then divided into sections and these subdivided into crown allotments. However, many parishes do not follow county borders, some being located in more than one county. The county with the largest population is the County of Bourke , which contains Melbourne . Legal documents can describe the county, parish, township (if there is one), section, crown allotment number, and certified plan number. For example: " County of Dalhousie , Parish of Lauriston, being 2 hectares, being Crown Allotment 2, Section 40" or "Parish of Ballarat, County of Grant .. Crown Allotment 29, Section 101, Township of Ballarat East.. as shown on Certified Plan No. 105127" At
780-514: Is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries. It is generally synonymous with county (such as Cheshire and Worcestershire ). British counties are among the oldest extant national divisions in the world. It was first used in Wessex from the beginning of Anglo-Saxon settlement , and spread to most of the rest of England in
840-453: Is described with the Section number, hundred and county, for example "Section 53, Hundred of Borda , County of Carnarvon ", or the allotment number within government towns. Sometimes a combination is used, such as "allotment 1 (DP 25326), Hundred of Munno Para ". Often only the hundred name is used, not the county, as each hundred has a unique name making the county name redundant. Tasmania
900-409: Is divided into 20 land districts, subdivided into 480 parishes. These include the former 18 counties, which were renamed land districts and retained the same borders. In addition Flinders Island and King Island are now also districts. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century Tasmania had 18 counties. The original counties were divided into hundreds (containing four parishes) but this distinction
960-455: Is normally reduced to a single schwa , as in Leicestershire / ˈ l ɛ s t ər ʃ ər / or / ˈ l ɛ s t ər ʃ ɪər / and Berkshire / ˈ b ɑːr k ʃ ər / or / ˈ b ɑːr k ʃ ɪər / . The system was first used in the kingdom of Wessex from the beginning of Anglo-Saxon settlement , and spread to most of the rest of England in the 10th century, along with
1020-399: Is pronounced / ʃ aɪər / ; in areas of non-rhotic pronunciation, the final R is silent, unless the next word begins in a vowel sound. In England and Wales, when shire is a place-name suffix, the vowel is unstressed and usually shortened ( monophthongized ); the pronunciations include / ʃ ər / and / ʃ ɪər / , with the final R pronunciation depending on rhoticity. The vowel
1080-689: The County of Yancowinna . Similar award examples exist in the other states and territories that have been subdivided into counties. The County of Yancowinna is also the only part of New South Wales which is in a different time zone to the rest of the state, as mentioned in the Australian Standard Time Act of 1987. Counties are also used on paperwork for mortgage securities in banks. Parishes and counties are also mentioned in definitions of electoral districts. Counties have since gone out of use in Australia, and are rarely used or even known by most of
1140-695: The County of Yungnulgra in New South Wales, and County of Croajingolong in Victoria. The use of counties, hundreds and parishes was popular in Australia in the 19th century, with many maps of Australian colonies showing these divisions, and towns and cities often listed in their county. Legal cases referenced counties, and many genealogical records for Australia in the 19th century list the county and parish for location of birth, deaths and marriages. The 1911 Britannica also describes Australian towns and cities as being in their respective county, including most of
1200-470: The National Library of Australia is located in Section 27, Blocks 4, 5 and 8, Division of Parkes, District of Canberra Central. There are 141 counties and 7,459 parishes within New South Wales. The County of Cumberland , in which Sydney is located, has the largest population. The original Nineteen Counties were the limits of settlement in the early part of the 19th century. Legal documents describe
1260-586: The United States . Australia instead uses local government areas , including shires , districts , city councils , and municipalities according to the state, as the second-level subdivision. Some other states were also divided into land divisions and land districts; in the nineteenth century, land districts sometimes served as the region name for parts of the state where counties had not been proclaimed yet. Below these are groups of land parcels known as deposited plans, registered plans or title plans (depending on
