Wonnerup, Western Australia

Wonnerup
Western Australia

The last passenger train to Busselton passes through Wonnerup, January 1987.
Wonnerup
Coordinates 33°37′S 115°24′E / 33.62°S 115.4°E / -33.62; 115.4Coordinates: 33°37′S 115°24′E / 33.62°S 115.4°E / -33.62; 115.4
Population 374 (2006 census)[1]
Established 1856
Postcode(s) 6280
Elevation 94 m (308 ft)
Location
LGA(s) City of Busselton
State electorate(s) Vasse
Federal Division(s) Forrest[2]

The townsite of Wonnerup is located 219 kilometres (136 mi) south of Perth and 10 kilometres (6 mi) east of Busselton. It was gazetted a townsite in 1856,[3] deriving its name from the nearby Wonnerup Inlet.

The name is Aboriginal, and has been shown on maps of the region since 1839. The meaning of the name is "place of the woman's digging or fighting stick"; the Noongar word for fighting stick is wonna, while the suffix -up denotes place of. The wonna was made from the peppermint tree, Agonis flexuosa, a coastal native found only in the south-west, and was a common trade item of the Noongar people.[4]

The Ballaarat Tramline, Western Australia's first railway and railway bridge, was constructed in 1871 in the locality of Lockville, within Wonnerup. Wonnerup was later the junction of the Bunbury to Busselton railway line and the Nannup Branch Railway.

Ballaarat locomotive in the sand at Wonnerup 27 March 1921
Bridge at Wonnerup, Western Australia

See also

References

  1. ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Wonnerup (State Suburb)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
  2. ↑ "Australian Electoral Commission". AEC localities. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  3. ↑ Western Australian Land Information Authority. "History of names – W". Retrieved 2007-06-08.
  4. ↑ "Water Authority - Aboriginal social water requirements for the Southern Blackwood Plateau" (PDF). 2006. Retrieved 2008-09-14.

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