Lands administrative divisions of New South Wales

The 141 counties of New South Wales, with the original Nineteen shown in pink

The parishes of Cumberland County

The lands administrative divisions of New South Wales refers to the 141 counties within the Colony of New South Wales, that later became the Australian state of New South Wales.

The counties were further subdivided into 7,419 parishes. There are also three land divisions, approximately one hundred land districts, and several other types of districts as well as land boards used at various periods. There were also thirteen hundreds proclaimed in Cumberland County, which were later abolished. These divisions are part of the lands administrative divisions of Australia. Unlike the local government areas of New South Wales, which have gone through restructuring periods by the government, the counties have been the same since the nineteenth century.

Creation of county areas

1832 map showing the nine counties in use before Thomas Mitchell surveyed the Nineteen Counties in 1834

The first county proclaimed was Cumberland on 6 June 1788. Northumberland was named in 1804. Several other counties were established around Sydney; by the 1820s there were nine counties (see 1828 and 1832 maps). They were: Roxburgh, Northumberland, Durham, Westmoreland, Cumberland, Argyle, Camden, Ayr and Cambridge. They were in the approximate area of the present day cadastral units except that some of them were larger and took up land which was in 1834 assigned to other counties. Ayr and Cambridge were not used in the 1834 counties, taking up area which is approximately in what became Macquarie County and Brisbane County.

Instructions were given to Governor Brisbane in 1825 to survey New South Wales and divide it into counties of various sizes, hundreds, and parishes between 15 and 25 square miles (40 and 65 km²). The Nineteen Counties were surveyed by Thomas Mitchell in 1834. Thirteen hundreds were proclaimed in Cumberland county, but not in anywhere else in New South Wales, and these were repealed in 1888.

As the counties are based on area, rather than population, there are huge differences in the populations of the coastal counties with those for the remote west. The whole of Sydney with several million people is located within Cumberland County, while there are many counties for areas in the Far West which have a very low population.

Use

The counties have little official function and are only now used for land titles and geographic surveying, and as an area of coverage within some industrial awards. Yancowinna County is also legally the only part of the state in the South Australian timezone.

Genealogy records from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries for New South Wales commonly use the town name followed by the county. The 1911 Britannica lists all towns in New South Wales the same way, such as Albury, Goulburn county, Broken Hill, Yancowinna county and Wagga Wagga, Wynyard county.

Early land districts

Parts of the land which were outside the Nineteen Counties were divided into squatting districts in the early nineteenth century [1]. In 1846 New South Wales was divided into settled districts, intermediate districts and unsettled districts. In 1861 the system of settled and unsettled districts were abolished with the Crown Lands Acts, while new types of districts called first and second class settled districts, as well as town land and suburban land came into being. The various districts used:

• Albert District (west of the Darling River). Erected 4 November 1851. Warrego District was split off in 1862.
• Bligh District, east of the Macquarie River. Erected 22 May 1839. (1841 population of 402, with 118,341 sheep and 24,064 cattle) In 1852, it was described as being 5 million acres (20,000 km²), with 140,000 sheep, 40,000 cattle and 2,000 horses.
• Clarence River District. Erected 1 March 1842, from Port Macquarie District. In 1852, it was described as being 5 million acres (20,000 km²), with 200,000 sheep, 40,000 cattle and 2,000 horses.
• Gwydir District (Moree area). Erected 4 Dec 1847, subdivided from Liverpool Plains district.
• Lachlan District – between the Lachlan River and Murrumbidgee River. Erected 22 May 1839. (1841 population of 792, with 111,154 sheep and 57,920 cattle)
• Liverpool Plains District. Erected 22 May 1839; Gwydir was split off in 1847. (1841 population of 1012, with 230,102 sheep, 102,738 cattle and 1045 horses) In 1852, it was described as being larger than 10 million acres (40,000 km²), with 400,000 sheep, 220,000 cattle and 4,000 horses. There was an Electoral district of Liverpool Plains in the same area in the nineteenth century, and the Liverpool Plains Shire is the modern shire.
• Lower Darling District (east of the Darling River). Erected 4 December 1847; later called simply Darling.
• Maneroo District (south coast, now called Monaro) - south of the Moruya River and Queanbeyan River, and east of the Murrumbidgee River. Erected 22 May 1839. (1841 population of 1554, with 230,130 sheep, 78,473 cattle and 2133 horses) In 1852, it was described as having 400,000 sheep, 115,000 cattle and 5,000 horses.
• Macleay River District. Erected 1 March 1842 from out of Port Macquarie District.
• Murrumbidgee District (between the Murrumbidgee and Murray rivers). Erected 22 May 1839. (1841 population of 1139, with 180,654 sheep and 62,848 cattle) In 1852, it was described as being 12 million acres (49,000 km²), with 400,000 sheep, 100,000 cattle and 3,000 horses.
• New England District. Erected 22 May 1839. (New England region (1841 population of 702 with 201,926 sheep and 13,830 cattle)
• Port Macquarie District. (1841 population of 287, with 11,642 sheep and 5,885 cattle). Erected 22 May 1839. Subdivided into Clarence and Macleay in 1842.
• Warrego District (between Darling River and Queensland border in the north). Erected 8 August 1862, from out of Albert District.
• Wellington District, between the Lachlan River and Macquarie River. Erected 22 May 1839. (1841 population of 656, with 119,441 sheep and 26,370 cattle)