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#17328526742671320-401: The "-shire" suffix: Angus (Forfarshire), East Lothian (Haddingtonshire), Midlothian (Edinburghshire) and West Lothian (Linlithgowshire). Sutherland is occasionally still referred to as Sutherlandshire. Similarly, Argyllshire , Buteshire , Caithness-shire and Fifeshire are sometimes found. Also, Morayshire was previously called Elginshire. There is debate about whether Argyllshire
1380-630: The "shire" suffix. The only traditional Welsh county that never takes "shire" in English is Anglesey ; in Welsh it is referred to as 'Sir Fôn'. The suffix "-shire" could be a generalised term referring to a district. It did not acquire the strong association with county until later. Other than these, the term was used for several other districts. Bedlingtonshire , Craikshire , Norhamshire and Islandshire were exclaves of County Durham, which were incorporated into Northumberland or Yorkshire in 1844. The suffix
1440-659: The 10th century. Today, 23 counties bear the "-shire" suffix in England, 23 in Scotland , and 10 in Wales . In some rural parts of Australia , a shire is a local government area; however, in Australia, it is not synonymous with a "county", which is a lands administrative division . The word shire derives from the Old English sċir , from the Proto-Germanic * skizo ( Old High German : scira ), denoting an 'official charge'
1500-499: The 19th century there were 109 counties, which were later divided into 319 in 1901. The counties which contain the largest population are those on the east coast with the County of Stanley containing Brisbane ; the County of Ward containing the Gold Coast and the County of Canning containing Caboolture . Several of these were counties in New South Wales before Queensland became a separate colony in 1859. Legal documents used to list
1560-519: The 19th century, although the Tasmanian counties were renamed land districts in the 20th century. Parts of South Australia (south-east) and Western Australia (south-west) were similarly divided into counties, and there were also five counties in a small part of the Northern Territory . However South Australia has subdivisions of hundreds instead of parishes, along with the Northern Territory, which
1620-761: The ACT. Murray lies east of the Murrumbidgee River , with Cowley to the west of the river. Parishes and counties are not currently used in ACT titles. Instead, the Districts Act 1966 divided the ACT into 18 districts: Canberra Central , Woden Valley , Belconnen , Jerrabomberra , Majura , Tuggeranong , Weston Creek , Gungahlin , Stromlo , Kowen , Hall , Coree , Paddys River , Cotter River , Tennent , Rendezvous Creek , Booth and Mount Clear . The parts of these located in Canberra itself are divided into divisions (i.e. suburbs ), sections and blocks. For example,
1680-517: The Aboriginal names suggested at the time were rejected. At various times 3 other Hundred names were proposed but never adopted. All 561 (535+5+10+8+3) current, obsolete or proposed Hundred names are listed in South Australia's official online gazetteer Placenames Online . The city of Adelaide is located in the Hundred of Adelaide in the County of Adelaide . The County of Adelaide held at least 60% of South Australia's population between 1855 and 1921;
1740-640: The Dutch remained within the colony, as opposed to later practice of the Acadian Expulsion . Further Anglo-Dutch synthesis occurred when Prince James enacted the Dominion of New England and later when William III of England took over through the Glorious Revolution . The word also survives in the name of the state of New Hampshire , whose co-founder, John Mason , named his Province of New Hampshire after
1800-512: The English county of Hampshire . Vermont has 14 counties – each has one county seat or Shire, except the Shire Towns of Southwestern Vermont where there is a South Shire – Bennington and a North Shire – Manchester. In 1634, eight "shires" were created in the Virginia Colony by order of Charles I , King of England. They were renamed as counties only a few years later. They were: Today,
1860-522: The Kowen District as being: The area is well known to mountain bikers as the site of the Sparrow Hill mountain biking area, an eastern enclave of Kowen Forest. A new 5 km alignment of the Kings Highway was constructed in 2010–11 to improve the safety of the road. The new section divides Sparrow Hill into two parts, and includes overtaking lanes in both directions, and bypasses a dangerous, winding section of road, including at least six bends. Some of
