Albany ( ; ) is a

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

in the Great Southern region in the Australian state of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, southeast of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, the state capital. The city centre is at the northern edge of Princess Royal Harbour, which is a part of

King George Sound King George Sound (Mineng ) is a sound (geography), sound on the south coast of Western Australia. Named King George the Third's Sound in 1791, it was referred to as King George's Sound from 1805. The name "King George Sound" gradually came in ...

. The central business district is bounded by Mount Clarence to the east and Mount Melville to the west. The city is in the

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

of the

City of Albany The City of Albany is a local government area in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, about south-southeast of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It covers an area of , including the Greater Albany metropolitan area and the ...

. While it is the oldest colonial, although not European, settlement in Western Australia — predating Perth and

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

by over two years — it was a semi-exclave of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

for over four years until it was made part of the

Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just ''Swan River'', was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, an ...

. The settlement was founded on 26 December 1826 as a military outpost of New South Wales for the purpose of forestalling French ambitions in the region. To that end, on 21 January 1827, the commander of the outpost, Major Edmund Lockyer, formally took possession for the

British Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

of the portion of New Holland not yet claimed by the Crown; that is, the portion west of the

129th meridian east The meridian 129° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, Australia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole. The 129th meridian east forms a great ...

, with the portion east already being claimed collectively by the Crown as New South Wales and

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania during the European exploration of Australia, European exploration and colonisation of Australia in the 19th century. The Aboriginal Tasmanians, Aboriginal-inhabited island wa ...

. During the last decade of the 19th century, the town served as a gateway to the

Eastern Goldfields The Eastern Goldfields is part of the Western Australian Goldfields in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, covering the present and former gold-mining area east of Perth. Extent and name origin The region encompasses the to ...

. For many years, it was the colony's only deep-water port, having a place of eminence on shipping services between Britain and its Australian colonies. The opening of the Fremantle Inner Harbour in 1897, however, saw its importance as a port decline, after which the town's industries turned primarily to agriculture, timber and later,

whaling Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...

. Contemporary Albany is the southern terminus for tourism in the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

, and the state's south west, which is known for its natural environment and preservation of its heritage. The town has a role in the

ANZAC legend The ANZAC spirit or ANZAC legend is a concept which suggests that Australian and New Zealand soldiers possess shared characteristics, specifically the qualities those soldiers allegedly exemplified on the battlefields of World War I. These ...

, being the last port of call for troopships departing Australia in the First World War. On 1 November 2014, the Australian and New Zealand Prime Ministers opened the National Anzac Centre in Mount Clarence, Albany, to commemorate 100 years since the first ANZAC troops departed from King George Sound. Approximately 40,000 people attended the commemoration events held between 30 October and 2 November 2014. An auxiliary submarine base for the US Navy's 7th Fleet was developed during the Second World War in the event the submarine base at Fremantle was lost. Also in the harbour was a

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

naval installation which provided for refuelling from four fuel tanks.

Etymology

Upon its establishment in 1826, the settlement was named Frederick Town in honour of

Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (Frederick Augustus; 16 August 1763 – 5 January 1827) was the second son of George III, King of the United Kingdom and King of Hanover, Hanover, and his consort Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. A so ...

. In 1831, the settlement was transferred to the control of the

and renamed Albany by Lieutenant-Governor James Stirling. The name of the area in the

Nyungar language Noongar (), also Nyungar (), is an Australian Aboriginal language or dialect continuum, spoken by some members of the Noongar community and others. It is taught actively in Australia, including at schools, universities and through public broa ...

of the Menang people is , which has been said to mean "place of plenty" and "place of rain". In 2020, the City of Albany began, as part of an official dual-naming project, to give prominence to ''Kinjarling'' as the city's Aboriginal name.

Early history

Kinjarling was home to Menang

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian people who live in the South West, Western Australia, south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton, Western Aus ...

tribes during the summer season. Early British explorers recorded evidence of fish traps located on Emu Point and on the French, now the Kalgan, River.

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

made attempts to find the inhabitants of the area but only found bark dwellings that were unoccupied. Later explorers made contact and were told to leave, but were accepted when they did not. Most of the British exploration was undertaken to survey the land and sea to assess the profitability of resources. The explorers occasionally noted encounters with Noongars. Native treatment laws and programs have affected the tribes since settlement.