Land divisions, boards and districts

The key from a typical cadastral map from the 1890s showed four types of subdivisions; the parish, county, land district and land division. This one is located in the County of Wallace

The Crown Lands Act of 1884 further divided New South Wales into three land divisions; Western, Central and Eastern; as well as Land Boards and Land Districts. This 1890 map shows 14 land boards and 95 land districts; while a 1907 map shows 13 land boards and 103 land districts. The new land districts were different from the previous land districts which had mostly been used in the western areas of the state before counties were proclaimed there. The land boards were named after the location of the head office. The table below shows the land districts used in 1890 and 1907 (some of the locations of the land boards changed and there were new land districts), with the land boards and land divisions:

Land District	Land Board (1890)	Land Board (1907)	Land Division
Albury	Wagga Wagga	Wagga Wagga	Eastern
Armidale	Armidale	Armidale	Eastern
Balranald South	Hay	Hay	Central
Balranald	Hay	Western	Western
Barmedman East		Forbes	Central
Barmedman		Forbes	Central
Bathurst	Orange	Orange	Eastern
Bega	Cooma	Goulburn	Eastern
Bellingen		Grafton	Eastern
Berrima	Sydney	Eastern	Eastern
Bingara	Moree	Moree	Central
Bombala	Cooma	Goulburn	Eastern
Boorowa	Goulburn	Goulburn	Eastern
Bourke	Bourke	Western	Western
Braidwood	Goulburn	Goulburn	Eastern
Breewarrina	Bourke	Western	Western
Breewarrina East	Bourke		Central
Campbelltown	Sydney		Eastern
Carcoar	Orange	Orange	Eastern
Casino	Grafton	Grafton	Eastern
Cassillis	Maitland		Eastern
Cobar	Bourke	Western	Western
Cobar East	Bourke		Central
Condobolin	Forbes	Forbes	Central
Cooma	Cooma	Goulburn	Eastern
Coonabarabran	Tamworth	Tamworth	Central
Coonamble	Dubbo	Dubbo	Eastern
Cootamundry	Wagga Wagga	Wagga Wagga	Eastern
Cootamundry Central		Wagga Wagga	Eastern
Corowa	Wagga Wagga	Wagga Wagga	Central
Cowra	Orange	Orange	Eastern
Deniliquin	Hay	Hay	Central
Dubbo	Dubbo	Dubbo	Eastern
Dungog	Maitland	Maitland	Eastern
Eden	Cooma	Goulburn	Eastern
Forbes	Forbes	Forbes	Central
Glen Innes	Armidale	Armidale	Eastern
Gosford	Sydney	Maitland	Eastern
Goulburn	Goulburn	Goulburn	Eastern
Grafton	Grafton	Grafton	Eastern
Grenfell	Forbes	Forbes	Central
Gundagai	Wagga Wagga	Wagga Wagga	Eastern
Gunnedah	Tamworth	Tamworth	Central
Gunning	Goulburn	Goulburn	Eastern
Hay North	Hay	Western	Western
Hay	Hay	Hay	Central
Hillston North	Hay	Western	Western
Hillston	Hay	Hay	Central
Inverell	Armidale	Armidale	Eastern
Kempsey	Grafton	Grafton	Eastern
Kiama	Sydney	Sydney	Eastern
Lismore	Grafton	Grafton	Eastern
Lithgow	Sydney	Orange	Eastern
Liverpool	Sydney		Eastern
Maitland	Maitland	Maitland	Eastern
Metropolitan	Sydney	Sydney	Eastern
Milton	Sydney	Sydney	Eastern
Molong	Orange	Orange	Eastern
Moree	Moree	Moree	Central
Moruya	Sydney		Eastern
Mudgee	Orange	Orange	Eastern
Murrurundi	Tamworth	Tamworth	Eastern
Murwillumbah	Grafton	Grafton	Eastern
Muswellbrook	Maitland	Maitland	Eastern
Narrabri	Tamworth	Moree	Central
Narrandera	Wagga Wagga	Hay	Central
Newcastle	Maitland	Maitland	Eastern
Nowra	Sydney	Sydney	Eastern
Nyngan		Dubbo	Eastern
Orange	Orange	Orange	Eastern
Parkes	Forbes	Forbes	Central
Parramatta	Sydney	Sydney	Eastern
Paterson	Maitland		Eastern
Penrith	Sydney	Sydney	Eastern
Picton	Sydney	Sydney	Eastern
Port Macquarie	Maitland	Grafton	Eastern
Queanbeyan	Cooma	Goulburn	Eastern
Raymonod Terrace	Maitland		Eastern
Rylstone	Orange	Orange	Eastern
Scone	Maitland	Maitland	Eastern
Singleton	Maitland	Maitland	Eastern
Stroud	Maitland	Maitland	Eastern
Tamworth	Tamworth	Tamworth	Eastern
Taree	Maitland	Maitland	Eastern
Tenterfield	Armidale	Armidale	Eastern
Tumbarumba North		Wagga Wagga	Eastern
Tumbarumba		Wagga Wagga	Eastern
Tumut	Wagga Wagga	Wagga Wagga	Eastern
Urana	Wagga Wagga	Wagga Wagga	Central
Wagga Wagga	Wagga Wagga	Wagga Wagga	Central
Walcha	Armidale	Armidale	Eastern
Walgett North	Moree	Western	Western
Walgett	Moree	Moree	Central
Warialda	Moree	Moree	Central
Warren		Dubbo	Eastern
Wellington	Orange	Orange	Eastern
Wentworth	Hay	Western	Western
Wilcannia	Bourke	Western	Western
Windsor	Sydney	Sydney	Eastern
Wollombi	Maitland		Eastern
Wollongong	Sydney	Sydney	Eastern
Wyalong		Forbes	Central
Yass	Goulburn	Goulburn	Eastern
Young	Goulburn	Wagga Wagga	Eastern

