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Denham, Western Australia
Denham is the administrative town for the Shire of Shark Bay, Western Australia. Located on the western coast of the Peron Peninsula, 831 kilometres (516 mi) north of Perth, Denham is the westernmost publicly accessible town in Australia, and is named in honour of Captain Henry Mangles Denham of the Royal Navy, who charted Shark Bay in 1858.[citation needed]
Denham is the gateway for tourists who come to see the dolphins at Monkey Mia, which is 23 kilometres (14 mi) north-east of the town. The town also has an attractive beach and a jetty popular with those interested in fishing and boating.[citation needed] At the 2016 census, Denham had a population of 754.
The Denham region was the second area of the Australian mainland to be sighted by European sailors, after the western coast of Cape York Peninsula.[citation needed]
The indigenous inhabitants of Denham and the wider Shark Bay area are the Malgana people, whose occupation of the area dates back at least 30,000 years. Their traditional country is about 28,800 square kilometres in extent. In 2018, the Malgana people were formally recognised as native title holders of the area by the Federal Court of Australia, following a 20-year-long legal process.
On 25 October 1616, Dutch captain Dirk Hartog and crew, in the ship Eendracht, came unexpectedly upon "various islands, which were, however, found uninhabited."[quote needs citation] He made landfall on what is now now called Dirk Hartog Island off the coast of Shark Bay. Hartog spent three days examining the coast and nearby islands. He called the area Eendrachtsland after his ship, but the name has not endured. Finding little of interest, Hartog continued sailing northwards to about 22° South, charting the previously unknown coast.
In 1697, Dutch captain Willem de Vlamingh, in charge of a small rescue fleet looking for possible survivors from the lost ship Ridderschap van Holland, landed on Dirk Hartog Island. Later European explorers included William Dampier, and, in the early 19th century, the Frenchmen Freycinet, Hamelin and Baudin.
The coast remained uninhabited by Europeans until the middle of the 19th century. The first pearls found in Western Australia were discovered in Shark Bay in 1854 by a Lieutenant Helpman, the so-called "Admiral of the Swan River Navy", who found the dense beds of pearl-shell oysters that are abundant there.[citation needed]
On 26 January 1952, 59 residents signed a petition to open an airport in the town, as it faced no coastal shipping services, no mail, and no medical services in the town. It was considered “the loneliest town in Australia”. Despite all of this, the town fell short of the 100 resident requirement for a proper airport to be in use, however in 1953, the Minister of Transport and Shipping promised the construction for one. In 1954, the town finally received its first airport, named the Shark Bay Aerodrome. It serviced south-bound Douglas DC-3 flights by MacRobertson Miller Airlines every Sunday. The earlier name to that of Denham was Freshwater Camp when it was a pearling camp.
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Denham, Western Australia
Denham is the administrative town for the Shire of Shark Bay, Western Australia. Located on the western coast of the Peron Peninsula, 831 kilometres (516 mi) north of Perth, Denham is the westernmost publicly accessible town in Australia, and is named in honour of Captain Henry Mangles Denham of the Royal Navy, who charted Shark Bay in 1858.[citation needed]
Denham is the gateway for tourists who come to see the dolphins at Monkey Mia, which is 23 kilometres (14 mi) north-east of the town. The town also has an attractive beach and a jetty popular with those interested in fishing and boating.[citation needed] At the 2016 census, Denham had a population of 754.
The Denham region was the second area of the Australian mainland to be sighted by European sailors, after the western coast of Cape York Peninsula.[citation needed]
The indigenous inhabitants of Denham and the wider Shark Bay area are the Malgana people, whose occupation of the area dates back at least 30,000 years. Their traditional country is about 28,800 square kilometres in extent. In 2018, the Malgana people were formally recognised as native title holders of the area by the Federal Court of Australia, following a 20-year-long legal process.
On 25 October 1616, Dutch captain Dirk Hartog and crew, in the ship Eendracht, came unexpectedly upon "various islands, which were, however, found uninhabited."[quote needs citation] He made landfall on what is now now called Dirk Hartog Island off the coast of Shark Bay. Hartog spent three days examining the coast and nearby islands. He called the area Eendrachtsland after his ship, but the name has not endured. Finding little of interest, Hartog continued sailing northwards to about 22° South, charting the previously unknown coast.
In 1697, Dutch captain Willem de Vlamingh, in charge of a small rescue fleet looking for possible survivors from the lost ship Ridderschap van Holland, landed on Dirk Hartog Island. Later European explorers included William Dampier, and, in the early 19th century, the Frenchmen Freycinet, Hamelin and Baudin.
The coast remained uninhabited by Europeans until the middle of the 19th century. The first pearls found in Western Australia were discovered in Shark Bay in 1854 by a Lieutenant Helpman, the so-called "Admiral of the Swan River Navy", who found the dense beds of pearl-shell oysters that are abundant there.[citation needed]
On 26 January 1952, 59 residents signed a petition to open an airport in the town, as it faced no coastal shipping services, no mail, and no medical services in the town. It was considered “the loneliest town in Australia”. Despite all of this, the town fell short of the 100 resident requirement for a proper airport to be in use, however in 1953, the Minister of Transport and Shipping promised the construction for one. In 1954, the town finally received its first airport, named the Shark Bay Aerodrome. It serviced south-bound Douglas DC-3 flights by MacRobertson Miller Airlines every Sunday. The earlier name to that of Denham was Freshwater Camp when it was a pearling camp.