Queenscliff is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

of northern

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, in the state 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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Queenscliff is located 16 kilometres north-east of the

Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or ...

, 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 ...

Northern Beaches Council The Northern Beaches Council is a local government areas of New South Wales, local government area located in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The council was formed on 12 May 2016 after the a ...

and is part of the

Northern Beaches The Northern Beaches is a region within Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, near the Pacific coast. This area extends south to the entrance of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), west to Middle Harbour and north to the ...

region.

History

Queenscliff was named in honour of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

. The area was popular with holiday-makers from the early 1900s to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, who stayed in holiday shacks on the headland. Queenscliff is famous amongst the Australian surf beaches for its "heavy" waves (''bomboras'') that break out at sea. The stories recounting how Dave Jackman dared to ride one in 1961 gave rise to

big wave surfing Big wave surfing is a discipline within surfing in which surfers paddle into, or are towed into, waves that are at least 20 feet (6.2 m) high, on surf boards known as "guns" or towboards. The size of the board needed to successfully surf these w ...

in Australia.

Population

In the 2021 Census, there were 3,407 people resident in Queenscliff. 58.7% of people were born in Australia. The most common other countries of birth were England 11.2% and New Zealand 2.9%. 80.9% of people only spoke English at home. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 56.0%, Catholic 20.1%, and Anglican 9.8%.

Geography

Queenscliff Beach is situated at the northern end of a long stretch of beach at Manly that includes North Steyne Beach and

Manly Beach Manly Beach is a beach situated among the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Australia. From north to south, the three main sections are Queenscliff, North Steyne and South Steyne. Etymology The beach was named by Captain Arthur Phillip for the i ...

. Manly Lagoon was originally called Curl Curl Lagoon and the name Curl Curl appears to be the original Aboriginal name for the Queenscliff and

Manly Vale Manly Vale is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 17 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council, in the Northern Beaches region ...

area. Manly Creek was originally Curl Curl Creek and Queenscliff Headland was originally Curl Curl Headland.

Aboriginal People

Pittwater and the Northern Beaches area was formerly known as Guringai country, the land of the Garigal or Caregal people. The Aboriginal Heritage Office issued a report in 2015 titled “Filling a void. A Review of the Historical context for the use of the word ‘Guringai’. The report states “It is unfortunate that the term Guringai has become widely known in northern Sydney and it is understandable that people wish to use it as it is convenient to have a single word to cover the language, tribe/nation, identity and culture of a region. However, it is based on a nineteenth century fiction and the AHO would argue that the use of the term Guringai or any of its various spellings such as Kuringai is not warranted given its origin and previous use.” In reference to the clan name Garigal or Caregal the report goes on to say “In the absence of a convenient single term for the whole of northern Sydney, the AHO would recommend the use of clan names for local areas, with the understanding that these too have their limitations and problems, and the acceptance of the truth of the lack of certainty as a feature of how Aboriginal history and heritage is portrayed here.”

References

External links

* Suburbs of Sydney Beaches of New South Wales Manly, New South Wales Northern Beaches Council {{Sydney-geo-stub