The shire, administered from the town of Oakey, covered an area of 1,910.0 square kilometres (737.5 sq mi), and existed as a local government entity from 1890 until 2008, when it amalgamated with several other councils in the Toowoomba area to form the Toowoomba Region.

Its growth in later years has been fuelled by the expansion of Toowoomba and suburbs such as Glenvale and Westbrook.

Many of the council's original staff and councillors were associated with the Jondaryan Estates pastoral empire.

[5] On 23 Feb 1917, the Town of Newtown was abolished, being split between the City of Toowoomba and the Shire of Jondaryan.

[10] Taylor was an executive member (Director) of the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) representing the Darling Downs, and was also director of the Board of LG Super, a statewide superannuation fund for all local government employees.