The Hotham River is one of the major tributaries of the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...

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 t ...

. It is about long with its upper reaches being the Hotham River North, which begins in the Dutarning Range and joins the Hotham at its crossing of the

Great Southern Highway Great Southern Highway is a highway in the southern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, starting from Great Eastern Highway at The Lakes, from Perth, and ending at Albany Highway near Cranbrook. It is the primary thoroughfare for this pa ...

near Popanyinning. A long southern tributary, Hotham River South begins near Cuballing and flows generally northerly before joining the Hotham near Yornaning. From Narrogin, the merged river flows in a northerly direction through the Cuballing district and

Dryandra Woodland The Dryandra Woodland National Park is a national park in Western Australia within the shires of Cuballing, Williams and Wandering, about south-east of Perth and north-west of the town of Narrogin. It is a complex of 17 distinct blocks ma ...

before heading west through Wandering and Boddington. The river joins the Williams River near

Mount Saddleback Mount Saddleback is the highest peak in the Darling Range of Western Australia. It is found at the easternmost part of the Darling Range about south of Boddington and west of Williams. Bauxite is mined on the flanks of the peak and process ...

History

The river was explored by

Thomas Bannister Thomas Bannister (1799–1874) was a soldier and explorer in Western Australia. He was born in Steyning, Sussex in 1799, and arrived in Western Australia in 1829, age 30, with the rank of Captain aboard the ''Atwick'' with 3 servants from London ...

in 1830 and probably named by Governor James Stirling after Admiral Sir

Henry Hotham Vice-Admiral The Honourable Sir Henry Hotham (19 February 1777 – 19 April 1833) was officer of the British Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary, Napoleonic Wars, and the War of 1812, was later a member of the Board of Admiralt ...

. Image:Boddington 6956.jpg, Hotham River at Boddington Image:Boddington 6957.jpg, Weir at Boddington Image:Hotham River 051.jpg, Bridge at Crossman

References

* Rivers of the Peel region Darling Range {{WesternAustralia-river-stub