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1920-732: The Lot number, Deposited Plan number, Parish and County. For example, the Sydney Opera House is described as being in Lot 5 in Deposited Plan 775888 at Bennelong Point , Parish of St. James , County of Cumberland , city of Sydney Note that the land administration counties are not the same as the county councils that have been used to administer water and electricity, such as the Goldenfields Water County Council. or Central Tablelands County Council which do not correspond with
1980-531: The Lot number, Registered Plan number, County and Parish. For instance, government land near the Brisbane Cricket Ground was described as "Lot 2 on Registered Plan B31553, County of Stanley , Parish of South Brisbane". However, since the digitisation and renumbering of the cadastre of Queensland, parishes are no longer used on title documents. While they have never officially been abolished, they are no longer used except in historical contexts. In 2006,
2040-648: The Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Water was considering abolishing Counties and Parishes and using only Lot and Plan numbers to identify parcels of land. There are 49 counties in South Australia, mostly in the south-east part of the state. All except 3 of the counties are subdivided into a total of 535 Hundreds . 5 further Hundreds proclaimed between 1853 and 1860 were annulled in 1870. Additionally, 10 Hundreds with names of German origin were renamed after Allied commanders or battles in 1918, 8 of these 10 had been slated for renaming in 1916, but
2100-573: The West Saxon kingdom's political domination. In Domesday (1086) the city of York was divided into shires. The first shires of Scotland were created in English-settled areas such as Lothian and the Borders , in the 9th century. King David I more consistently created shires and appointed sheriffs across lowland shores of Scotland. The shire in early days was governed by an ealdorman and in
2160-771: The capacity of these areas, further settlement will occur on the Kowen Plateau. Development of the Majura Parkway to the north of Canberra Airport would provide key access to the area. Lands administrative divisions of Australia#Australian Capital Territory Lands administrative divisions of Australia are the cadastral divisions of Australia for the purposes of identification of land to ensure security of land ownership. Most states term these divisions as counties , parishes , hundreds , and other terms. The eastern states of Queensland , New South Wales , Victoria , and Tasmania were divided into counties and parishes in
2220-467: The capital cities: Melbourne , County of Bourke ; Sydney , County of Cumberland ; Brisbane , County of Stanley ; Adelaide , County of Adelaide ; and Hobart , County of Buckingham . However it is not mentioned that Perth was located in the County of Perth , as even by this time county names were infrequently used in Western Australia, where they did not cover all of the settled areas, unlike
2280-476: The concept of a "Shire" still exists in Virginia code. It is defined as a semi-autonomous subdivision of a consolidated City-County. Currently no Shires exist in the commonwealth and the administrative provision is largely unknown. "Shire" is the most common word in Australia for rural local government areas (LGAs) . New South Wales , the Northern Territory , Queensland , Victoria , and Western Australia , use
2340-677: The county name, such as Argyle County, while the County of Cadell (roughly in the Murray Shire area) is still the name for a vineyard and motor lodge in the same area. The land which became the Australian Capital Territory was made from land in the New South Wales counties of Murray and Cowley . This includes four former parishes of Canberra , Yarrolumla , Narrabundah and Gigerline in Murray and 15 former parishes in Cowley, while land in parts of other parishes of these counties also became part of
2400-496: The county names live on by being the same name of present-day local government areas, general region names, towns or establishments in the area. For instance, the current Shire of Plantagenet and Shire of Victoria Plains in Western Australia are in the similar area to the County of Plantagenet and County of Victoria , respectively. The modern city of Devonport in Tasmania is located in the County of Devon . Some regions do promote
2460-766: The earliest British settlement in Australia, with the County of Cumberland proclaimed by Captain Phillip on 4 June 1788. In 1804 Governor King divided Van Diemen's Land into two counties; Buckingham in the south and Cornwall in the north. The parishes date to the surveys conducted after 1825, with the instructions given to Governor Brisbane on 23 Jun 1825 to divide the colony into counties, hundreds and parishes. At this time there were five counties already proclaimed in New South Wales: Cumberland , Westmoreland , Camden , Argyle and Northumberland . The Nineteen Counties in south-eastern New South Wales were
