Worsley is a town in

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 ...

located in the

South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

region near the town of

Collie Collies form a distinctive type of herding dogs, including many related landraces and standardized breeds. The type originated in Scotland and Northern England. Collies are medium-sized, fairly lightly-built dogs, with pointed snouts. Man ...

. The town is within the

Shire of Collie The Shire of Collie is a local government area in the South West region of Western Australia, about east of Bunbury and about south of the state capital, Perth. The Shire covers an area of , and its seat of government is the town of Collie. ...

. The town's name comes from the Worsley River, a tributary of the

Collie River The Collie River is a river in the South West region of Western Australia. The Collie River was named by Lieutenant Governor Stirling after Alexander Collie who, along with Lieutenant William Preston, in November 1829 was the first European ...

, which is located nearby. The river was named after Charles Anderson-Pelham, Lord Worsley, a member of the Western Australian Land and Emigration Committee, which also included James Stirling,

John Hutt John Hutt (24 July 1795 – 9 April 1880) was Governor of Western Australia from 1839 to 1846. Life Born in London on 24 July 1795, John Hutt was the fourth of 13 children of Richard Hutt of Appley Towers, Ryde, Isle of Wight. He was educate ...

, William Hutt (MP),

Edward Barrett-Lennard Edward Pomeroy Barrett-Lennard (19 June 1799 in England – 29 June 1878 in Upper Swan, Western Australia) was an early settler in the Guildford area of Western Australia. He was the fifth son of Sir Thomas Barrett-Lennard, 1st Baronet, and Dorot ...

and Captain Bunbury. The committee promoted emigration to the Swan River colony and the Western Australian Land Company, which established the

Australind Australind is a town in Western Australia, located 12 km north-east of Bunbury's central business district. Its local government area is the Shire of Harvey. At the 2016 census, Australind had a population of 14,539. History Prior to Eur ...

land settlement project in 1841 under

Marshall Waller Clifton Marshall Waller Clifton (1 November 1787 – 10 April 1861), commonly referred to as Waller Clifton, was an English civil servant, coloniser and politician in Western Australia. History Clifton was born 1 November 1787 at Alverstoke, near ...

. The name was first recorded in surveys performed in the area in 1845. In the 1890s a railway siding was constructed in the area to service the timber industry, and later in 1906 the state government decided to create a town-site in the area. Lots were surveyed in 1907 and the town was gazetted in 1909. The town peaked in 1902 when its population was in excess of 1,500 people but it began to decline in the 1920s and saw the town all but disappear by the 1950s. In 1984 construction of the

Worsley Alumina Worsley Alumina comprises a bauxite mine located near the town of Boddington and an Alumina refinery located near Worsley. Ore is mined then transported to the refinery via an overland conveyor system. Alumina is then transported to the por ...

refinery began and the area experienced an unexpected revival. The refinery and mine are a joint venture operation between

South32 South32 is a mining and metals company headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. It was spun out of BHP Billiton on 18 May 2015. It is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange with secondary listings on the Johannesburg and London Stock ...

(86%), Japan Alumina Associates (Australia) Pty Ltd (10%) and Sojitz Alumina Pty Ltd (4%). Bauxite ore is delivered to the refinery by a conveyor belt from the Boddington Bauxite Mine site at

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 ...

south of Boddington.

References

Towns in Western Australia Shire of Collie Mining towns in Western Australia {{WesternAustralia-geo-stub