Redcliffe’s metamorphosis from Indigenous territory to penal colony to agricultural settlement to seaside resort was swift, radical and irreversible.
The first formal sale of crown land in the ‘Redcliff [sic] Agricultural Reserve’ took place on 14 July 1862 and within 20 years canny investors were starting to recognise the peninsula’s potential as a seaside resort, leading to the large, formerly agricultural landholdings or “estates” being broken up and sold as smaller building allotments. The first of these, the ‘Redcliffe Estate’, comprising “60 magnificent marine villa sites”, went under the hammer in 1881 and the 1880s land boom was underway. The next phase of development for this “really very beautiful watering place” – as described by a correspondent to the Brisbane Courier – had begun.
Development and population growth created a need for local government. Initially, Redcliffe was part of the Caboolture Division, one of the 73 divisions into which Queensland was divided by the Divisional Boards Act of 1879. It soon became obvious that the Caboolture Division – governed by its divisional board in Caboolture, 15 miles distant from Humpybong – was too large to be managed efficiently and residents of the peninsula began to campaign for separation from Caboolture, alleging “general neglect of their interests”. After years of petitions and meetings, they were eventually successful and the Redcliffe Division came into being in 1888.
From Indigenous Land to Seaside Resort and Shire Governance
The Redcliffe Divisional Board had its work cut out for it. Rates and their collection were priority matters as were the provision of a water supply and the lamentable state of the roads, bridges, drains and jetties, which was exacerbated by occasional natural disasters, such as the flooding of 1893. As time went on, the board’s concerns broadened to include issues such as clearing the peninsula of noxious weeds, the possible provision of a Humpybong railway connection and “by-laws to regulate public bathing”.
The board initially met in Brisbane (prompting some complaints from ratepayers that public works were, as a result, neglected and/or unsupervised). They continued this remote governance until 1893 when they began meeting in the School of Arts building at North Pine. In 1901, the board took out a loan to enable the construction of permanent premises. The new office was opened in June 1902.
The Redcliffe Divisional Board continued to operate until the Local Government Act of 1902 changed divisional boards into shire councils and the Redcliffe Shire Council came into being on 3 April 1903: the transformation from Ningi Ningi homeland to shire government had taken fewer than 80 years.
Read more stories from our Redcliffe Guide print magazine here:
- Redcliffe Country Music Festival
- Don’t Be a Tank Tipper!
- Miracle Mums Movement Empowers Survivors of Domestic Abuse
- Escape This Podcast
- Inspiring the Next Generation of Musicians
- A Picnic in the Park to Remember
- Redcliffe Musical Theatre Shows
With thanks to MBRC