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2520-624: The early settlers in the district prior to the establishment of the Australian Capital Territory made their homes on the Kowen district. Luke and Mary Colverwell settled in a cottage on the banks of Glenburn Creek in what is now known as Kowen Forest. Kowen is perhaps best known for its large pine plantations, known as Kowen Forest. A combined softwood plantation and firewood forest was established at Kowen in about 1926, on land described as otherwise useless. An additional 100 acres of pinus insignis were planted at Kowen in 1928 as part of
2580-454: The figure rose to 70.6% in 1966. All of the existing counties had been proclaimed by 1900, except for Le Hunte (proclaimed 1908), Bosanquet (proclaimed 1913), and Hore-Ruthven (proclaimed 1933). Parcels of land in most residential areas are identified with the Deposited Plan or Filed Plan number with an allotment number, for example: "Allotment 20 in Deposited Plan (DP) 11270". In many rural areas and historically in residential areas, land
2640-632: The hundred name, not the county, is mentioned. This is divided into sections. An example of the way locations are described for Darwin is Darwin International Airport listed as being in "Section 3381, Hundred of Bagot from plan LT089/067A" In Alice Springs , where there are no hundreds or counties, legal documents give the lot number, town and plan number, for example "Lot 8721 Town of Alice Springs, plan(s) LTO96/016" There are currently 322 counties in Queensland, subdivided into 5,319 parishes. In
2700-475: The later Anglo-Saxon period by a royal official known as a "shire reeve " or sheriff . The shires were divided into hundreds or wapentakes , although other less common sub-divisions existed. An alternative name for a shire was a "sheriffdom" until sheriff court reforms separated the two concepts. The phrase "shire county" applies, unofficially, to non-metropolitan counties in England, specifically those that are not local unitary authority areas. In Scotland
2760-456: The limits of location of the colony in a period after 1829, with the area outside them originally divided into districts, and later also into counties and parishes. Counties were established soon after the foundation of other Australian colonies. Many of the counties have English names, often the names of counties in England, such as Devon , Dorset , Cornwall and Kent Counties in Tasmania. Less frequently, some have Aboriginal names such as
2820-481: The other states. Instead the system of land divisions and land districts was used, with most of Perth located in the land districts of Swan , Canning and Cockburn Sound , all in the South West Land Division of Western Australia. Counties and parishes are also still referenced in property law , and in industrial relations instruments , for example in a New South Wales award, which excludes people from
2880-532: The other units. Detailed maps of these divisions have been required since the introduction of the Torrens title system of a central register of land holdings in South Australia in 1858, which spread to the other colonies. While cadastral data since the 1980s has been digitalised, there remain many old maps showing these divisions held in collections of Australian libraries such as the National Library of Australia , as well as in state libraries. Counties were used since
2940-449: The population today. Part of the reason is that counties are based on the size of land, rather than population, so in a large country where most of the population live in cities on the coast while the countryside has a very low population density , they have little relevance. The counties which contain the capital cities have millions of people, while those in remote areas have a very small population. The County of Adelaide, for instance, has
3000-688: The start of the 20th century, Western Australia had six land divisions which cover the whole state, divided into 80 land districts. The land districts were further subdivided into locations and lots. Western Australia also had 26 counties, all located in the south-west corner of the state, around Perth . The counties were designated in 1829, the year of the foundation of the Swan River Colony , with Governor Stirling instructing that counties were to be approximately 40 miles square (1,600 square miles). The counties appear on some nineteenth century maps of Australia along with counties in other states, however it
