PARISHES
Parishes and counties are the lands administrative divisions used in Australia since the 19th century but Australian counties do not have administrative or political functions like those in England and the United States.
There are 2914 parishes in Victoria. They were subdivided into sections of various sizes for sale as farming allotments, or designated as a town and then divided into sections and these subdivided into crown allotments. Not all Victorian parishes follow the county borders so some relate to more than one county.
Legal documents relating to land ownership usually describe the County, Parish, Township (if there is one), Section, Crown Allotment number, and Certified Plan number
Many genealogical records for Australia in the 19th century list the county and parish for location of birth, deaths and marriages.
Steels Creek and Yarra Glen (from Skyline Road in the west to Melba Highway) are located in the parish of Burgoyne. To the east of Melba Highway, including parts of Yarra Glen and Dixons Creek, are the parishes of Tarrawarra and Tarrawarra North.
