Frances, South Australia

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

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

{{Infobox Australian place| type = town

| name = Frances

| state = SA

| image = Frances 2016 02.jpg

| caption = Frances General Store, 2016

| coordinates = {{coord|36|42|47|S|140|57|18|E|display=inline,title}}

| coord_ref = {{cite web | url=http://maps.sa.gov.au/plb/ | title=Search result(s) for Frances (LOCB) (Record No. SA0024846) with the following layers being selected – "Parcel labels", "Suburbs and Localities", "Hundreds", "Government Towns", "Place names (gazetteer)" and "Road labels" | publisher=Government of South Australia | work=Property Location Browser | accessdate=28 February 2017 | archive-date=12 October 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012010923/http://maps.sa.gov.au/plb/ | url-status=dead }}

| lga = Naracoorte Lucindale Council

| postcode = 5262{{cite web|title= Postcode for Frances, South Australia |url=http://www.postcodes-australia.com/areas/sa/country+south+australia/frances |publisher= postcodes-australia.com |accessdate=28 February 2017}}

| established = 1871 (town)
12 April 2001 (locality)

| established_footnotes ={{cite web|title=GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES ACT 1991 Notice to Assign a Boundary to a Place (to areas within the Naracoorte Lucindale Council) |url=http://governmentgazette.sa.gov.au/sites/default/files/public/documents/gazette/2001/April/2001_041.pdf|website=South Australian Government Gazette|publisher=South Australian government|accessdate=24 February 2018|page=1587|date=12 April 2001}}

| pop =

| pushpin_label_position = left

| elevation=

| timezone = ACST

| utc = +9:30

| timezone-dst = ACST

| utc-dst = +10:30

| maxtemp =

| maxtemp_footnotes =

| mintemp =

| mintemp_footnotes =

| rainfall =

| rainfall_footnotes =

|region=Limestone Coast{{cite web|title=Limestone Coast SA Government region|url=http://www.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/8589/Limestone_Coast_SA_Government_region.pdf|publisher=The Government of South Australia|accessdate=10 October 2014}}

|county = MacDonnell

| stategov = MacKillop{{cite web|title=District of MacKillop Background Profile |url=http://www.ecsa.sa.gov.au/component/edocman/?task=document.download&id=564&Itemid=0 |publisher=Electoral Commission SA |accessdate=29 March 2016}}

| fedgov = Barker{{cite web|title=Federal electoral division of Barker |url=http://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/sa/files/2011/2011-aec-a4-map-sa-barker.pdf |publisher=Australian Electoral Commission|accessdate=28 March 2016}}

| dist1 = 291

| dir1 = SE

| location1= Adelaide

| dist2 = 32

| dir2 = NE

| location2= Naracoorte

| near-n= Bangham

| near-ne= Neuarpurr

| near-e= Neuarpurr

| near-se= Neuarpurr

| near-s= Binnum

| near-sw= The Gap

| near-w= The Gap

| near-nw= Western Flat

|footnotes=Locations
Adjoining localities{{cite web|title=Search result for "Neuarpurr (Locality Bounded)" (Vicmap ID n205407526) |url=http://maps.land.vic.gov.au/lassi/VicnamesUI.jsp|work=Vicnames – The Register of Geographic Names |publisher=Government of Victoria |accessdate=24 February 2017}}

}}

Frances is a town in the Australian state of South Australia located about {{convert|291|km|mi}} south-east of the state capital, Adelaide and about {{convert|40|km|mi}} north-east of the municipal seat of Naracoorte in the state's Limestone Coast region and adjoining the border with the State of Victoria.

Frances began as a government town first surveyed in July 1871 and then resurveyed in January. Its name is reported as being derived from the name of the wife of "Mr Henry Jones of Binnum Station." Boundaries of the locality were created in April 2001.

For much of its history, Frances was a railway town on the Mount Gambier railway line, which runs from Wolseley in the north to Mount Gambier in the south. A State Road, Frances Road, runs from Bordertown through Frances to Hynam.{{cite web | url=https://www.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/36532/Naracoorte-Lucindale-Rack-Plan.pdf| title=Naracoorte Lucindale Road Map | publisher=Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (SA) | accessdate=4 March 2017}} Despite the closure of the railway on 12 April 1995, Frances continues to be a receiving point for grain, with several silos.{{cite web |url=http://ezigrain.abb.com.au/reports/StorageAllocationL2.asp?id= |title=Storage Allocation |publisher=Viterra |work=ezigrain |accessdate=3 March 2017}} It set a record for the most grain received at Frances in the season on 10 January 2017, by which time it had received over {{convert|43000|t}}.{{cite news |url=http://www.stockjournal.com.au/story/4416837/records-broken-at-grain-sites/ |newspaper=Stock Journal |title= Records broken at grain sites |first=Elle |last=Moss |date=28 January 2017 |accessdate=13 July 2017}} It also set a new record for the most grain received in a single day at the site.{{cite web |url=https://files.glencoreagriculture.com.au/Post_Harvest_Report/Post%20Harvest%20Report%202017/files/assets/common/downloads/Post%20Harvest%20Report%202017.pdf |title=Post Harvest Report 2017 |publisher=Glencore Agriculture |accessdate=13 July 2017}}

Every February from 2000 to 2019, Frances hosted the Frances Folk Gathering, a weekend-long folk music festival, with the whole town given over to music and visitors.{{cite magazine |title=Letter from Australia: Songs of home |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/dec/06/letter-from-australia-irish-workers |author=Terry Hewton |magazine=The Guardian Weekly |date=6 December 2011}}{{cite web

|url=http://francesfolkgathering.com.au/history.shtml

|title=The History and Spirit of the Frances Folk Gathering

|publisher=FrancesFolkGathering.com

|access-date=9 January 2012

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318005933/http://www.francesfolkgathering.com.au/history.shtml

|archive-date=18 March 2012

|url-status=dead

}}

Frances is located within the federal division of Barker, the state electoral district of MacKillop and the local government area of the Naracoorte Lucindale Council.