Maitland, South Australia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids MaitlandSouth Australia |
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Robert St in Maitland
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 Maitland
Location in Yorke Peninsula Council
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| Established | 1872 | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 5573 | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation | 160 m (525 ft) | ||||||||||||||
| Location |
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| LGA(s) | Yorke Peninsula Council | ||||||||||||||
| Region | Yorke and Mid North | ||||||||||||||
| County | Fergusson | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Narungga | ||||||||||||||
| Federal Division(s) | Grey | ||||||||||||||
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| Footnotes | Adjoining localities | ||||||||||||||
Maitland (/ˈmeɪtlənd/) is a town on the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. By road, it is 168 km (104 mi) west of Adelaide, 164 km (102 mi) south of Port Pirie and 46 km (29 mi) north of Minlaton. The town lies in the traditional lands of the Narungga, whose name for the district is Maggiwarda.
Contents
History
The town was established on the Yorke Peninsula, the traditional lands of the Narungga, an Aboriginal Australian people, who had lived there for thousands of years. Their name for the peninsula is Guuranda, and the Maitland district was Maggiwarda.
The town was named in 1872 after Lady Jean Maitland (died 1766), the wife of the 2nd Lord of Kilkerran, Sir James Fergusson (1688-1759) and great-great grandmother of the governor of South Australia at that time, Sir James Fergusson (1832–1907).
In October 1884 the Adelaide Observer noted:
Maitland in situated about twenty-three miles from Moonta, on Yorke's Peninsula, and is about equidistant between the two Gulfs. The town stands about 490 feet above the sea, and is surrounded by some of the richest soil on the Peninsula. The township is only about nine years old, and has made steady progress, and bids fair to be the next largest town to Moonta on the Peninsula.
Agriculture was developed on lands formerly used as hunting grounds for the Narungga people, and they were employed in agricultural work from where they were moved to at Point Pearce (Burgiyana) mission.
Location and description
Maitland is within a short driving distance of coastal towns on either side, with Port Victoria to the west and Ardrossan to the east, each within 25 km. It has a grain receiving depot operated by AWB Limited, serviced only by road.
Climate
Maitland experiences a hot-summer mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa), Trewartha: Csal); with hot, dry summers; mild to warm, relatively dry springs and autumns; and mild, winters with moderate precipitation.
| Climate data for Maitland, South Australia, Australia (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1879–present); 185 m AMSL | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 46.3 (115.3) |
43.5 (110.3) |
40.1 (104.2) |
37.0 (98.6) |
29.0 (84.2) |
25.0 (77.0) |
21.8 (71.2) |
28.0 (82.4) |
33.8 (92.8) |
37.9 (100.2) |
42.4 (108.3) |
46.0 (114.8) |
46.3 (115.3) |
| Mean maximum °C (°F) | 38.3 (100.9) |
36.5 (97.7) |
33.3 (91.9) |
29.1 (84.4) |
22.9 (73.2) |
18.1 (64.6) |
16.9 (62.4) |
19.5 (67.1) |
24.4 (75.9) |
29.0 (84.2) |
33.9 (93.0) |
36.0 (96.8) |
38.3 (100.9) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 30.3 (86.5) |
29.3 (84.7) |
26.6 (79.9) |
23.1 (73.6) |
18.8 (65.8) |
15.6 (60.1) |
14.8 (58.6) |
16.1 (61.0) |
19.1 (66.4) |
22.5 (72.5) |
26.2 (79.2) |
28.0 (82.4) |
22.5 (72.6) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 23.3 (73.9) |
22.8 (73.0) |
20.7 (69.3) |
18.0 (64.4) |
14.7 (58.5) |
11.9 (53.4) |
11.1 (52.0) |
11.9 (53.4) |
14.1 (57.4) |
16.5 (61.7) |
19.6 (67.3) |
21.2 (70.2) |
17.2 (62.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 16.3 (61.3) |
16.2 (61.2) |
14.8 (58.6) |
12.8 (55.0) |
10.5 (50.9) |
8.1 (46.6) |
7.4 (45.3) |
7.6 (45.7) |
9.1 (48.4) |
10.5 (50.9) |
13.0 (55.4) |
14.4 (57.9) |
11.7 (53.1) |
| Mean minimum °C (°F) | 11.5 (52.7) |
11.7 (53.1) |
10.7 (51.3) |
9.0 (48.2) |
6.8 (44.2) |
4.7 (40.5) |
4.4 (39.9) |
4.5 (40.1) |
5.5 (41.9) |
6.4 (43.5) |
8.1 (46.6) |
9.8 (49.6) |
4.4 (39.9) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 7.7 (45.9) |
8.9 (48.0) |
7.2 (45.0) |
4.4 (39.9) |
4.0 (39.2) |
0.0 (32.0) |
0.0 (32.0) |
1.1 (34.0) |
1.1 (34.0) |
1.8 (35.2) |
4.4 (39.9) |
6.5 (43.7) |
0.0 (32.0) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 15.9 (0.63) |
21.0 (0.83) |
23.1 (0.91) |
38.4 (1.51) |
56.9 (2.24) |
68.5 (2.70) |
62.4 (2.46) |
58.3 (2.30) |
46.6 (1.83) |
36.7 (1.44) |
25.9 (1.02) |
28.8 (1.13) |
482.5 (19) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 3.1 | 2.6 | 3.6 | 5.3 | 8.8 | 11.3 | 11.7 | 10.7 | 8.8 | 5.8 | 4.8 | 4.1 | 80.6 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 44.0 | 49.0 | 51.0 | 54.0 | 66.0 | 73.5 | 73.5 | 67.0 | 60.5 | 51.5 | 47.5 | 45.5 | 56.9 |
| Average dew point °C (°F) | 10.1 (50.2) |
11.3 (52.3) |
9.6 (49.3) |
9.1 (48.4) |
8.8 (47.8) |
7.7 (45.9) |
7.0 (44.6) |
6.6 (43.9) |
7.3 (45.1) |
6.7 (44.1) |
8.1 (46.6) |
8.7 (47.7) |
8.4 (47.2) |
| Source 1: Australian Bureau of Meteorology (1991–2020 normals) | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Australian Bureau of Meteorology (1879–present extremes) | |||||||||||||
Media
Maitland was home to a newspaper called the Maitland Watch (22 December 1911 – 26 June 1969). In 1969, the newspaper merged with Yorketown's the Pioneer (1898–1969) to become the short-lived Yorke Peninsula News Pictorial (3 July 1969 – 28 May 1970), which was then incorporated into the Yorke Peninsula Country Times from June 1970.
