Northampton, Western Australia
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2015}}
{{Infobox Australian place
| type = town
| name = Northampton
| state = wa
| image = Northampton Hampton St.jpg
| caption = Hampton Street
| lga = Shire of Northampton
| local_map = yes
| zoom = 12
| postcode = 6535
| est = 1864
| pop =
| area = {{cvt |input=P2046}}
| elevation=
| coordinates = {{coord|28|21|04|S|114|37|41|E|display=inline,title}}
| maxtemp = 27.0
| mintemp = 12.7
| rainfall = 432.2
| stategov = Moore
| fedgov = Durack
| dist1 = 480
| dir1 = NW
| location1= Perth
| dist2 = 51
| dir2 = N
| location2= Geraldton
}}
Northampton is a town {{convert|52|km|mi|0}} north of Geraldton, in the Mid West region of Western Australia. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 868.{{cite web | url = http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2011/quickstat/UCL521044?opendocument&navpos=220 | title = Northampton (L) | access-date = 21 Oct 2013 | author = Australian Bureau of Statistics | work = {{CensusAU|2011}} QuickStats}} The town contains a National Trust building. The town lies on the North West Coastal Highway. Originally called The Mines, Northampton was gazetted in 1864 and named after the colony's Governor, John Hampton. The town was sited in the Nokanena Brook valley, between the hamlets around the two major copper mines in the area, the Wanerenooka and the Gwalla.{{cite book | last1 = Wright | first1 = Judy | title = Selling Sparrows | publisher = J.H. Wright & The Book Castle | year = 2006 | location = Dunstable, Bedfordshire | isbn = 978-0955351600|page = 389}}
It was the service town to the micronation, the Principality of Hutt River.
The town is known for its many wildflowers. Cave paintings at the Bowes River turnoff show that the region has been inhabited by Indigenous Australians.
The surrounding areas produce wheat and other cereal crops. The town has a receival site for Cooperative Bulk Handling.{{cite web|url=https://www.cbh.com.au/media/120302/cbh%20receival%20sites%20-%20contact%20details.pdf|title=CBH receival sites|year=2011|access-date=1 April 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318082458/https://www.cbh.com.au/media/120302/cbh%20receival%20sites%20-%20contact%20details.pdf|archive-date=18 March 2012|df=dmy-all}}
History
Lead ore was first found by explorer James Perry Walcott, a member of Augustus Charles Gregory's party, in 1848 in the bed of the Murchison River, establishing the mining industry in Western Australia.{{cite journal |title=The Settlers' Expedition to the Northward from Perth, under Mr Assistant-Surveyor A.C. Gregory |journal=The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society |year=1852 |last=Gregory |first=A.C. |author-link=Augustus Charles Gregory |volume=22 |page=66 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hCBDAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA60 |access-date=19 January 2016 }}{{cite book | last1 = Birman | first1 = Mary | title = Gregory of Rainworth : a man in his time | publisher = University of Western Australia Press | year = 1979 | location = Nedlands, WA | pages = 32 | isbn = 0855641657}}{{cite news | first = A.C. | last = Gregory | author-link = A.C. Gregory | title = Geological Remarks | date = 25 November 1848 | url = http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3170280 | work = The Perth Gazette and Independent Journal of Politics and News | pages = 2 | access-date = 18 Nov 2013}} By 1864, {{convert|980|LT|t e6lb|order=out|abbr=off}} of lead ore and {{convert|230|LT|t e3lb|order=out|abbr=off}} of copper ore were exported from the district, representing 14% of the colony's total annual exports, exceeded only by wool (52%) and sandalwood (18%).{{cite news|title=Exports |url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/66013763 |access-date=1 March 2016|work=The Inquirer and Commercial News|date=2 November 1864|location=Perth, WA}} By 1877 the district's exports of copper and lead ores had grown 350% and were the colony's second largest export, still at 14% of the total, after wool (53%).{{cite news|last1=Vogel|first1=Julius|author-link1=Julius Vogel|title=The British Colonies - Western Australia|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/65956670|access-date=1 March 2016|work=The Inquirer and Commercial News|date=5 February 1879|location=Perth, WA|page=1}}
The town was left under water by flooding in 1900 following torrential rainfall. The bridge over Nokanena Brook was swamped, with extensive damage; the water levels were the highest recorded in ten years.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23837951 |title=The weather in the Country |newspaper=The West Australian |location=Perth |date=19 June 1900 |access-date=15 September 2013 |page=6 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}
In 1936, {{convert|4,628|LT|t e6lb|order=out|abbr=off}} of lead were produced from the Northampton field, followed by {{convert|6,163|LT|t e6lb|order=out|abbr=off}} in 1937. Most of this came from the Grand Junction mine, which was closed in 1938.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article41688775 |title=Northampton lead output |newspaper=The West Australian |location=Perth |date=25 May 1938 |access-date=15 September 2013 |page=16 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}
The Northampton State Battery opened in 1954 and operated for about 30 years leaving large amounts of tailings stockpiled. Locals removed the waste to use in buildings and other construction works. The battery was demolished in 2010 with the remaining tailings being sealed in a containment cell.