Heritage buildings

There are a number of heritage buildings in Albany; see List of heritage places in the City of Albany and :Heritage places in Albany, Western Australia. These include: *The Old Farm, Strawberry Hill was established in 1827 as a government farm to feed the colonial soldiers stationed around King George's Sound. It is the oldest farm in Western Australia. The homestead, which became the home of the

Government Resident A resident minister, or resident for short, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of ind ...

in 1833, is an example of a colonial gentleman's residence. After a chequered history, the property was vested in the National Trust WA in 1964 and is now a house museum. * Patrick Taylor Cottage (1832), Western Australia's oldest surviving dwelling, built in 1832 by the Morley Brothers. It is now maintained by the Albany Historical Society. * St John's Church (1841–1848) is a stone building with shingled roofs in the Old Colonial Gothick Picturesque style. Set among trees, it was designed to be part of an overall contrived picturesque scene in the manner of an English garden landscape. *

Scots Uniting Church Scots Uniting Church, originally known as the Scots Presbyterian Church, is a Uniting church located on York Street, the main street of Albany in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. History Originally a Presbyterian church, it ...

(1892) was designed in the Victorian Academic Gothic style by Melbourne architect Evander McIver and built with local granite stonework. *The complex now known as The Residency Museum was established in 1850 as a depot for the Convict Establishment in Albany. It is an L-shaped, single-storied, masonry building with a timber framed, timber shingled roof. In 1873 it was converted into the Resident Magistrate's home. It now serves as a museum. *The Victorian Free Classical Revival style

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

(1888) is a two-storey stone building with a prominent clock tower, which dominates York Street, the main street of Albany. It has been put to many uses apart from council meetings, including public entertainment and public meetings of all kinds and even as the venue for the first regional meeting of the State Parliament. *The Old Post Office was built in two stages, the first was designed in 1869 by J Manning, the second, including a prominent tower, was designed in 1896 by

George Temple-Poole George Thomas Temple-Poole (born George Thomas Temple, 29 May 1856 – 27 February 1934) was a British architect and public servant, primarily known for his work in Western Australia from 1885. As Superintendent of Public Works, and then Pri ...

. It now houses the Albany campus of the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

. *The Court House, constructed of Albany brick and granite with a tiled roof, was designed in the Federation Romanesque style by the Public Works Department under the supervision of George Temple-Poole and Hillson Beasley in 1897. *Another example of the work of George Temple Poole is the limestone and shingle

Federation Arts and Crafts Federation architecture is the architectural style in Australia that was prevalent from around 1890 to 1915. The name refers to the Federation of Australia on 1 January 1901, when the British colonies of Australia collectively became the Commonw ...

style Cottage Hospital, designed in 1886 and completed in 1897. It is one of the oldest hospitals in the state and served as such until 1962. It is now occupied by the Vancouver Arts Centre (named after the explorer

George Vancouver Captain (Royal Navy), Captain George Vancouver (; 22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for leading the Vancouver Expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Uni ...

). File:Old Farm, Strawberry Hill.jpg, Old Farm, Strawberry Hill File:Old Farm, drawing room.jpg, Old Farm, drawing room File:St.John's Church.jpg, St. John's Church File:St.John's Church tower.jpg, St.John's Church tower File:Albany Court House.jpg, Albany Courthouse File:Old Post Office, north front.jpg, Old Post Office, north front File:Old Post Office, south front.jpg, Old Post Office, south front File:Scots Uniting Church.jpg,

File:Vancouver House, formerly the Cottage Hospital.jpg, Vancouver House, formerly the Cottage Hospital File:Town Hall, Albany.jpg, Town Hall, Albany File:Patrick Taylor cottage museum.JPG, Patrick Taylor Cottage, Duke Street Some of the above information is derived from the State Heritage Register where these places are registered. The assessment criteria contain more details.

Population

As of the , the urban population of Albany was 35,053 making it the state's sixth-largest population centre. * Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 4.1% of the population. * 75.5% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 7.2%, New Zealand 1.7%, Philippines 1.7%, 1.2% and Scotland 0.7%. * 87.7% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Filipino 0.6%, Tagalog 0.6%, Afrikaans 0.6%, Karen 0.5% and Italian 0.5%. * The most common religious denominations were Anglican 11.9% and Catholic 10.7%. 49.9% had no religion and 7.5% did not respond.

Geography

The city centre of Albany is located between the hills of Mount Melville and Mount Clarence, which look down into Princess Royal Harbour. Many beaches surround Albany, with Middleton Beach being the closest to the town centre. Other popular beaches include Frenchman Bay and Muttonbird Island. Albany is SSE of the state capital,

, to which it is linked by Albany Highway.

Wine region

Albany is a sub-region of the Great Southern region of Western Australia.

