Maitland () is a town on the

Yorke Peninsula The Yorke Peninsula, known as Guuranda by the original inhabitants, the Narungga people, is a peninsula located northwest and west of Adelaide in South Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf St Vincent on the east. The peninsula ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. By road, it is west of

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, south of

Port Pirie Port Pirie is a small city on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, north of the state capital, Adelaide. Port Pirie is the largest city and the main retail centre of the Mid North region of South Australia. The city has an ex ...

and north of Minlaton. The town lies in the traditional lands of the Narungga, whose name for the district is Maggiwarda.

History

The town was established on the Yorke Peninsula, the traditional lands of the Narungga, an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia 50,000 to 65,000 year ...

people, who had lived there for thousands of years. Their name for the peninsula is Guuranda, and the Maitland district was Maggiwarda.PDF
/ref> The town was named in 1872 after Lady Jean Maitland, the wife of James Fergusson, Lord Kilkerran and great-great grandmother of the

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

at that time,

Sir James Fergusson James Fergusson may refer to: Politics *Sir James Fergusson, 6th Baronet (1832–1907), Governor of South Australia, New Zealand and Bombay *Sir James Fergusson, 8th Baronet (1904–1973), Lord Lieutenant of Ayrshire *Sir James Fergusson, Lord Ki ...

. In October 1884 the ''

Adelaide Observer ''The Observer'', previously ''The Adelaide Observer'', was a Saturday newspaper published in Adelaide, South Australia from July 1843 to February 1931. Virtually every issue of the newspaper (under both titles) has been digitised and is availabl ...

'' noted:

Maitland in situated about twenty-three miles from Moonta, on Yorke's Peninsula, and is about equidistant between the two Gulfs. The town stands about 490 feet above the sea, and is surrounded by some of the richest soil on the Peninsula. The township is only about nine years old, and has made steady progress, and bids fair to be the next largest town to Moonta on the Peninsula.

Agriculture was developed on lands formerly used as hunting grounds for the Narungga people, and they were employed in agricultural work from where they were moved to at Point Pearce (Burgiyana) mission.

Location and description

Maitland is within a short driving distance of coastal towns on either side, with Port Victoria to the west and

Ardrossan Ardrossan (; ) is a town on the North Ayrshire coast in southwestern Scotland. The town has a population of 10,670 and forms part of a conurbation with Saltcoats and Stevenston known as the 'Three Towns#Scotland, Three Towns'. Ardrossan is loca ...

to the east, each within 25 km. It has a grain receiving depot operated by

AWB Limited AWB Limited was a major grain marketing organisation based in Australia. Founded in 1939 by the Government of Australia as the Australian Wheat Board, in 1999 it became a private company, owned by wheat growers. It was acquired by Agrium in 201 ...

, serviced only by road.

Climate

Maitland has a

hot-summer mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

( Köppen: Csa), with very warm, dry summers and mild, wetter winters. Temperatures vary throughout the year, with average maxima ranging from in January to in July, and average minima fluctuating between in February and in July. Annual precipitation is moderately low, averaging , with a maximum in winter. There are 109.8 precipitation days, 95.8 clear days and 133.4 cloudy days annually. Extreme temperatures have ranged from on 24 January 2019 to on 29 June 1958 and 9 July 1959.

Media

Maitland was home to a newspaper called the ''Maitland Watch'' (22 December 1911 – 26 June 1969). In 1969, the newspaper merged with Yorketown's the ''

Pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a person who is among the first at something that is new to a community. A pioneer as a settler is among the first settling at a place that is new to the settler community. A historic example are American pioneers, perso ...

'' (1898–1969) to become the short-lived ''Yorke Peninsula News Pictorial'' (3 July 1969 – 28 May 1970), which was then incorporated into the ''

Yorke Peninsula Country Times ''Yorke Peninsula Country Times'' is a weekly South Australian newspaper, which was first published on 4 September 1968. It was formed by the merging of ''Kadina, Wallaroo and Moonta Times'' and ''South Australian Farmer,'' representing numerous f ...

'' from June 1970.

References

External links

Harvest Corner Website
Yorke Peninsula Visitor Information Centre at Minlaton {{authority control Towns in South Australia 1872 establishments in Australia Yorke Peninsula