The Shire of Lowood is a former
local government area in the south-east of
Queensland, Australia. It existed between 1912 and 1916.
History
From around 1890, increasing settlement in and around the town of
Lowood resulted in ongoing agitation to establish a new shire.[1][2][3][4]
An alternative proposal was to relocate the office of the
Shire of Walloon away from
Marburg and into Lowood on the grounds that the majority of the population of the Shire of Walloon used Lowood as their market town and that Lowood had the advantage of being on the railway line (which Marburg was not).[5][6] In November 1907, the decision was made to relocate the office to Lowood,[7] which was rescinded in the following month.[8] The issue continued to be argued for some time, with petitions and counter-petitions.[9] However, once it became clear the office would not be relocated to Lowood, the Lowood area residents resumed their push for the establishment of a separate shire.[10][11] Eventually, on 19 January 1912, under the Local Authorities Act 1902, part of the
Shire of Walloon was excised to create the Shire of Lowood.[12]
The Greater Ipswich Scheme
On 13 October 1916, a rationalisation of the local government areas in and around
Ipswich was implemented. It involved the abolition of five shires:[13]
a new
Shire of Ipswich by amalgamating part of the Shire of Brassall, part of the Shire of Bundanba, part of the Shire of Walloon and all of the Shire of Purga[15]
an enlarged
City of Ipswich by including part of the Shire of Brassall and part of the Shire of Bundanba[16]