Gregory (Port Gregory until 1967) is a small town and fishing port located northwest of the mouth of the Hutt River, in the

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

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 ...

. At the

2016 census Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film dir ...

, Gregory had a population of 64 in 83 dwellings. Most of the dwellings are holiday houses. The population of Gregory fluctuates depending on tourism; with the town at full capacity during school holidays and throughout the summer. During the census (Tuesday 9 August 2016) 50% of dwellings were unoccupied (national average 11%). Port Gregory, formally called Boat Harbour, was established in 1849 and named after brothers

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

and Frank Gregory, two of Western Australia's most active explorers. In May 1853 sixty convicts and

Pensioner Guards The Pensioner Guards were English military personnel who served on convict transportation ships en route to the Swan River Colony between 1850 and 1868, and were given employment and grants of land on arrival. Their initial employment lasted for ...

arrived from England via Fremantle in the brigantine ''Leander'' and the cutter ''Gold Digger''. A townsite was gazetted in 1853 as Pakington near the shore, with Lynton gazetted around the same time as the convict depot and townsite for the guards, inland on the Hutt River. The convicts were used for Government works and in establishing a road to the Murchison River and the Geraldine

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, operated from 1849 to 1875. Ticket-of-leave men from the depot were hired out for work at the port and on nearby farms and stations.McDonald, G. K., 1994. The Little Boat harbour: history of Port Gregory. WA Museum, Fremantle. A major employer was Captain

William Ayshford Sanford William Ayshford Sanford, DL (1818– 28 October 1902) was a landowner, naturalist and Liberal Party politician, who served as Colonial Secretary of Western Australia from 1852 to 1855. Sanford was born in 1818, the son of Edward Ayshford Sanfor ...

who, as magistrate for the region and the Superintendent of Convicts, built an impressive homestead alongside Lynton. He resigned in 1854 and took up pastoral and whaling pursuits, establishing a whaling facility just north of the Pakington townsite. John Bateman and others also established whaling facilities nearby. The name Pakington was rarely used however and the name Port Gregory, the

harbour A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

located next to the town, was more generally accepted. Initially the port was used by whalers and pastoralists and to ship

ore and pig lead from the mines, notably the Geraldine mine. Salt from nearby

Hutt Lagoon Hutt Lagoon is a marine salt lake located near the Indian Ocean coast north of the mouth of the Hutt River, in the Mid West region of Western Australia. Geography Hutt Lagoon is an elongate lake that sits in a dune swale adjacent to the co ...

was shipped until the depression when the port and both the 'towns' became deserted. On 27 January 1943 the Japanese submarine ''I-165'', while planning to bombard the nearby port of Geraldton, observed three aircraft and what was believed to be a destroyer and aborted the attack. On the following night the submarine bombarded Port Gregory with about ten 100-mm (3.9-inch) shells from her deck gun, in the belief that a crayfish cannery was an ammunition factory. There was no damage and Port Gregory was at the time deserted. Naval authorities only learned of the attack when the submarine's battle report radio signal was intercepted and decoded a week later. There are many shipwrecks in the vicinity, most caused by the unsuitability of the port for large vessels. These include trading and whaling vessels and the screw steamer SS ''Xantho'', which sank while loaded with lead ore from the Geraldine mine. The town changed its name to Gregory in 1967.

Climate

Gregory lies in the warm-summer Mediterranean climate zone ( Köppen: ''Csa''). Winters are warm with moderate precipitation, and summers are hot and dry.

References

{{authority control Coastal towns in Western Australia Fishing communities in Australia Mining towns in Western Australia Shire of Northampton