Dongara is a town north-northwest of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia on the

Brand Highway Brand Highway is a main highway linking the northern outskirts of Perth to Geraldton in Western Australia. Together with North West Coastal Highway, it forms part of the Western Australian coastal link to the Northern Territory. The highw ...

. The town is located at the mouth of the

Irwin River The Irwin River is a river in the Mid West region of Western Australia. It was named on 9 April 1839 by the explorer George Grey, while on his second disastrous exploration expedition along the Western Australian coast, after his friend Major F ...

. Dongara is the seat of the

Shire of Irwin The Shire of Irwin is a local government area in the Mid West region of Western Australia, about south of Geraldton and about north of the state capital, Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western A ...

. At the the shire had a population of 3,569, with 2,782 residing in the contiguous towns of Dongara and

Port Denison Port Denison is a town of 3000 residents in the Mid West region of Western Australia. Its local government area is the Shire of Irwin and it is located southwest of Dongara on the Indian Ocean coast. History Port Denison was initially known ...

History

Dongara Royal Steam Roller Flour Mill SI-39 30123-115-N

The place name 'Dongara' is an anglicised rendition of ''Thung-arra'', the local Wattandee people's name for the

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

adjacent to the town, meaning '

sea lion Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

place'. European settlement around the estuary began in 1853 when a harbourmaster, Edward Downes, was stationed there to look out for passing ships. He was employed by Lockier Burges, Edward Hamersley, Samuel Pole Phillips and Bartholomew Urban Vigors' Cattle Company, which was granted 60,000 acres of pastoral leases about 15 kilometres inland. By the 1860s, ex-convict small farmers were occupying the local river flats, and a flour mill (the Irwin or Smith's Mill) was operating. A

townsite A townsite is a legal subdivision of land for the development of a town or community. In the historical development of the United States, Canada, and other former British colonial nations, the filing of a townsite plat (United States) or plan (Ca ...

was surveyed, and in 1871 it became the seat of a local council established that year (now the Irwin Shire Council), and site of a police station and public school. The Anglican Church of St John the Baptist and a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

Church were built in the 1880s. In the 1890s, the larger Royal Steam Roller Flour Mill was built on the flats next to the new Midland Railway line that connected the district to

. The town slowly developed, and although still a comparatively small village by the time of

Federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

in 1901, it had several churches, municipal offices and hall, a variety of shops, two hotels, a public school and a railway station. The nearby localities were populated by wheat and sheep farmers, centred on the hamlets of Bookara, Irwin and Strawberry. There was also a small population of fishermen, including several Chinese men, at Port Denison. Dongara is the centre for a small oil and natural gas industry that began with the discovery of the Dongara Gas Field in 1966.

Notable people from or associated with Dongara

Sir David Brand Sir David Brand KCMG (1 August 1912 – 15 April 1979) was an Australian politician. A member of the Liberal Party, he was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1945 to 1975, and also the 19th and longest-serving Premi ...

(1912–1979), 19th Premier of Western Australia, born at Dongara *

Robert Bruning Robert Bruning (27 May 1928 – 4 March 2008) was an Australian actor and film producer, who was the founder of film production firm Gemini Productions Biography Bruning was born as Robert Bell in Dongara, Western Australia in 1928. He worked a ...

(1928–2008), born Robert Bell, PMG linesman, sales manager, actor, film producer, screenwriter, script editor * Jamie Elliott (1992– ), Australian rules footballer who plays for in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

Carmen Lawrence Carmen Mary Lawrence (born 2 March 1948) is an Australian academic and former politician who was the Premier of Western Australia from 1990 to 1993, the first woman to become the premier of an Australian state. A member of the Labor Party, sh ...

(1948- ), 25th Premier of Western Australia *

Cranston Albury McEachern Colonel Cranston Albury McEachern DSO (9 September 1905 – 15 October 1983) was an Australian army officer and solicitor. He was born at Dongara in Western Australia to tailor Archibald Hector Cranston McEachern and Lillian Emma, ''née'' D ...

(1905–1983), Australian army officer and solicitor *

Nathan Broad Nathan Broad (born 15 April 1993) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a three-time premiership player with the club, winning in 2017, 2019 and 2020. ...

(1993– ),

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who plays for in the Australian Football League. 3 x Premiership Player *

Jaeger O'Meara Jaeger O'Meara (born 23 February 1994) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Gold Coast Suns from 2013 to 2016, and the Haw ...

(1994– ),

er who plays for in the Australian Football League

References

External links

Shire of Irwin

Dongara Information
{{authority control Coastal towns in Western Australia Shire of Irwin Fishing communities in Australia