Stanley is a town on the north-west coast of

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

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 ...

. It is the second-last major township on the north-west coast when one travels west from Devonport, the larger township in the Circular Head municipality being Smithton. According to the , Stanley had a population of 595.

History

In 1825 the Van Diemen's Land Company was granted land in north-western Van Diemen's Land, including the Stanley area. Employees of the company from England settled in the area in October 1826. The site (originally called Circular Head) was named after Lord Stanley, the British Secretary of State for War and the Colonies in the 1830s and 1840s, who later had three terms of office as British Prime Minister. A port opened in 1827 and the first school opened in 1841. There was a short-lived bay whaling station in operation on the foreshore in the 1830s. Stanley officially became a town in 1842 and by 1843 more than 8,000 acres had been sold or leased to almost 70 people. The Post Office opened on 1 July 1845 and was known as Circular Head post office until 1882. In 1880 the first coach service between Stanley and

Burnie Burnie ( ; Aboriginal Tasmanians#North, pirinilaplu/palawa kani: ''Pataway'') is a port city located on the North West Tasmania, north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is the fourth largest city on the island, located approximately north ...

was established. In 1936 a submarine telephone cable from Apollo Bay to Stanley provided the first telephone to

from the mainland.

The town today

Today Stanley is a tourist destination and the main fishing port on the northwest coast of Tasmania. The most distinctive landmark in Stanley is ''Munatrik'', commonly called The Nut, an old extinct

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

and Flinders sighted it on their circumnavigation of

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 ...

(now called Tasmania) in 1798 and named it ''Circular Head''. It has steep sides and rises to 143 metres with a flat top. It is possible to walk to the top of The Nut via a steep track or a chairlift. Tourists regularly travel to Highfield (the original home of the Van Diemen's Land company in Circular head, northwest of the township) to view the picturesque northern beaches with The Nut in the background. The port on the southern side of The Nut is a regularly used fishing spot.

Notable people associated with Stanley

* John Lee Archer – the "Father of Tasmanian architecture". Archer became a magistrate in the Circular Head area in 1838 until his death in 1852. * Henry Hellyer – Chief Surveyor, explorer, and architectHellyer, Henry (1790–1832)
Australian Dictionary of Biography * Enid Lyons – wife of Joseph Lyons; also a politician; first woman elected to the Australian Parliament; first woman to serve in the

Cabinet of Australia The Cabinet of Australia, also known as the Federal Cabinet, is the chief decision-making body of the Australian government. The Cabinet is selected by the prime minister and is composed of senior government ministers who administer the exec ...

* Joseph Lyons – the tenth

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...

* Bill Mollison – founder of the permaculture movement * Jim Willis – Australian botanist

Climate

Stanley has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: Cfb) that is bordering closely with the

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 ...

(

: Csb). Rainfall in the summer months receives more than the classification as the warm-summer Mediterranean, and the total rainfall exceeds 900 mm. Stanley's summers are moderated by its shoreline position, whereas the rainy winters have moderate lows. The highest temperature of 32.8 °C (91.0 °F) was recorded on 14 March 1967, and the lowest temperature of −2.1 °C (28.2 °F) was recorded on 7 August 1963.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1826 establishments in Australia Populated places established in 1826 Localities of Circular Head Council Towns in Tasmania Tourist attractions in Tasmania Bass Strait Whaling stations in Australia Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby