Lynton is a townsite in the

Mid West The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. It is part of a larger rural district known as Yallabatharra. Lynton is situated at the mouth of the Hutt River, 7.6 kilometres (4.7 miles) by road from Gregory – between the larger towns of

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

and Kalbarri. During the 1850s, the area was the site of the

Lynton Convict Hiring Depot The Lynton Convict Hiring Depot (1853–1857) was the first convict depot north of Fremantle, Western Australia. It was established on 22 May 1853 with the arrival of the 173 ton brigantine ''Leander'', which transferred 60 ticket-of-leave convi ...

History

On 22 May 1853, the Port Gregory Convict Depot (known later as Lynton Convict Hiring Depot) was built to supply

convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...

labour to the

Geraldine Geraldine may refer to: People * Geraldine (name), the feminine form of the first name Gerald, with list of people thus named. * The Geraldines, Irish dynasty descended from the Anglo-Norman Gerald FitzWalter de Windsor * Geraldine of Albania, th ...

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

mine, in the bed of the nearby Murchison River. The supervisor of the depot, Captain H. A. Sanford, had a residence constructed in the area during 1853 and named it ''Lynton''. The reason for Sandford's use of the name is unknown, although his parents reputedly had ties to an area by that name in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. The name of Lynton was soon being applied to the broader area around the depot.

Anna Harriette Leonowens Anna Harriette Leonowens (born Ann Hariett Emma Edwards; 5 November 1831 – 19 January 1915) was an Anglo-Indian or Indian-born British travel writer, educator, and social activist. She became well known with the publication of her memoirs, be ...

, who would become famous as the subject of '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (and various adaptations of it), lived in Lynton during the mid-1850s, while her husband, Thomas Leonowens, worked there for the

Commissariat A commissariat is a department or organization commanded by a commissary or by a corps of commissaries. In many countries, commissary is a police rank. In those countries, a commissariat is a police station commanded by a commissary. In some ar ...

. Their son,

Louis Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis (d ...

was born at Lynton in 1856.Louis Thomas Leonowens' birth was officially registered at Port Gregory as Lynton had not yet been gazetted (Register of Births, Western Australia, 1856, no. 3469). His mother gave her name as "Harriet Leonowens", née Edwards. The convict hiring depot was moved to

Champion Bay Champion Bay is a coastal feature north of Geraldton, Western Australia, facing the port and city between Point Moore and Bluff Point. Champion Bay was named by Lieutenant John Lort Stokes of , who surveyed the area in April 1840. He named it ...

(Geraldton) in 1857. Lynton townsite was not officially gazetted until 1854. The adjoining townsite of Pakington (later renamed Gregory), was gazetted around the same time.

References

{{authority control Shire of Northampton Populated places established in 1864 1864 establishments in Australia