Cradock, South Australia

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}

{{Use Australian English|date=March 2013}}

{{Infobox Australian place | type = town

| name = Cradock

| state = sa

| image = Cradock Hotel talex.jpg

| caption = The Cradock Hotel.

| coordinates = {{coord|32.072377|S|138.492776|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| coord_ref ={{cite web|title=Search result for 'Cradock, LOCB' with the following datasets selected – 'Suburbs and Localities', 'Government Towns', 'Hundreds', 'Counties', 'Local Government Areas', 'SA Government Regions' and 'Gazetteer'|url=http://location.sa.gov.au/viewer/?map=hybrid&x=138.67124&y=-32.14265&z=11&uids=19,2,115,8,11,20&pinx=138.494100&piny=-32.070910&pinTitle=Location&pinText=Cradock,+Locb|website=Location SA Map Viewer|publisher=South Australian Government|access-date=27 January 2018}}

| pushpin_label_position = top

| pop =

| pop_year =

| pop_footnotes =

| established = 6 March 1879 (town)
25 November 1999 (locality)

| established_footnotes = {{Citation | title = untitled (proclamation of the Town of Cradock) | journal = The South Australian Government Gazette | issue =10 | page = 625 | date=6 March 1879| url =http://www8.austlii.edu.au/au/other/sa_gazette/1879/10/625.pdf|access-date=27 January 2018}}{{Citation | title =GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES ACT 1991 Notice to Assign Boundaries and Names to Places | journal = The South Australian Government Gazette | page = 2442 | date=25 November 1999| url = http://governmentgazette.sa.gov.au/sites/default/files/public/documents/gazette/1999/November/1999_167.pdf |access-date=27 January 2018}}

| postcode = 5432

| elevation = 410

| elevation_footnotes = {{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

| timezone = ACST

| utc = +9:30

| timezone-dst = ACST

| utc-dst = +10:30

| dist1 = 320

| dir1 = N

| location1= Adelaide

| dist2 =

| dir2 =

| location2=

| dist3 =

| dir3 =

| location3=

| lga = Flinders Ranges Council

|lga2=District Council of Orroroo Carrieton

| county = Granville

| region = Far North

| stategov = Stuart

| fedgov = Grey

| maxtemp = 25.3

| maxtemp_footnotes = {{cite web|title=Monthly climate statistics: Summary statistics Hawker (nearest weather station) |url= http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_019017.shtml |publisher=Commonwealth of Australia, Bureau of Meteorology |access-date=11 September 2019}}

| mintemp = 10.7

| mintemp_footnotes =

| rainfall = 307.2

| rainfall_footnotes =

| near-e = Wilcowie
Belton

| near-se = Belton

| near-s = Yanyarrie

| near-sw = Moockra

| near-w = Kanyaka

| near-nw = Hawker

| near-n = Hawker
Worumba

| near-ne = Holowiliena South
Three Creeks

| near =

| footnotes =

}}

Cradock is a town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia 320 kilometres north of the state capital of Adelaide on the RM Williams Way . The nearest town with a greater population is Hawker which is approximately 20 km away with a population of around 360. Cradock is in the Flinders Ranges Council area, the state Electoral district of Stuart and the federal Division of Grey.

The town was surveyed during November 1878 and proclaimed on 6 March 1879. The locality's boundaries were gazetted on 25 November 1999 and include the Government Town of Cradock and the sites of the ceased Government Towns of Charlcome and Herbert.

After the South Australian government permitted settlers to go into the semi-arid lands north of Goyder's Line Cradock was established in 1879 on a 'grassy flat' of 'strong red loam', by the Wirreanda Creek. Cradock takes its name from the then Governor of South Africa, Sir John Cradock.{{cite book|title=Reader's Digest Illustrated Guide to Australian Places|year=1993|publisher=Reader's Digest|location=Sydney, NSW|isbn=0-86438-399-1|pages=534}}

Soon after settlement, a school, police station, two hotels, two blacksmith shops and a saddler were operating in Cradock. The "wheat rush" was followed by the failure of four years of crops which led to an increasing despair and a loss of many of the town's population.