| Pennefather | |
| Name Etymology: | In honour of Charles de Fonblanque Pennefather |
| Pushpin Map: | Australia Queensland |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Pennefather River mouth in Queensland |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | Australia |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Name2: | Queensland |
| Subdivision Type3: | Region |
| Subdivision Name3: | Far North Queensland |
| Length: | 11km (07miles) |
| Source1 Location: | Mapoon |
| Source1 Coordinates: | -12.3315°N 141.8729°W |
| Source1 Elevation: | 20m (70feet) |
| Source Confluence: | Fish Creek and a series of unnamed waterways |
| Source Confluence Location: | Port Musgrave Aggregation wetlands |
| Source Confluence Coordinates: | -12.2547°N 141.8053°W |
| Source Confluence Elevation: | 1m (03feet) |
| Mouth: | Gulf of Carpentaria |
| Mouth Location: | south of |
| Mouth Coordinates: | -12.2289°N 141.7206°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 0m (00feet) |
| Basin Size: | 3009km2 |
| Extra: | [1] |
The Pennefather River is a river located on the western Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, Australia.
Formed by the confluence of a series of waterways including the Fish Creek in the Port Musgrave Aggregation estuarine wetlands, the Pennefather River flows due west, joined by the Turtle Creek from the north and Dingo Creek from the south, before emptying into the Gulf of Carpentaria south of . The river descends over its 11km (07miles) course.[1] At its widest point, the river is approximately wide. The river has a catchment area of, of which comprises wetlands.[2]
Yupanguthi (Yuputhimri, Jupangati, Yupangathi, Nggerikudi, Yupungati, Jupangati) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken on Yupanguthi country. The Yupanguthi language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Shire of Cook.[3]
The river mouth was a site of the first recorded landfall in Australia by a Dutch explorer, by Willem Janszoon in 1606.[4] Janszoon named it R. met het Bosch ("River with the Forest").[5]
In 1802 the British explorer Matthew Flinders mistook the river for the Coen River, which had been named by Dutch explorer Jan Carstensz in 1623 (now the Archer River), so that the Bosch / Pennefather River was named Coen River on maps in the 19th century. In 1880, Captain Charles Edward de Fonblanque Pennefather established that there were now two Coen Rivers,[6] and in 1894 Queensland authorities named the river after him, although the British Admiralty Chart for the Gulf of Carpentaria kept the name Coen River until 1967.[7] [8]