Pinjarra is a town in the Peel region 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 ...

along the

South Western Highway South Western Highway is a highway in the South West region of Western Australia connecting Perth's southeast with Walpole. It is a part of the Highway 1 network for most of its length. It is about long. Route description Perth to Bunbury ...

, from the state capital,

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 ...

and south-east of the coastal city of

Mandurah Mandurah ( ) is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, situated approximately south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's second most populous city, with a population of 90,306. Mandurah's central business dis ...

. Its

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 ...

is the

Shire of Murray The Shire of Murray is a local government area of Western Australia. It has an area of and is located in the Peel Region about south of the Perth CBD. The Shire extends across the Peel Inlet and the Swan Coastal Plain into the Darling ...

. At the 2016 census, Pinjarra had a population of 4910. Pinjarra is an area rich in history, and is the home town of a former State Premier - Sir

Ross McLarty Sir Duncan Ross McLarty, (17 March 1891 – 22 December 1962) was an Australian politician and the 17th Premier of Western Australia. Early life McLarty was born in Pinjarra, Western Australia, the youngest of seven children of Edward McLarty ...

. It is near the site of the

Pinjarra massacre The Pinjarra massacre, also known as the Battle of Pinjarra, occurred on 28 October 1834 in Pinjarra, Western Australia when a group of Binjareb Noongar people were attacked by a detachment of 25 soldiers, police, and settlers led by Governor ...

, where between 14 and 80

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 ...

people were killed by British colonists in 1834.

History

The name was often shown spelt "Pinjarrup" on early maps, while the accepted spelling for many years was "Pinjarrah". There are conflicting theories regarding the meaning of the name, and it is usually said to mean "place of a swamp", as a corruption of the Aboriginal word "beenjarrup". However, Pinjarra is more likely to have been named after the

Pindjarup The Bindjareb, Binjareb, Pindjarup or Pinjareb are an Indigenous Noongar people that occupy part of the South West of Western Australia. Name It is not clear if ''Pindjarup'' is the historically correct ethnonym for the tribe. After their di ...

people who frequented the area. Pinjarra is one of the earliest European settlements to occur in Western Australia; one of the first settlers in the area was

Thomas Peel Thomas Peel (1793 – 22 December 1865)Alexandra Hasluck,, ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Vol. 2, MUP, 1967, pp 320-322. retrieved 2009-11-04 organised and led a consortium of the first British settlers to Western Australia. He was a ...

, who established a settlement at the mouth of the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray; Ngarrindjeri language, Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta language, Yorta Yorta: ''Dhungala'' or ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is List of rivers of Australia, Aust ...

in 1830. In 1831, land was reserved for a townsite near a ford over the river. By 1834, word had spread about the rich loamy soils and pastures, bringing more Europeans to the area. In 1834, at the insistence of Thomas Peel, a group was organised and led by Governor James Stirling to do something about the Aboriginal people; this group attacked the village consisting of over 20

mia-mia A mia-mia is a temporary shelter made of bark, branches, leaves and grass used by some Indigenous Australians. The word is also used in Australian English Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of variety (linguis ...

s just after dawn. They approached from both sides of the river, which forced the people into the river where they caught the victims, mostly women and children, in a crossfire. Many bodies were left to float downstream. Official reports referred to it as a battle, and it was only over 150 years later that it was recognised as one of many colonial massacres in Australia. Surveys were carried out in 1836 and land allocated to settlers in 1837. By early 1898, the population of the town was 400, 300 males and 100 females. A British child migration scheme run by Kingsley Fairbridge established a farm school in the area in the early 1900s. Hundreds of orphaned children were educated at

Fairbridge Farm Fairbridge, Western Australia is a former farm school near Pinjarra in Southwest Western Australia. It is now used predominantly for education, school and community camps and tourism purposes. It is also home to Fairbridge College, a curriculu ...

between 1913 and 1981. Fairbridge Chapel was built at Pinjarra, in 1924 to

Herbert Baker Sir Herbert Baker (9 June 1862 – 4 February 1946) was an English architect remembered as the dominant force in South African architecture for two decades, and a major designer of some of New Delhi's most notable government structures. He was ...

's design. The author Kenneth (Seaforth) McKenzie grew up in Pinjarra, and parts of his experiences as a child living near the Murray River are found in his first novel '' The Young Desire It''. In 1974, an alumina refinery was established by Alcoa Australia Ltd, causing a boost in the population of Pinjarra and nearby

. Pinjarra is also the site of the world's largest bauxite mine.

