Coffin Bay Explained

Type:town
Coffin Bay
State:sa
Coordinates:-34.6244°N 135.4697°W
Coord Ref:[1]
Pushpin Label Position:left
Established:1952 ("shack area")
1957 (private town)[2]
2003 (locality)
Postcode:5607[3]
Timezone:ACST
Utc:+9:30
Timezone-Dst:ACST
Utc-Dst:+10:30
Dist1:288
Dir1:W
Location1:Adelaide
Dist2:36
Dir2:W
Location2:Port Lincoln
Region:Eyre Western
Stategov:Flinders[4]
Fedgov:Grey[5]
Maxtemp:21.3
Maxtemp Footnotes:[6]
Mintemp:11.3
Rainfall:389.8
Near-N:Wangary
Near-Ne:Wangary
Near-E:Wangary
Uley
Near-Se:Uley
Near-S:Ocean
Uley
Near-Sw:Ocean
Near-W:Coffin Bay (waterbody)
Ocean
Near-Nw:Coffin Bay (waterbody)
Footnotes:Adjoining localities

Coffin Bay, originally Coffin's Bay,[7] is a town at the southern extremity of the Eyre Peninsula, a wheat growing area of South Australia.[8]

The town is situated on the western side of the southern tip of Eyre Peninsula about 46 km from Port Lincoln. The population swells during holiday seasons to more than 4,000 people due to its proximity to the Coffin Bay National Park.[9]

It is a popular location for boating, sailing, swimming, water-skiing, skindiving and wind-surfing, as well as fishing (rock, surf, angling and boat).

The town is named after the bay formed by the Coffin Bay Peninsula and the mainland, and lies on the southeastern shore of the bay. Oyster farming is conducted in the quiet waters of Coffin Bay.

Coffin Bay is in the District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula local government area, the state electoral district of Flinders and the federal Division of Grey.[1]

History

British naval explorer Matthew Flinders named the bay on 16 February 1802 in honour of his friend Sir Isaac Coffin, who was Resident Naval Commissioner at Sheerness, where HMS Investigator was fitted out.[10] The same year, French explorer Nicolas Baudin provided the alternative French name of Baie Delambre.[11]

The bay remained uncharted until explored in March 1839 by Captain Frederick R. Lees (d.1839) in command of the brig Nereus. Lees' thorough charts became a standard reference for mariners through until the electronic era.[12]

In November 1952 and again in October 1955 the state government surveyed a "shack area" on crown land from which allotments were available for leasing.[2] In 1957, the private town of Coffin Bay was laid out by Stanley Germain Morgan on section 132 of the cadastral unit of the Hundred of Lake Wangary.[2]

In 1966 BHP opened the Coffin Bay Tramway between a site south-east of the town and Port Lincoln to convey lime sands.[13] It was closed in 1989, with the track removed in 2001.

On 16 October 2003 boundaries were created for the locality includes the full extent of the Coffin Bay Peninsula and land to the east bounded in the north in part by the channel connecting to Kellidie Bay and by the Coffin Bay Road, and in the east by the eastern boundary of the Hundred of Lake Wangary. The locality which was given the "long established name" includes the private town, the Coffin Bay Shack Site and the Coffin Bay National Park.[1]

The Nauo people occupied the area prior to European settlement in the 1830s.

The historic former Coffin Bay Whaling Site at Point Sir Isaac lies within the locality and is listed on the South Australian Heritage Register.[14]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Search results for 'Coffin Bay, LOCB' with the following datasets selected – 'Suburbs and localities', 'Counties', 'Hundreds', 'Local Government Areas', 'SA Government Regions' and 'Gazetteer'. Location SA Map Viewer. South Australian Government. 14 February 2019.
  2. Web site: South Australian Names – C . Manning Index of South Australian History . Geoffrey . Manning . Geoffrey Manning . State Library of South Australia . 24 October 2019.
  3. Web site: Postcode for Coffin Bay, South Australia . postcodes-australia.com . 23 October 2019.
  4. Web site: District of Flinder Background Profile. Electoral Commission SA. 1 June 2019.
  5. Web site: Federal electoral division of Grey . Australian Electoral Commission. 1 June 2019.
  6. Web site: Monthly climate statistics: Summary statistics NORTH SHIELDS (PORT LINCOLN AWS) (nearest weather station) . Commonwealth of Australia, Bureau of Meteorology. 23 October 2019.
  7. News: The Situation of the New Colony . . NSW . 11 April 1832 . 31 July 2013 . 4 Edition: Afternoon . National Library of Australia.
  8. [File:CC-BY icon.svg|50px]
  9. Web site: Delaney . Jarrad . 2021-02-11 . Big increase in park visitors for December . 2023-01-16 . Port Lincoln Times . en-AU.
  10. Web site: Place names of South Australia. 2006-05-06 . The Manning Index of South Australian History . .
  11. http://maps.sa.gov.au/plb/ Property Location Browser V2
  12. Lees, Frederick : Sailing directions for South Australia (Sydney, 1839). Mitchell Library, NSW, Call No DSM/656/L.
  13. Buckland . J.L. . A standard gauge railway in mothballs (Coffin Bay tramway of BHP Co. Ltd.) . Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin . August 1977 . 28 . 478 . 184–189 . . This mineral railway was opened in 1966 to bring lime sands 39 km from Coffin Bay to Proper Bay, near Port Lincoln. The operation was visited by an ARHS SA Div tour on 13 Nov 1976. (Citation details via the nswrail.net website).
  14. Web site: Former Coffin Bay Whaling Site (designated place of archaeological significance) Coffin Bay National Park . Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources . South Australian Heritage Register . 12 February 2016 .