Shires of Berwick and Cranbourne - a timeline of their history

This is a time line of local government in this area -

1842 - The Town of Melbourne created - the first local government body in Victoria.

1860 - Cranbourne Road Board proclaimed June 19. The first members of the Cranbourne Road Board were Dr James Smith Adams, Chairman, who owned Balla Balla Estate; James Bruce, owner of Sherwood Park; Richard Burgh Chomley, owner of Tongola at Lyndhurst; James Lecky, Cranbourne land-owner who also owned the Cardinia Creek property; Edward Malloy, owner of Mayune property; Alexander Patterson, owner of St Germains Estate; Christopher Bond Peed, owner of Springmount; Patrick Thompson, owner of Oaklands, Lyndhurst and John Wedge, owner of Johnswood at Lyndhurst. Population of the Road Board area was 857.

1861 - The town of Berwick and the town of Cranbourne proclaimed on February 25.

1862 - Berwick Road Board proclaimed September 29. The first members of the Berwick Road Board were John Brisbane (Chairman), early Berwick landowner; Robert Bain, the owner of the Border Hotel (Berwick Inn) in Berwick; Francis Barr, a Berwick land owner; Michael Bourke, owner of the La Trobe Inn, later known as Bourke’s Hotel, at Pakenham; James Buchanan, owner of Ardblair, who later went on to be a Member of the Legislative Council; David Connor, licensee of the New Bunyip Hotel on the Bunyip River; John Pitman, Pakenham landowner; John Startup of Mount Ararat Station; John Troup, land owner at Narre Warren North and Gotlieb Wanke, a land owner at Harkaway. The Road Board met at the Border Hotel (Berwick Inn)

1865 - Shire of Berwick Council chambers built in High Street.

1868 - Shire of Cranbourne proclaimed February 24. The Road Board members then became the first Councillors. They were James Lecky - Shire President; Edward Malloy, Alexander Patterson, William Norquay, Frederick Poole of Triuna, Lyndhurst; Edward John Tucker, owner of the Cranbourne Hotel; Thomas Keys, George Poole and Herbert Foley who owned Sherwood Park.

1868 - Shire of Berwick proclaimed, May 5. The Road Board members then became the first Councillors. They were James Wilson, Shire President; John Brisbane, David Connor, Joseph Smith, H. Smith, John T. Dobson (who later became a member of the Ferntree Gully Council when the Scoresby Ward was annexed to the new Shire in 1889), Francis Barr, Thomas Henty, owner of Pakenham Park at Pakenham and James Buchanan.

1873 - The 'agricultural area of Lang Lang' was annexed to the Shire of Cranbourne on July 4

1875 - Cranbourne Shire Offices opened March 6

1889 - The Scoresby Ward of the Shire of Berwick, including Scoresby, Fern Tree Gully, Clematis, parts of Emerald and Avonsleigh was severed from Berwick and became the Shire of Fern Tree Gully on May 23.

1893 - Yannathan and Lang Lang East annexed from the Shire of Buln Buln to the Shire of Cranbourne on January 23.

1902 - Shire of Berwick Offices move to Pakenham Mechanics’ Institute.

1912 - Shire of Berwick Offices open in Main Street Pakenham, corner of John Street.

1963 - Shire of Fern Tree Gully split and the Shire of Knox was formed on November 16 (it became a City on July 4, 1969) The remains of the Shire of Fern Tree Gully were renamed Shire of Sherbrooke and this was announced in the Victorian Government Gazette of December 23, 1964.

1973 - The City of Berwick and the Shire of Pakenham were formed on October 1, when the Shire of Berwick split. The Shire of Pakenham continued to use the Main Street Offices and the City of Berwick used temporary buildings in Kays Avenue, Hallam until the Civic Centre opened in 1978.

1978 - Cranbourne Shire Offices officially opened in Sladen Street, April 22

1978 - Civic Centre at Narre Warren opened December 8. Demolished in 2018.

1979 - Cr Jeune Matthews first female Shire President of the Shire of Pakenham.

1980 - Cr Jan Bateman, City of Berwick’s first female Mayor of the City of Berwick

1983 - Shire of Pakenham Offices opened July 28 in Henty Way

1988 - Cr Judy Elso, first female Shire President of the Shire of Cranbourne

1994 - City of Cranbourne created on April 22

1994 - The City of Casey and the Cardinia Shire officially came into being on the December 15 at 4.00pm.
The City of Casey was created from the western section of the short-lived City of Cranbourne (Cranbourne, Tooradin, Pearcedale, Devon Meadows, Hampton Park etc) and the entire City of Berwick.
The Cardinia Shire was created from the Shire of Pakenham, the eastern end of the City of Cranbourne (Koo-Wee-Rup, Lang Lang, Yannathan, Bayles, Catani etc) plus Emerald, Clematis and Avonsleigh which were annexed from the Shire of Sherbrooke. Langwarrin and Carrum Downs went to the City of Frankston from the City of Cranbourne.
The City of Cranbourne, Shire of Pakenham and City of Berwick ceased to exist on December 15.

2014 - Cardinia Shire Offices opened on November 17 in Officer.

2014 - Cardinia and Casey both turn 20 on December 15.

2017 - City of Casey Offices - Bunjil Place - opened October 28/29

Sources
Victoria Government Gazettes  http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/

Shire of Berwick

Early days of Berwick and its surrounding districts - Beaconsfield, Upper Beaconsfield, Harkaway, Narre Warren and Narre Warren North complied by Norman Beaumont, James Curran and R.H Hughes. It was first published in 1948, revised in 1959 and 1979 and finally republished with an index in 2005.
From Bullock Tracks to Bitumen: a brief history of the Shire of Berwick (Historical Society of Berwick Shire, 1962)

In the Wake of the Pack Tracks: a history of the Shire of Berwick, now the City of Berwick and the Shire of Pakenham (Berwick Pakenham Historical Society, 1982)

Shire of Cranbourne
The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire by Niel Gunson (Cheshire, 1968)
The Good Country: Into the dawn of a new day (1968-1988) by Fred Hooper (Shire of Cranbourne, 1988)

Shire of Fern Tree Gully

The story of the Dandenongs 1838-1958 by Helen Coulson (Cheshire, 1959)

Other information came from resources we have in the Casey Cardinia Libraries Archive, where I used to work and where I first compiled this list for my then work blog, Casey Cardinia Links to Our Past and because I use it frequently, I decided to put it on here as well.