Coffin Bay, originally Coffin's Bay, is a town at the southern extremity of the

Eyre Peninsula The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north. Originally called Eyre’s Peninsula, it was named aft ...

, a wheat growing area of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. At the 2016 census, Coffin Bay had a population of 611. CC-BY icon

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The town is situated on the western side of the southern tip of Eyre Peninsula about 46 km from

Port Lincoln Port Lincoln is a town on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia. It is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, which opens eastward into Spencer Gulf. It is the largest city in the West Coast region, and is located a ...

. The population swells during holiday seasons to more than 4,000 people due to its proximity to the

Coffin Bay National Park Coffin Bay National Park is a protected area in on the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia, Australia, which is located about 301 km west of Adelaide and about 46 km west of Port Lincoln. The town of Coffin Bay is near the entrance t ...

. 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 The District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula is a local government area located on Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. The district covers the southern tip of the peninsula, except for the small area taken up by the City of Port Lincoln. The mai ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

, the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

electoral district of Flinders Flinders is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. It is named after explorer Matthew Flinders, who was responsible for charting most of the state's coastline. It is a 58,901 km² coastal rural elect ...

and the

federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

Division of Grey The Division of Grey is an Australian electoral division in South Australia. The division was one of the seven established when the former Division of South Australia was redistributed on 2 October 1903 and is named for Sir George Grey, who wa ...

History

British naval explorer

Matthew Flinders Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British navigator and cartographer who led the first inshore circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then called New Holland. He is also credited as being the first person to u ...

named the bay on 16 February 1802 in honour of his friend Sir Isaac Coffin, who was Resident Naval Commissioner at

Sheerness Sheerness () is a town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 11,938, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby town ...

, where the ''Investigator'' was fitted out. The same year, French explorer

Nicolas Baudin Nicolas Thomas Baudin (; 17 February 1754 – 16 September 1803) was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific. Biography Early career Born a comm ...

provided the alternative French name of ''Baie Delambre''. 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. In November 1952 and again in October 1955, the state government surveyed a "shack area" on

crown land Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...

from which allotments were available for leasing. 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 The Hundred of Lake Wangary is a hundred within County of Flinders, South Australia. It is at the southern end of the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, located 45 kilometres (28 mi) west of Port Lincoln. It is named after the freshwater Lake ...

. In 1966,

BHP BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...

opened the Coffin Bay Tramway between a site south-east of the town and

to convey lime sands. 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. The

Nauo people The Nauo people, also spelt Nawu and Nhawu, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the south-western Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. The Nauo language became extinct by the twentieth century, but efforts are being made to revive it. Countr ...

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 The South Australian Heritage Register, also known as the SA Heritage Register, is a statutory register of historic places in South Australia. It extends legal protection regarding demolition and development under the ''Heritage Places Act 1993'' ...

Population

In the 2016 Census, there were 611 people in Coffin Bay. 81.0% of people were born in Australia and 93.8% of people spoke only English at home. The most common response for religion was No Religion at 44.3%.

References

External links

Coffin Bay – SMH TravelCoffinBay.net
{{authority control Coastal towns in South Australia Eyre Peninsula Bays of South Australia

History

Population

See also

References

External links