Coastline

The Albany coastline is notorious for deaths due to king waves washing people off rocks. The Torndirrup National Park features some of the more rugged coastline in the area. However, there are many beaches that are safe and usable. Betty's Beach was named after Betty Jones, who used to go camping there with her family, and was initially called Betty's Bay. Frenchman Bay Beach is adjacent to the Torndirrup National Park, and was originally called Quarantine Bay, owing to the quarantine station set up by the British in 1826 on Mistaken Island at the northern end of Goode Beach Beach on the southern eastern side of Vancouver Peninsula

Beach on the southern eastern side of Vancouver Peninsula

Misery Beach, located south of Albany, was so named owing to the location of the whaling station at Albany that operated until 1978, causing offal to be washed ashore at Misery Beach and its sand and waters to be stained red. However, the beach was named Tourism Australia Best Beach 2022 by

Tourism Australia Tourism Australia is the Australian Government agency responsible for promoting Australian locations as business and leisure travel destinations. The agency is a corporate portfolio agency of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and ...

, described a " ickingall the boxes of what the typical beachgoer is looking for — uncrowded, crystal-white sand, turquoise waters and a very dramatic granite backdrop". Other beaches include: * Emu Point * Gull Rock Beach, also known as Boiler Beach * Middleton Beach * Nanarup Beach * Muttonbird Beach * Cosy Corner * Two Peoples Bay, including Little Beach and Waterfall Beach

Climate

Albany has a

warm-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 Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Csb'') with dry, warm summers, mild, wet winters, and pleasant springs and autumns. Summers have short spells of very hot weather, but cool ocean breeze brings relief, especially during evenings and nights. The city is situated on what is promoted as the "Rainbow Coast", an appropriate title given the frequency of days with both sun and drizzle or showers. Albany has 44.8 clear days annually, just slightly lower than

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

's 48.6 days. July is the wettest month, with a long-term average of . Rain in excess of occurs on two days out of every three during an average winter. The driest month is February with a mean of . Albany received a record amount of rain on 20 November 2008 when violent storms swept across the Great Southern region. The town was flooded after of rain fell in a 24-hour period, the highest amount recorded since rainfall records began in 1877. The wettest month on record was June 1920 when fell, while February 1877 and February 1879 remain the only rainless months.

Industry

Albany's main industries are tourism, fishing, timber (wood chips) and agriculture. From 1952 to 1978

was a major source of income and employment for the local population. The Whaling Station, which closed operations in 1978 following a major conservation campaign, has been converted to a museum of whaling and features one of the 'Cheynes' whale chasers that were used for whaling in Albany. The station was the last operating land based whaling station in the southern hemisphere and the English-speaking world at the time of closure. The Western Power Wind Farm is located at Sand Patch, to the west of Albany. The wind farm, originally commissioned in 2001 with 12 turbines, now has 18 turbines, driven by strong southerly winds, and can generate up to 80% of the city's electricity usage. Albany has a number of historical sites including the Museum, Albany Convict Gaol, The Princess Royal Fortress (commonly known as The Forts) and Patrick Taylor Cottage, one of the oldest dwellings in Western Australia, . Albany has a great deal of historical significance to Western Australia. Natural sights along the rugged coastline include the 'Natural Bridge' and the 'Gap'. The beaches have pristine white sand. The destroyer was sunk in

in 2001 as a dive wreck. Albany is also close to two low mountain ranges, the Porongurups and Stirling Ranges. Albany is the southern terminus of the Bibbulmun Track walking trail. Albany is the southern terminus of the Munda Biddi Trail off-road cycling trail. Albany is home to HMAS ''Albany'' (based in Darwin) and the adopted home port of the Royal Australian Navy frigate . Albany is frequently visited by other warships.

Transport

Albany has a city bus service run by

Swan Transit Swan Transit is an Australian bus company operating Buses in Perth, Transperth bus services under contract to the Public Transport Authority (Western Australia), Public Transport Authority. It is a subsidiary of Transit Systems. History On 21 ...

under the

TransAlbany TransAlbany is the public bus transportation system in Albany, Western Australia. History In July 2013, bus services in Albany began operating under the TransAlbany banner with SmartRider ticketing introduced. It was initially operated by Lov ...

brand with five town routes. Albany is connected to Perth with road-coach services via Walpole and Bunbury; via Katanning and Northam; via Kojonup and Williams.