Table of counties

County	Year of erection	number of parishes
Argyle	1821	50
Arrawatta	1862	70
Ashburnham	1850	60
Auckland	1843	55
Baradine	1862	78
Barrona	1884	28
Bathurst	1829	67
Benarba	1862	102
Beresford	1848	49
Bland	1862	65
Blaxland	1862	92
Bligh	1829	47
Booroondarra	1884	36
Bourke	1862	55
Boyd	1862	39
Brisbane	1829	58
Buccleuch	1848	35
Buckland	1848	33
Buller	1850	45
Burnett	1862	56
Cadell	1862	28
Caira	1862	80
Camden	1805	55
Canbelego	1875	52
Clarence	1848	40
Clarendon	1850	36
Clarke	1862	51
Clive	1850	54
Clyde	1862	80
Cook	1829	45
Cooper	1862	76
Courallie	1862	54
Cowley	1848	23
Cowper	1862	117
Culgoa	1884	46
Cumberland	1788	57
Cunningham	1862	59
Dampier	1848	41
Darling	1850	36
Delalah	1884	23
Denham	1862	44
Denison	1862	31
Dowling	1862	51
Drake	1850	39
Dudley	1848	37
Durham	1829	63
Evelyn	1884	41
Ewenmar	1862	53
Farnell	1884	34
Finch	1875	120
Fitzgerald	1884	31
Fitzroy	1862	46
Flinders	1862	71
Forbes	1862	38
Franklin	1862	44
Georgiana	1829	59
Gipps	1862	71
Gloucester	1829	79
Gordon	1850	39
Gough	1862	63
Goulburn	1850	38
Gowen	1850	51
Gregory	1862	91
Gresham	1850	33
Gunderbooka	1875	45
Harden	1850	42
Hardinge	1862	45
Hawes	1848	39
Hume	1862	43
Hunter	1829	64
Inglis	1850	22
Irrara	1884	47
Jamison	1862	64
Kennedy	1862	61
Kilfera	1884	15
Killara	1875	53
King	1829	48
Landsborough	1875	25
Leichhardt	1862	105
Lincoln	1850	52
Livingstone	1862	54
Macquarie	1830	62
Manara	1884	43
Menindee	1862	29
Mitchell	1862	40
Monteagle	1850	35
Mootwingee	1884	39
Mossgiel	1884	87
Mouramba	1884	64
Murchison	1862	48
Murray	1829	54
Nandewar	1862	33
Napier	1850	29
Narran	1875	97
Narromine	1862	46
Nicholson	1862	70
Northumberland	1804	68
Oxley	1862	43
Parry	1848	35
Perry	1862	58
Phillip	1829	45
Poole	1884	12
Pottinger	1850	64
Raleigh	1848	31
Rankin	1875	36
Richmond	1848	36
Robinson	1884	46
Rous	1848	74
Roxburgh	1829	48
Sandon	1850	44
Selwyn	1862	48
St Vincent	1862	76
Stapylton	1862	57
Sturt	1829	42
Taila	1862	42
Tandora	1884	27
Tara	1862	54
Thoulcanna	1884	19
Tongowoko	1884	20
Townsend	1862	111
Ularara	1884	29
Urana	1862	73
Vernon	1848	44
Wakool	1862	98
Waljeers	1862	60
Wallace	1848	65
Waradgery	1862	83
Wellesley	1848	49
Wellington	1829	59
Wentworth	1862	71
Werunda	1875	33
Westmoreland	1814	46
White	1862	47
Windeyer	1862	47
Woore	1884	32
Wynyard	1850	53
Yancowinna	1884	50
Yanda	1875	55
Yantara	1884	33
Young	1875	58
Yungnulgra	1884	39

See also

• Land and Valuation Court of New South Wales

External links

• NSW Department of Lands Parish map preservation project
• National Library of Australia, Cadastral maps
• State Records NSW - County and parish maps