County of Manchester is a cadastral unit located in the Australian state 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 ...

that covers land both located in the north-east of

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 ...

and to the peninsula's north. It was proclaimed in 1891 and named after

George Montagu, 6th Duke of Manchester George Montagu, 6th Duke of Manchester DL (9 July 1799 – 18 August 1855), known as Viscount Mandeville from 1799 to 1843, was a British peer and Tory Member of Parliament. Early life George Montagu was born at Kimbolton Castle, Huntingdon ...

who was the father-in-law of the Earl of Kintore GCMG, the

Governor of South Australia The governor of South Australia is the representative in South Australia of the Monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. The governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the governor-gene ...

at the time.

Description

The County of Manchester covers a part of South Australia associated in part with the east coast of Eyre Peninsula overlooking Spencer Gulf and in the part with land to the immediate north and which extends inland from the coastline for a distance of about . The southern part of its extent is within

because the peninsula’s northern boundary passes through the county in an east-west direction. It is bounded to the west by the County of Hore-Ruthven, to the south by the

County of York Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

and to the east by the

County of Newcastle The County of Newcastle is one of the 49 counties of South Australia spanning the central Flinders Ranges. It was named in 1876 for Francis Pelham-Clinton-Hope, the eighth Duke of Newcastle. Local government Local government was initiated with ...

and Spencer Gulf. Settlements include

Iron Knob Iron Knob is a town in the Australian state of South Australia on the Eyre Peninsula immediately south of the Eyre Highway. At the 2006 census, Iron Knob and the surrounding area had a population of 199. The town obtained its name from its prox ...

which is located on the western side of the county, and the following suburbs and localities located on the coastline with Spencer Gulf (from north to south) -

Port Augusta West Port Augusta West is a suburb of Port Augusta, South Australia, Port Augusta, South Australia. However, it has a separate early colonial history to Port Augusta, because it is on the Eyre Peninsula, while the rest of Port Augusta is on the east ...

which is the part of the

Port Augusta Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a port, seaport, it is now a road traffic and Junction (rail), railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about ...

urban area, Commissariat Point,

Blanche Harbor Blanche Harbor is a natural harbour between Mono Island and Stirling Island of the Treasury Islands archipelago, located n the Western Province of the Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands a ...

, Douglas Point and Douglas Point South. The county is served by the following roads which extend from Port Augusta -

Stuart Highway Stuart Highway is a major Australia, Australian highway. It runs from Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, in the Northern Territory, via Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, to Port Augusta in South Australia; a distance of . Its northern and sou ...

which passes through the county to the north, the

Eyre Highway Eyre Highway is a highway linking Western Australia and South Australia via the Nullarbor Plain. Signed as National Highways 1 and A1, it forms part of Highway 1 and the Australian National Highway network linking Perth and Adelaide. It ...

which passes to the west and the

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 1913 ...

which passes to the south, and in part by the Iron Knob Road which runs between Iron Knob and

Whyalla Whyalla was founded as "Hummocks Hill", and was known by that name until 1916. It is the fourth most populous city in the Australian state of South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Gawler and along with Port Pirie and Port Augusta ...

which is located to the south of the county. The following railway lines pass through the county - the

Trans-Australian Railway The Trans-Australian Railway, opened in 1917, runs from Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, crossing the Nullarbor Plain in the process. As the only rail freight corridor between Western Australia and the easter ...

which travels to the north en route to

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 ...

, the

Whyalla railway line The Whyalla railway line runs from Port Augusta to Whyalla. History The Whyalla line was built primarily to serve the BHP's Whyalla Steelworks. The line was built by the Commonwealth Railways as a standard gauge line being opened on 6 October 1 ...

which travels south to its terminus at

, and part of the railway line which operates between Iron Knob and Whyalla. Land use within the county includes primary industrial activity such as

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and other ...

and

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

, and a

military training area A military training area, training area (Australia, Ireland, UK) or training centre (Canada) is land set aside specifically to enable military forces to train and exercise for combat. Training areas are usually out of bounds to the general public, ...

known as the

Cultana Training Area The Cultana Training Area is an Australian Army training area on northeastern Eyre Peninsula in South Australia between Port Augusta, Whyalla and Iron Knob. It includes the former Baxter Detention Centre. The training area was enlarged in 2014 ...

. Its extent includes parts of the local government areas of

and

and land within the state’s

Pastoral Unincorporated Area A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...

, and parts of the following state government regions -

Eyre Western In South Australia, one of the states of Australia, there are many areas which are commonly known by regional names. Regions are areas that share similar characteristics. These characteristics may be natural such as the Murray River, the coastl ...

and the Far North.

History

South Australia cadastral divisions 1893

The County of Manchester was proclaimed on 21 May 1891 along with the hundreds of Castine, Copley and Handyside. The county was named by

Algernon Keith-Falconer, 9th Earl of Kintore Algernon may refer to: * Algernon (name), a given name (includes a list of people and characters with the name) * Algernon Township, Custer County, Nebraska See also * Treaty of Algeron, an agreement signed by the United Federation of Planets and ...

, the Governor of South Australia after his father-in-law, George Montagu, 6th Duke of Manchester. The following hundreds have been proclaimed within the county - Castine, Copley and Handyside in 1891, Jenkins in 1892 and Gillen in 1893.

Constituent hundreds

Location of constituent hundreds

The hundreds are laid out from north to south along the county’s eastern boundary as follows - Castine, Copley, Gillen and Jenkins with the latter being bounded by the

to the south. The Hundred of Handyside is located on the west side of Copley and Gillen.

Hundred of Castine

The Hundred of Castine () was proclaimed on 21 May 1891. It covers an area of and is named after John Castine, a member of the

Parliament of South Australia The Parliament of South Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. It consists of the 47-seat House of Assembly ( lower house) and the 22-seat Legislative Council (upper house). General elections are ...

. Its extent includes parts of the localities of Carriewerlow and Mount Arden.

Hundred of Copley

The Hundred of Copley () was proclaimed on 21 May 1891. It covers an area of and is named after William Copley, a former member of the South Australian Parliament. Its extent includes parts of the localities of Carriewerlow, Mount Arden, Lincoln Gap and

Hundred of Gillen

The Hundred of Gillen () was proclaimed on 26 January 1893. It covers an area of and is named after P P Gillen, a former member of the South Australian Parliament. Its extent includes the locality of Commissariat Point and parts of the localities of Cultana, Lincoln Gap and

Hundred of Handyside

The Hundred of Handyside () was proclaimed on 21 May 1891. It covers an area of and is named after A D Handyside, a former member of the South Australian Parliament. Its extent includes parts of the localities of Carriewerlow, Cultana, Illeroo, Lincoln Gap and Pandurra.

Hundred of Jenkins

The Hundred of Jenkins () was proclaimed on 28 January 1892. It covers an area of and is named after John Jenkins, a former member of the South Australian Parliament. Its extent includes the localities of Blanche Harbor and Douglas Point, and parts of the localities of Cultana and Douglas Point South.

References

{{Counties of South Australia, state=collapsed

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...