Transwa Transwa is Western Australia's regional public transport provider, linking 240 destinations, from Kalbarri in the north to Augusta in the south west to Esperance in the south east. The Transwa system provides transport between Perth and the ...

coaches also serve Jerramungup, Ravensthorpe and Hopetoun. Rex Airlines, a national independent regional airline, provides 23 services a week between

and Albany Airport using 34-passenger

turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...

Saab 340 The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30–36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 differen ...

aircraft. Albany was served by the '' Albany Progress'' passenger train from

until 1978. The

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

reopened as a tourist information centre in 1994.

Media

Albany radio stations include locally owned broadcaster GOLD MX as well as national broadcasters 783 Triple M (formerly 6VA and RadioWest), Vision FM, HitFM (formerly HOT FM), ABC Great Southern,

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

, ABC Radio National,

ABC Classic FM ABC Classic, formerly ABC-FM (also ABC Fine Music), and then ABC Classic FM, is an Australian classical music radio station available in Australia and internationally. Its website features classical music news, features and listening guides. I ...

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

& Great Southern FM. Below is a table showing the broadcast frequencies on which these services can be received. Localised television stations available in Albany include

GWN7 Seven Regional WA is an Australian Television broadcasting in Australia, television network serving all of Western Australia outside metropolitan Perth. It launched on 10 March 1967 as BTW-3 in Bunbury, Western Australia, Bunbury, and became k ...

(now Seven Regional), WIN Television Western Australia,

West Digital Television West Digital Television is an Australian digital television network jointly owned by Seven West Media and WIN Corporation. It broadcasts free-to-air on a number of digital terrestrial transmitters in regional and remote areas of Western Aust ...

SBS Television The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from tax revenue. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World Movies, SBS ...

and ABC Television Western Australia. Seven (formerly GWN7) broadcasts a half-hour local news program for regional WA, ''Seven News Regional WA'' (formerly ''GWN7 News''), at 5:30pm on weeknights with a district newsroom covering Albany and surrounding areas based in the city. Below is a table showing the full suite of digital television services available in Albany. These services are broadcast from Mount Clarence and cover the majority of the geographic area with some areas requiring a signal to be received from the Southern Agricultural site at Mount Barker. Both these transmission sites employ vertical polarity. Furthermore, a number of residents rely on receiving these services via satellite using the Viewer Access Satellite Television system. Local newspapers are the '' Albany Advertiser'' (established 1888) and ''The Extra'' (owned by Seven West Media Limited, publishers of

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

). Local radio station GOLD MX is owned by local independent broadcaster BARRICADES MEDIA.

Sport

Two of Albany's major sports facilities are Collingwood Park Stadium in Collingwood Park and Centennial Oval in Centennial Park. Collingwood Park is home to North Albany Football Club while Centennial Oval is home to Royals Football Club. Albany Leisure and Aquatic Centre is the home of Albany Basketball Association. The Rainbow Coast Raiders of the State Basketball League played at the Albany Sports Centre (33 Barker Road) between 1989 and 1999. 33 Barker Road later became the home of Albany Indoor Beach Volleyball. Albany Sea Dragons are the regions only

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

club who partake in inter-regional WA competitions run by the NRL WA.

Education

There are currently several primary schools, eight high schools and one university campus in the Albany area. GSGgym

Primary schools

* Albany Primary School * Flinders Park Primary * Mount Lockyer Primary * Parklands School * Spencer Park Primary * Yakamia Primary * Woodbury Boston Primary School * OneSchool Global (Albany) * Little Grove Primary School * St Joseph's College * Great Southern Grammar * Bethel Christian School * Australian Christian College Southlands * John Calvin School

High schools

* Albany Senior High School 7–12 * Albany Secondary Education Support Centre 7–13 * Australian Christian College - Southlands K-12 * North Albany Senior High School 7–12 *

Great Southern Grammar Great Southern Grammar is an Independent School, independent non-denominational Christian Mixed-sex education, co-educational Primary school, primary and Secondary school#Australia, secondary Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding school, ...

K-12 * St Joseph's College K-12 * Bethel Christian School K-12 * John Calvin School K-10 * OneSchool Global - Albany 3-12

Universities

* A campus of the

* Some courses delivered by

Curtin University Curtin University (previously Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology) is an Australian public university, public research university based in Bentley, Western Australia, Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. ...

TAFE

* South Regional TAFE

Localities

Notable residents

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

*
City of Albany

Albany - Official Tourism Site

Albany Entertainment Centre

Albany Historical Society (Inc)

National Anzac Centre

Wikisource

* {{Authority control 1826 establishments in Australia Former exclaves Port cities in Western Australia Populated places established in 1826