Geraldton

Geraldton (, ; , ) is a coastal city in the Mid West region of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth.

As of the , Geraldton had an urban population of 38,595. Geraldton is the seat of government for the City of Greater Geraldton, which also incorporates the town of Mullewa, Walkaway and large rural areas previously forming the shires of Greenough and Mullewa.

The Port of Geraldton is a major west coast seaport. Geraldton is an important service and logistics centre for regional mining, fishing, wheat, sheep and tourism industries.

Toponymy The city is believed to have been named in honour of Captain Charles Fitzgerald, Governor of Western Australia from 1848 to 1855. The name Geraldton was likely chosen by the Surveyor General of Western Australia, John Septimus Roe.

Fitzgerald had been closely involved in the events leading up to Geraldton's foundation. In December 1848, shortly after his arrival at the then economically stagnant Swan River Colony, he landed at Champion Bay to view pastoral land and mineral resources in and around what is now the Geraldton area. There, he joined a party led by Augustus Gregory that travelled on foot to inspect a lead deposit at Galena on the Murchison River recently described by Gregory and others.

Later, without informing his masters in England, Fitzgerald implemented plans he had made for the future city. By March 1859, Gregory had surveyed and marked out allotments in the future city's townsite. On 3 June 1851, the townsite was declared.

In Wadjarri, the most widely spoken Australian Aboriginal language of the Mid West and Gascoyne regions, the name of Champion Bay, and also now Geraldton, is .

In the Wilunyu language of the Aboriginal people of Champion Bay, the area's name is . That name is derived from the word 'Jambinbai', which "... was adopted phonetically from the colonists' name ..." (ie Champion Bay), as the name previously given by the local Aboriginal people to the area had been "... lost in the cultural destruction that followed ..." European settlement.

History

Aboriginal Clear evidence has established Aboriginal people living on the west coast of Australia for at least 40,000 years, though at present it is unclear when the first Aboriginal people reached the area around Geraldton.

The original local Aboriginal people of Geraldton are the Amangu people, with the Nanda immediately to the north and Badimaya immediately to the east. Today the Aboriginal people of the region generally identify as Yamatji or Wajarri people. Wajarri country is inland from Geraldton and extends as far south and west as Mullewa, north to Gascoyne Junction and east to Meekatharra. The Aboriginal people of the Murchison-Gascoyne region were instrumental in assisting early settlers in the area in identifying permanent water sources, and worked in the pearling, pastoral and fishing industries.

Yamatji art is a distinctive style of painting, using thousands of dots of ochre and other earth-based pigments to create patterns and images relevant to Yamatji/Wajarri culture.

The Western Australia Museum at the marina in Geraldton hosts a permanent exhibit on Yamatji/Wajarri culture and history of the region.

European arrival Many European mariners encountered, or were wrecked on, the Houtman Abrolhos islands west of Geraldton during the 17th and 18th centuries. Although two mutineers from the were marooned on the mainland in 1629 there is no surviving evidence that they made landfall at or near the site of the current town.

The wreck of the Batavia, flagship of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) fleet on her maiden voyage, on Morning Reef of the Houtman Abrolhos on 4 June 1629, and the events surrounding the subsequent mutiny, rescue and punishment of her crew are of great historical significance to the region. A detailed account of the events is recorded in a 24 December 1897 Western Mail article "The Abrolhos Tragedy",Wikisource:The Western Mail/24 December 1897/The Abrolhos tragedy translated from the notes of Francois Pelsaert, the commander of the Batavia when she ran aground. The Western Australian Museum in Geraldton houses an exhibition of clay pipes, silver coins, cannons, the original Batavia stone portico and numerous other relics recovered from the wreck of the Batavia and other notable local historical shipwrecks such as the , and .

The explorer George Grey, while on his second disastrous expedition along the Western Australian coast, passed over the future site of Geraldton on 7 April 1839. George Fletcher Moore, the colony's attorney-general, on the colonial schooner Champion, explored the region in January 1840 and discovered Champion Bay. He was followed by Captain John Clements Wickham and Lieutenant John Lort Stokes of , who led an expedition to the area in April 1840, and named and surveyed Point Moore and Champion Bay.

A decade later, explorer Augustus Gregory travelled through the area. A member of his party, James Perry Walcott, discovered lead ore in 1848 in the bed of the Murchison River. The Geraldine Lead Mine was subsequently established, named after the County Clare family home of Charles FitzGerald, the 4th Governor of Western Australia. The town of Geraldton, named after Governor FitzGerald, was surveyed in 1850 and land sales began in 1851.

World War II

During World War II, Geraldton was the location of No. 4 Service Flying Training School RAAF. This flying school was formed on 10 February 1941 and disbanded in May 1945.RAAF Historical Section (1995). Units of the Royal Australian Air Force: A Concise History. Volume 8: Training Units. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.

Climate Geraldton has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa) with semi-arid (BSk) influence. Geraldton is very sunny, receiving around 164 clear days annually. Summers are long lasting and hot, though with relatively mild nights. Winters are short but mild and wet with cool nights. Mean sea temperatures in the summer months (measured at 10m) are consistently above , often exceeding . Surface sea temperatures in summer regularly exceed .

