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Official Ipswich City Council Crest

Ipswich, the oldest provincial city in Queensland, has a history going back to before the proclamation of the Colony of Queensland on 10 December 1859.

Indeed, a petition signed by 91 residents of Ipswich was received by the Governor of New South Wales on 16 November 1859, seeking to have the area that was then known as Ipswich declared a Municipal Town. When separation from New South Wales was effected and the colony of Queensland created, that petition was then forwarded to the first Governor of Queensland, Sir George Ferguson Bowen, who had it published in the first Queensland Government Gazette on Saturday, 10 December 1859.

The petition stated 'that according to the last census, Ipswich contained a population of nearly three thousand souls. That they are desirous of availing themselves of the powers of Municipal self-government, and the endowment connected therewith under the Municipalities Act. And the petitioners pray as follows - That your Excellency, with the advice of the Executive Council, will be pleased to declare Ipswich to be a Municipal Town, under the name of Ipswich.'

The Municipality of Ipswich was proclaimed on 2 March 1860 and published in the Queensland Government Gazette on 3 March 1860. A notice dated 17 March 1860, in the Queensland Government Gazette stated that the Corporation 'Shall consist of a Mayor and Alderman'. It nominated Henry Buckley, of Ipswich as the 'first Returning Officer and that the first meeting of ... electors shall be held at noon, at the Court House, at Ipswich on Thursday, the Twelfth day of April, in the year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty'.

The boundaries of the Municipality were proclaimed on 16 March 1860.

On 11 September 1861, the then Mayor of Ipswich, Alderman John Murphy, told a Council Meeting that it was necessary for the Municipality to have a 'Seal'. A committee, comprising Aldermen Bethune and Thompson, was appointed to design a seal and arrange for its production. Reverend Lacey H. Rumsey, M.A., Rector of St Paul's Church, Ipswich, was requested to create a design, and that Crest and Arms (sometimes referred to as the 'Seal') is still in use by the City of Ipswich today.

The Crest is a Crown from which rays emanate and beneath them are a rose, shamrock and thistle representing Britain.

The Arms have in the upper left quarter, the Golden Fleece with ribbon. The transport and trade in wool from the Darling Downs was an important industry in Ipswich at that time. In the lower quarter is a plough, two sheaves of wheat, one standing and one fallen. In the background on rising ground are three factories, one at each end with one chimney and the centre one with two chimneys and smoke issuing from them. A church building and spire are on top of the rising ground to the right. In the upper right quarter are a shovel, pick-axe and a coal basket suspended with a loop handle and a rope symbolising mining. In the lower right quarter a paddlewheel steamboat is depicted on the river, with hills in the background, reminding us Ipswich was once a major inland port, with Paddle steamers plying both the Bremer and Brisbane Rivers. An emblem of wheat-in-the-ear is depicted on the left of the Arms and on the right and emblem of cotton in the pod - a reminder that during the American Civil War cotton was seen as an important new industry for Ipswich. A ribbon contains the motto 'Confide Recte Agens' which when translated reads 'Be Confident When Doing Right'. Beneath the motto is featured a grape vine with fruit. At that time, there was a number of vineyards near Ipswich.

The Arms portray the history of the early industries of Ipswich with a symbol (the Church) of faith in God, Who made possible those industries and production, and so the resultant prosperity of the Ipswich area. It recognises also the toil of the pioneers of Ipswich and the surrounding districts, and is a memorial to them.

The Town of Ipswich had progressed so much by 1904, that the Alderman considered that the time was opportune for the town to become a City. At the Council meeting on 22 November 1904, Alderman Alfred John Stephenson moved, seconded Alderman Frederick Goleby, that the Council should apply to the Government to have the Town of Ipswich proclaimed a City.

An application was made and was successful and City of Ipswich was proclaimed on 1 December 1904.

At a subsequent ceremony, Mayor Hugh Reilly became the first Mayor of the City of Ipswich, with the title 'The Right Worshipful the Mayor of the City of Ipswich' and in the presence of a large assemblage of people was invested as Mayor with his robe of office by the then Attorney-General of Queensland, the Honourable James W. Blair.