Stokes is a

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivi ...

in the

Shire of Carpentaria The Shire of Carpentaria is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia on the Gulf of Carpentaria, for which it is named. Geography The Shire of Carpentaria covers an area of , and has existed as a local government entity sin ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. In the , Stokes had a population of 84 people.

Geography

The

Leichhardt River The Leichhardt River is a river in north west Queensland, Australia. Course The source of the river is in the Selwyn Range under Rifle Creek Hill and fed by Rifle Creek approximately south of the mining town Mount Isa. It runs in a generally n ...

forms the western boundary of the locality. Together with the Alexandra River, the

Cloncurry River The Cloncurry River is situated in the Gulf Country of north west Queensland, Australia. Geography The headwaters of the river rise west of Mount Boorama near Mount Tracey in the Selwyn Range and initially flows north west then turns north ...

, the

Flinders River The Flinders River is the longest river in Queensland, Australia, at approximately . It was named in honour of the explorer Matthew Flinders. The catchment is sparsely populated and mostly undeveloped. The Flinders rises on the western slopes o ...

and the Saxby River and numerous creeks, they all flow from south to north through the locality. The Alexandra River becomes a tributary of the Leichhardt River at the north-western point of the locality and the Cloncurry River and Saxby Rivers both become tributaries of the Flinders River in the north-east of the locality, leaving only the Leichhardt and Flinders Rivers to continue to flow into the

Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria (, ) is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea (the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea). The northern boundary ...

to the north. The

Burke Developmental Road The Burke Developmental Road is a Queensland ( Australia) developmental road. It links Cloncurry and Normanton in a south–north direction, then turns to the north-east north of Normanton for before turning south-east till Dimbulah, where ...

passes through the locality from north-east to south. The Wills Developmental Road passes through the south-west of the locality. The roads intersect at the neighbouring locality of Four Ways to the south. The land is entirely used for pastoral leases and is mostly flat at approximately 50 metres above sea level. The flatness of the land gives emphasis to a hill locally known as

Bang Bang Jump Up Bang Bang Jump Up is a solitary jump up in Stokes, Shire of Carpentaria, Queensland, Australia. Geography Bang Bang Jump Up is 106 km southwest of Normanton on the Burke Developmental Road The Burke Developmental Road is a Queensl ...

on the Burke Developmental Road as it is the only sudden change in elevation within a very long distance and is of interest to tourists both as a lookout over the surrounding countryside and because they find the name amusing.

History

The locality is named after

John Lort Stokes Admiral John Lort Stokes, RN (1 August 1811 – 11 June 1885)Although 1812 is frequently given as Stokes's year of birth, it has been argued by author Marsden Hordern that Stokes was born in 1811, citing a letter by fellow naval officer Crawford ...

, who was commanding officer of

HMS Beagle HMS ''Beagle'' was a 10-gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, one of more than 100 ships of this class. The vessel, constructed at a cost of £7,803 (roughly equivalent to £ in 2018), was launched on 11 May 1820 from the Woolwich Dockyard on t ...

from 1841 to 1846.

References

External links

{{Shire of Carpentaria Shire of Carpentaria Localities in Queensland