In the winter the temperature is mild with daily highs averaging around . Most of the yearly rainfall falls in this period.

In the summer months, Geraldton averages , with some days over . Afternoon sea breezes cool coastal areas and summer temperatures in coastal suburbs of Geraldton (Seacrest, Tarcoola, Geraldton CBD, Beresford, Sunset Beach, Bluff Point and Drummond Cove) are generally cooler than in inland suburbs, such as Strathalbyn, Utakarra, Woorree, Deepdale and Moonyoonooka. On 18 February 2024 and 20 January 2025, Geraldton recorded its highest ever temperature of , breaking the previous record of set on 9 January 1954.

Demographics As of the 2021 census, the population of the Geraldton urban area was 38,595, and in urban Geraldton:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 9.7% of the population. 65.1% of people were born in Australia. The most common other countries of birth were England 7.7%, New Zealand 2.6%, South Africa 1.5% and Philippines 1.3%. 82.7% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Malay 0.7%, Afrikaans 0.7%, Tagalog 0.5%, Filipino 0.4% and Italian 0.4%. The most common responses for religion were No Religion (41.2%), Catholic (22.2%), and Anglican (11.9%).

Economy The economic output generated within Greater Geraldton, the local government area incorporating Geraldton, is estimated at $2.944 billion. Greater Geraldton represents 56.26% of the $5.233 billion in output generated in Mid West Region and 1.19% of the $247.705 billion in output generated in Western Australia.

Port of Geraldton The Port of Geraldton is a major west coast port with seven bulk handling berths (and an average loading rate of seven tonnes per hour), ranking nationally (in tonnage for 2012/2013) 12th in exports (14,812,513); 23rd in imports (632,330); and 13th overall (15,444,843).

The major exports from the Geraldton port in 2012/2013 were (tonnage): iron ore (10,741,662); grain (2,618,507); mineral sands (849,933); copper concentrate (149,450); zinc concentrate (148,420); nickel concentrate (65,919); and livestock (2,758). Major imports were petroleum products (328,021). In 2012/2013 the Geraldton port serviced 328 bulk haulage vessels.

Tourism

Visitor Centre The Geraldton Visitor Centre is located in the art gallery on 24 Chapman Road. Its former location was the original Railway Station, a historic building in Geraldton's West End, and was originally built in 1878. It was the first railway station constructed on a Government line in Western Australia.

Point Moore Lighthouse The Point Moore Lighthouse, located south of the Geraldton Port is a cultural and historical attraction. It is the oldest surviving Commonwealth lighthouse in Western Australia and was also the first steel tower to be constructed on the mainland of Australia. The Point Moore lighthouse stands 35m tall and its 1000w Tungsten Halogen Lamp can be seen for 23 nautical miles. It began operation in 1878. The tower was prefabricated in Birmingham, England in 1876 and reached Australia by boat in 1877. However, the foundation for the lighthouse was laid at the wrong place by the local contractors and had to be reconstructed at the new site. Currently, it is a heritage-listed structure which is visited by photographers, travellers, couples, artists, etc.

Geraldton foreshore and city centre In 2007, the Geraldton foreshore area, previously an abandoned railway marshalling yard, was redeveloped and today hosts a playground with water activities, public green spaces, public beaches, picnic areas, basketball court and shaded play areas. The project was completed in 2008.

Geraldton is a regular port of call for cruise ships with visits occurring approximately ten times per year. Volunteers, organised by the City of Greater Geraldton, greet visitors on arrival to provide information on activities and other assistance.

HMAS Sydney memorial

The memorial for the World War II cruiser is located on Gummer Avenue, at the summit of Mount Scott. The memorial recognises the loss of the light cruiser during a mutually destructive fight with the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran off Shark Bay in November 1941, with none of the 645 crewmen aboard surviving. A temporary memorial, consisting of a large boulder, a flagpole, and a bronze plaque, was erected in 1998. A permanent memorial was dedicated on 18 November 2001, the day before the 60th anniversary. The HMAS Sydney memorial is made up of four major elements: 1. A stele, based on the ships prow; 2. A granite wall listing the ships company; 3. A bronze statue of a woman looking out to sea and waiting in vain for Sydney to return; and 4. A dome made up of 645 stainless steel seagulls. The 645 stainless steel seagulls represent the souls of the lost sailors. In Folklore, birds such as seagulls are sometimes known as 'soul birds' because they are regarded as the souls of people who died at sea. (Armstrong, 1958) SydneyMcDonald, Seeking the Sydney, pp. 206–11

In May 2009, the memorial was recognised by the Australian government as being of national significance.

Activities The Geraldton foreshore area has pathways for walking, running, cycling, dog-walking, skateboarding and in-line skating. There are skate parks at Cape Burney, Maitland Park, Wonthella, Strathalbyn, Tarcoola Beach, Forrester and Drummond Cove.

Farmers markets occur on Saturday from 8 am to 12 noon in Maitland Park on Cathedral Avenue and on Sunday at the Old railway station on the corner of Chapman Road and Forrest Street.

4WD access is permitted on many beaches around Geraldton. Many beaches are impassable at times around high tide and during periods of ocean surges. At certain times of year, access may become impossible due to beach erosion.

Beaches