Facilities

Pinjarra contains Pinjarra Primary School, Pinjarra Senior High School, and St Joseph's Catholic Primary School. Pinjarra is the operating base for the Hotham Valley Tourist Railway. Peel Zoo, known for its bird wildlife, is situated near Pinjarra. Pinjarra contains one shopping centre, Pinjarra Junction, which opened in 2008.

Future and growth

Because of its close proximity to

and recent infrastructure and amenities investments, Pinjarra's population is likely to increase significantly through new subdivisions surrounding the original town-site. Armadale Railway Line also planning to extend till Byford in first phase and till Pinjarra in second phase.

Sport

Pinjarra is home to both

Thoroughbred Horse Racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and Horse industry, industry involving the Horse racing, racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter know ...

and

Harness Racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australia ...

at Pinjarra Park and Pinjarra Paceway, respectively, under the authority of Racing and Wagering Western Australia. The feature race events held at these venues are the Pinjarra Cups, held in April and March of each year at the respective venues. Pinjarra and the Peel Region is also one of the major centres for WA Racing, with a number of trainers and breeders established in the region.

Transport

Pinjarra station is located on the

South Western Railway South Western Railway Limited, trading as South Western Railway (SWR), is the British state-owned train operating company that took over the services of the South Western Railway (2017–2025), operator of the same name from FirstGroup and MTR ...

and served by

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 ...

's twice daily ''

Australind Australind is a town in Western Australia, located 12 km north-east of Bunbury, Western Australia, Bunbury's central business district. Its Local government areas of Western Australia, local government area is the Shire of Harvey. At the 20 ...

'' service from

to Bunbury. In September 2012 a

Transperth Transperth is the public transport system for Perth and surrounding areas in Western Australia. It is managed by the Public Transport Authority (PTA), a state government organisation, and consists of train, bus and ferry services. Bus operat ...

bus service was inaugurated between Murray Hospital in southern Pinjarra and

Mandurah railway station Mandurah railway station is the terminus of the Mandurah railway line and a bus station on the Transperth network, serving the satellite city of Mandurah, Western Australia. History The bus station opened prior to the railway station, on 1 ...

, via Mandurah Forum on Pinjarra Road, and Pinjarra town centre. Pinjarra is also on the

between Armadale and Bunbury, something which has both helped and hindered the town. Traffic through the town during holiday seasons has been known to stretch for kilometres north or south. As a result, there have been calls for the construction of a road bypass of the town.

Bus

* 600 Pinjarra to

Mandurah Station Mandurah railway station is the terminus of the Mandurah railway line and a bus station on the Transperth network, serving the satellite city of Mandurah, Western Australia. History The bus station opened prior to the railway station, on 1 ...

– serves McKay Street, McLarty Road, George Street and Pinjarra Road * 605 Pinjarra to

– serves McKay Street, McLarty Road, George Street, Pinjarra Road, Sutton Street, Naturaliste Drive, Hamlet Pass, Sunset Circle and Country Road

Gallery

File:Murray River (Pinjarra Bridge).jpg, Murray River at Pinjarra Bridge c.1900-1910 File:Pinjarra 002.jpg, Edenvale, historic cottage File:Pinjarra Post Office 01.jpg, Old post office File:St John's Church, Pinjarra, September 2019 03.jpg, St John's Church, fifth-oldest in the state

Notable people

* Harley Bennell – AFL footballer *

John Butler John Butler may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John "Picayune" Butler (died 1864), American banjo performer; may have been used by a number of performers * John Butler (artist) (1890–1976), American artist * John Butler (author) (born 1937), ...

– musician * Peter Dawson – cyclist * Sabrina Frederick – AFLW footballer *

iOTA Iota (; uppercase Ι, lowercase ι; ) is the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet. It was derived from the Phoenician letter Yodh. Letters that arose from this letter include the Latin I and J, the Cyrillic І (І, і), Yi (Ї, ї), and J ...

– entertainer * Kamdyn McIntosh –

AFL AFL may refer to: Education * Angel Foundation for Learning, a Canadian Roman Catholic charity * Ankara Science High School, a high school in Ankara, Turkey, natively referred to as ''Ankara Fen Liesi'' * Assessment for learning Military * ...

footballer * Sir Ross McLarty – politician

References

External links

Shire of Murray
{{authority control Populated places established in 1837 Towns in Western Australia Mining towns in Western Australia Shire of Murray 1837 establishments in Australia