Laidley is a rural shire of 694 sq kms with a population of approximately 13,500, located 85 kms west of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Long before white settlement, the area around Laidley was occupied by the Kitabul tribe of Aborigines. The Kitabul were one of six tribes known as the Birren people who had a share in the area west of the Darling Downs.
Evidence of their long occupation is to be found in many areas including engravings showing the Rainbow Serpent and other symbols of the Spirit World near Black Duck Creek.
The area today known as Laidley Shire, was first explored by Allen Cunningham in 1829. He named it Laidley’s Plain after the Deputy Commissary General of the colony of New South Wales. In his 1829 report to Governor Darling, Cunningham wrote – “This fine patch of timbered land, which I have named Laidley’s Plain would produce very heavy crops of maize and other grain, and is naturally clothed with abundance of excellent pasture.”
The first white settlers were “squatters” who moved into the area in the mid 1840s. J.P. Robinson took out a licence for Laidley’s Plain, which covered an estimated area of 150,000 acres with an estimated grazing capacity of 22,000 sheep.
The licence later passed into the hands of Henry Mort and James Turquand Laidley who acquired it at an auction in Sydney in 1849. Laidley later sold his share of the lease to Mort and returned to Sydney. Up until 1888, the Shire was included in the Tarampa Divisional Board, which covered an area of almost 900 square miles. The division of Laidley was declared a separate Local Government area on April 25, 1888, after ratepayers from the eastern portion of the Tarampa Division petitioned the Government for separation. The township of Laidley prospered to such an extent that, in 1902, it was declared a separate municipality – Laidley Town Council. However in 1916 the Town Council disbanded and once again merged with the Laidley Shire Area.
Today, Laidley Shire continues to experience strong growth and is changing from predominantly rural to a more closely settled rural residential environment.
Queensland - Bismarck (now Maclagan), Blumbergville (now Boonah), Hessenburg (now Ingoldsby), Engelsburg (now Kalbar), Bergen (now Murra Murra), Bergenside (now Neuve), Gehrkevale (now Mount Mort), German Station (early German mission station, established in 1838; since 1885 the place has had the name Nundah), Gramzow (now Carbrook), Hapsburg (now Kowbi), Kirchheim (now Haigslea), Roessler (now Applethorpe), Stegeht (now Woongoolba), Teutoburg (now Witta)
http://www.onomastik.com/artikel_on/01_0324-orte2.php -
Gehrkevale, 1907; Mount Mort
Locality
Carl Friedrich August Gehrke landete als 42-jähriger mit Frau, zwei Söhnen und drei Töchtern 1872 in Hervey Bay. Er nahm 1884 im Gebiet um Rosevale, südlich von Ipswich, Land auf und einen Farmbetrieb begann. Sein Sohn wurde später Mitglied des Schulkomitees und stiftete Land für die Errichtung des Gebäudes, so dass die Schule ihm zu Ehren Gehrkevale benannt wurde. Die Siedlung wurden um 1916 in Mount Mort umbenannt.[130]
http://www.rootsweb.com/~billingh/chngplac.htm - Change of Place and District Names During World War I (1914-1918)
http://www.nrm.qld.gov.au/property/placenames/detail.php?id=41901
Place Type | Locality Bounded | ||||||
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Local Authority | Ipswich City | ||||||
Status | Approved & Current | ||||||
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Plan Number | QPN726 | ||||||
Narrative | Named after the Mort family who took up land in 1849 (Lot 107 on Ch31 997). Named and bounded by the Minister for Natural Resources 8th September 2000. | ||||||
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