An investigation into lead contamination in the town commenced in 2013. The Northampton Lead Tailings Project aims to collect information on all land parcels around the town to determine extent of the distribution of lead tailings, which contain about 3% lead, in the area.{{cite web|url=http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/18937233/lead-inspections-begin-in-wa-town/|title=Lead inspections begin in WA town|date=15 September 2013|access-date=15 September 2013|work=The West Australian|publisher=Yahoo 7}}
In April 2021 the town suffered serious damage from Tropical Cyclone Seroja after making landfall as an Australian scale Category 3 system north of nearby Gregory.{{cite news |last1=Weber |first1=David |title=Holiday town decimated after tropical cyclone travels unusually far south down WA coast |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-12/cyclone-seroja-wreaks-havoc-wa-one-mile-jetty-destroyed/100062020 |access-date=12 April 2021 |work=ABC News |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=11 April 2021 |language=en-AU}}
Heritage
Northampton is one of the oldest towns in Western Australia, having been declared a townsite in 1864. It was classified as a "historic town" by the National Trust of Australia (WA) in 1993 in recognition of the important heritage buildings that have been conserved and which are still in use there.{{Citation |author1=Sellers |first=Annette |title=Northampton, awarded National Trust historic town status |journal=Trust News (Western Australia) |issue=182 |pages=4-8 |publication-date=June 1993 |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/39080287 |access-date=}} Notable among them are two buildings by the eminent priest architect Mgr Hawes. Most important is the Church of Our Lady in Ara Coeli, built {{circa|1936}}. It is a romantic Neo Gothic, hammer dressed, sandstone building with some Arts and Crafts elements. Next to the church is the Convent of the Sacred Heart, also by Mgr Hawes, built in 1919 in a more conventional two storied Australian style with its deep sun-shading wooden verandahs. Both buildings are on the Permanent Register of the State Heritage Register of Western Australia.
File:St Mary in Ara Coeli.jpg|West front of the Church of Our Lady in Ara Coeli
File:Church of Our Lady in Ara Coeli, interior.jpg|Church of Our Lady in Ara Coeli, interior
File:Former Sacred Heart Convent.jpg|Former Sacred Heart Convent
Transport
The first Western Australian government railway was constructed from Geraldton to Northampton, a distance of {{convert|33|mi|25|chain|km mi|order=out}}, and opened on 26 July 1879. An extension from Northampton to Ajana of {{convert|33|mi|5|chain|km mi|order=out}} was opened on 13 March 1913. The line closed on 29 April 1957.Rogers, Phillipa (compiler) (2007) The First Government Railway 1879–1957: Geraldton to Northampton and onwards in The Westland special edition Issue 256.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article67030950 |title=Railway Jubilee. |newspaper=Geraldton Guardian |location=WA |date=11 December 1928 |access-date=26 May 2012 |page=3}}{{Citation | author1=Western Australian Government Railways Commission | title=Report on the working of the government railways for the year ended 30th June | date=1948 | publisher=Govt. Printer | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/25577460 | access-date=26 May 2012}} page 64, appendix G.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article79942983 |title=A New Railway |newspaper=The Daily News |location=Perth |date=5 February 1913 |access-date=26 May 2012 |page=8}}Milne, Rod (2001) Rails to Ajana Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, February, 2001 pp. 45-53
Notable residents
:{{see also|:Category:People from Northampton, Western Australia}}
- Sir David Brand (1912–1979), 19th Premier of Western Australia
- William Burges (c. 1806–1876), established Bowes Estate, pastoralist, resident magistrate, MLC
- Jamie Cripps, Australian rules footballer
- Patrick Cripps Australian rules footballer
- John Drew (1865–1947), newspaper publisher, anti-federationist, Colonial Secretary, Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Lands, Minister for Education.
- Paul Hasleby, Australian rules footballer
- Herbert Johnson (1889–1962), federal Minister for the Interior
- Josh J. Kennedy, Australian rules footballer
- Andrew Lockyer, Australian rules footballer
- Samuel Mitchell (c. 1838–1912), pioneer of the mining industry in Western Australia, MLC, MLA
- Bradley John Murdoch, convicted murderer of English backpacker Peter Falconio
- Harry Taylor, Australian rules footballer
- Brynn Teakle, Australian rules footballer
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- Gibbs, M. (1997) Landscapes of Meaning – Joseph Lucas Horrocks and the Gwalla Estate, Northampton, Western Australia. Historical Traces: Studies in Western Australian History, No. 17. University of Western Australia Press.
{{Towns Mid West WA}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Towns in Western Australia