The County of Kimberley extends from the east side of the Flinders Ranges for a distance of about 76 kilometres (47 mi) from its western boundary and for about 48 kilometres (30 mi) from its northern boundary.[1] It is bounded by the following counties - Herbert to the north, Burra to the south, Dalhousie to the west and north-west, Victoria to the west and the south-west, and Young to the south-east.[1][3]
The county's sole town is Terowie which is located in its south-western corner.[1]
The county is served by one principal roads, the Barrier Highway which passes through the county in a north-south direction from the town of Whyte Yarcowie in the south entering via the Hundred of Terowie and exiting via the Hundred of Parnaroo on its way to the town centre in Oodla Wirra in the north.[1]
The Crystal Brook-Broken Hill railway line passes through the county in an easterly direction passing from Peterborough in the west entering via the Hundred of Gumbowie and exiting via the north side of the Hundred of Hardy in the east and then onward to Yunta.[1]
Land use within the part of the county located within the District Council of Peterborough is ’primary production’ and is concerned with “agricultural production and the grazing of stock on relatively large holdings.” Land use within the part located in the 'Pastoral Unincorporated Area' is concerned with primary industry with pastoralism being the dominant activity. Land use within the part of the county located within the Regional Council of Goyder is ’primary production’ and most of the land is only suitable for grazing due to low rainfall as evident by the location of Goyder's Line within the council area.[4][5][6][7][8]
The County of Kimberley was proclaimed on 20 July 1871 and is named after John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley who was the British Secretary of State for the Colonies from 6 July 1870 to 17 February 1874.[2][1]
The following hundreds have been proclaimed within the county - Terowie in 1871, Gumbowie in 1877, Parnaroo and Wonna in 1878, and Hardy and Ketchowla in 1880.[9]
The hundreds of Gumbowie, Hardy, and Parnaroo formed part of the land area gazetted on 5 January 1888 as the District Council of Coglin under the District Councils Act 1887 and have been part of the District Council of Peterborough since 1 May 1935. The hundreds of Terowie, Wonna and Ketchowla formed the land area gazetted as the District Council of Terowie on the same day under the same act and were added to the District Council of Hallett on 21 March 1935 and have been part of the Regional Council of Goyder since 23 January 1997.[10][11][12]
Constituent hundreds
Location of hundreds
The hundreds are laid out from west to east from the boundary with the Counties of Dalhousie and Victoria in two rows as follows:[3]
the northern row consisting of Gumbowie, Parnaroo and Hardy,
the southern row consisting of Terowie, Wonna and Ketchowla.
The total area of the hundreds accounts for 2,060 square kilometres (797 sq mi) out of the county's total area of 3,590 square kilometres (1,388 sq mi) or 57.4% of the county's area.[13][14][15][1][16][17][18]
The Hundred of Wonna (33°12′56″S139°06′06″E / 33.21552°S 139.101708°E / -33.21552; 139.101708 (Hundred of Wonna)) was proclaimed on 31 October 1878. It covers an area of 360 square kilometres (139 sq mi). One source reports that its name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning “emu” while another reports that is derived from a word meaning “two”. The sites of the ceased government towns of Franklyn and Mallett are located within the hundred.[23][24] Its extent is occupied by the locality of Franklyn in the north while its south part is occupied by the eastern side of the locality of Wonna.[18][25][22]
^ abc"HUNDRED MAP Series Index Map"(PDF). Department of Environment and Heritage, Government of South Australia. December 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
^"George W Goyder". Regional Council of Goyder. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
^"The District Councils Act 1887 No. 419". Government of South Australia. p. 91. Retrieved 8 February 2018 – via Flinders University. DISTRICT OF COGLIN.- Comprising the Hundreds of Cavenagh, Coglin, Gumbowie, Hardy, Nackara, Paratoo, and Parnaroo. DISTRICT OF TEROWIE - Comprising the Hundreds of Ketchowla, Terowie, and Wonna.
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