3060-697: The state). Queensland has registered plans; New South Wales and Western Australia have deposited plans; while Victoria has certified plans. Land can be identified using the number of this plan of subdivision held with the lands department, rather than with a named unit such as a parish (or both can be used); it has become more common to use only the plan number. Within these are individual land parcels such as lots; in total there are estimated to be about 10.2 million of these in Australia. The various cadastral units appear on certificates of title, which are given volume and folio numbers; these numbers by themselves are sometimes used to identify land parcels, or in combination with
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#17328526742673120-473: The towns of Queanbeyan and Bungendore . Residential development in the Kowen district has not been ruled out as part of the Australian Capital Territory's future expansion. Although the ACT's urban expansion needs for the foreseeable future will be accommodated by Gungahlin and the new Molonglo Valley development, the ACT Spatial Plan acknowledges that if the population of the ACT continues to grow beyond
3180-547: The word "county" was not adopted for the shires. Although "county" appears in some texts, "shire" was the normal name until counties for statutory purposes were created in the 19th century. In Ireland "shire" was not used for the counties. In most cases, the "shire town" is the seat of the shire's government, or was historically. Sometimes the nomenclature exists even where "county" is used in place of "shire" as in, for instance, Kentville in Nova Scotia . "Shire" also refers, in
3240-510: Was also used for many hundreds , wapentakes and liberties such as Allertonshire , Blackburnshire , Halfshire , Howdenshire , Leylandshire , Powdershire , Pydarshire , Richmondshire , Riponshire , Salfordshire , Triggshire , Tynemouthshire , West Derbyshire and Wivelshire , counties corporate such as Hullshire , and other districts such as Applebyshire , Bamburghshire , Carlisleshire , Coldinghamshire , Cravenshire , Hallamshire , Mashamshire and Yetholmshire . Richmondshire
3300-556: Was ever really used. Shires in Wales bearing the "-shire" suffix ( Sir preceding the name in Welsh) comprise: Brecknockshire (or Breconshire), Caernarfonshire (historically Carnarvonshire), Cardiganshire (in Welsh- Ceredigion), Carmarthenshire , Denbighshire , Flintshire , Monmouthshire , Montgomeryshire , Pembrokeshire , and Radnorshire . In Wales, the counties of Merioneth and Glamorgan are occasionally referred to with
3360-453: Was historically known as Devonshire, although this is no longer the official name. Indeed, it was retained by the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment until amalgamation in 2007. Similarly, Dorset , Rutland and Somerset were formerly known as Dorsetshire, Rutlandshire and Somersetshire, but these terms are no longer official, and are rarely used outside the local populations. Hexhamshire was
3420-471: Was part of South Australia when the hundreds were proclaimed. There were also formerly hundreds in Tasmania. There have been at least 600 counties, 544 hundreds and at least 15,692 parishes in Australia, but there are none of these units for most of the sparsely inhabited central and western parts of the country. Counties in Australia have little administrative and no political function, unlike those in England or
3480-517: Was seldom observed . Legal documents list Lot numbers, Plan numbers, Parishes and Land Districts. For example, "Lot No. 2 on Plan No. P.14486, Parish of Sorell, Land District of Pembroke " The cadastral divisions of Victoria are called counties and parishes. Victoria is divided into 37 counties, roughly 40 mi × 40 mi (64 km × 64 km) in size, subdivided into 2,914 parishes. Parishes were subdivided into sections of various sizes for sale as farming allotments, or designated as
3540-520: Was the land districts which were used for cadastral purposes, and were the equivalent of the counties used in the eastern states. Around the end of the twentieth century, legal documents usually wrote them in the order: land district, location, number. For example: " Swan Location 2301". These are further divided into lots. More recently, Western Australia uses only the lot and deposited plan numbers, such as "Lot 853 on Deposited Plan 222626". Shire Shire ( / ʃ aɪər / , also / ʃ ɪər / )
3600-549: Was until 2023 the name of a local government district of North Yorkshire . Non-county shires were very common in Scotland. Kinross-shire and Clackmannanshire are arguably survivals from such districts. Non-county "shires" in Scotland include Coldinghamshire and Yetholmshire . Colloquially, the term "the Shires" has become used to refer to those counties, particularly of the southern Midlands , which are still largely rural and which are stereotypically thought of as being where
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