Derby, Western Australia

Derby Western Australia
Local legend claims this boab tree near Derby was used as a prison, hence the name the "Boab Prison Tree"[1][2]
Low tide at the Derby wharf on King Sound
Derby
Coordinates	17°18′40″S 123°38′06″E
Population	3,009 (UCL 2021)[3]
Established	1883[4]
Postcode(s)	6728
Elevation	8 m (26 ft)
Area	162.4 km^2 (62.7 sq mi)
Location	220 km (137 mi) from Broome 903 km (561 mi) from Kununurra 2,197 km (1,365 mi) from Perth 1,533 km (953 mi) from Darwin
LGA(s)	Shire of Derby-West Kimberley
State electorate(s)	Kimberley
Federal division(s)	Durack
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 33.9 °C 93 °F 21.7 °C 71 °F 622.4 mm 24.5 in

Derby (/ˈdɜːrbi/ DUR-bee^[5][6]) is a town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. At the 2016 census, Derby had a population of 3,325 with 47.2% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent.^[7] Along with Broome and Kununurra, it is one of only three towns in the Kimberley to have a population over 2,000. Located on King Sound, Derby has the highest tides in Australia, with the differential between low and high tide reaching 11.8 metres (39 ft).^[8]

History

Derby falls within Nyiginka country.^[9]

The town was founded in 1883 and named after Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby, the British secretary of state for the colonies.

During World War II, Derby was bombed by Japanese planes because of an air base and jetty that was used by Australian forces. More recently, refugees were housed at Royal Australian Air Force Base Curtin, however the detention centre was closed in 2014.^[10]

Derby was famous in the 1920s as the terminus of the first scheduled aviation service in Australia, West Australian Airways Ltd. Their service began with their first flight on 5 December 1921, which crashed, near Geraldton. At one time the Perth to Derby service was the world's longest passenger airline route.^[11]

Derby Hospital treated many aboriginal patients with Hansen's Disease, then known as leprosy. The Derby Leprosarium operated from 1936 to 1986,^[12] staffed by nuns led by Sr Mary Gertrude.

In 1968 the town had a population of approximately 1,500 people, many employed at the meatworks. A A$900,000 beef road from Glenroy Station to Derby was completed the same year to assist with the development of beef processing. A A$2 million steel and concrete jetty was built in 1965 to provide adequate port facilities for the shipment of live cattle.^[13] The West Kimberley Regional Prison, whose architecture won several awards, was opened in 2012.

Local boy Jimmy Taylor disappeared from Derby on 29 August 1974 after walking to a local shop.^[14] In 2014, a coroner determined that he had died, but was unable to determine when or how, recording an open verdict.^[15] Convicted child killer James Ryan O'Neill was living in Derby at the time of Taylor's disappearance but he has denied any involvement.^[16] In 2023, a $1 million reward was offered to anyone who provided information as to what had happened to Taylor.^[17]

Population

According to the 2016 census of population, there were 3,325 people in Derby.

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 47.2% of the population.
• 77.4% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was New Zealand at 3.4%.
• 72.5% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Kriol at 6.2%.
• The most common responses for religion were No Religion 27.7% and Catholic 26.8%.^[7]

Culture

Derby is rich in cultural diversity, with the local Aboriginal Australian culture playing a large part in the community. The Mowanjum Festival is held annually at Mowanjum Community, located 10 km (6.2 mi) south east of Derby, and features a showcase of traditional art.

The Boab Festival (named after the boab tree) is a fortnight-long festival that includes traditional events such as mud football, watermelon seed spitting, the Mardi Gras and other festivities.^[18]

Historically, Derby has played a major role in the Australian Royal Flying Doctor Service for the Kimberley region.

The Kimberley School of the Air is located in Derby. The school provides education to isolated Primary-aged children living on cattle stations and in remote Aboriginal communities and outstations scattered throughout the 423,517 square kilometres (163,521 sq mi) Kimberley region.^[19]

Derby has two schools located in the town, Holy Rosary School Derby and Derby District High School. Derby District High School follows Chris Sarra's vision of "Stronger Smarter", which aims to raise the expectations of the school as a community.

Wharfinger's House Museum tells the story of the aviation history of the town as well as the history of the port. The Norval Gallery showcases the work of artist Mark Norval as well as a broad selection of Indigenous artwork from across the Kimberley.

Economy

There is employment in the pastoral and mining industries, as well as administration and tourism. There is oil at Blina, diamond mining at Ellendale. Granite is quarried from the Wunaamin-Miliwundi Ranges and lead and zinc from Cadjebut and an iron ore mine at Koolan Island. A major mineral sands mining project is being developed at Thunderbird, 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of Derby. In 1997 the Derby wharf, which was closed in the 1980s, was re-opened for barging operations for the export of lead and zinc.

Tourism bolsters the local economy between the months of May and September.

The Derby Leprosarium on the outskirts of the town was one of two in Western Australia that helped to contain an epidemic of leprosy from the 1930s to the 1960s.^[20]

Notable people

• Vinka Barunga, who grew up in Mowanjum and Derby, graduated from the University of Western Australia with an MBBS in 2016, and is the first Worrora doctor and the first Aboriginal doctor in Derby.^{[21][22][23][24]}
• Bebe Backhouse, a Melbourne-based Bardi Jawi author and creative industry specialist, grew up in Derby.^[25]
• Keanu Pinder, basketball player who was born and raised in Derby^[26]

Climate

Derby has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh), with a short, highly variable wet season lasting from late December to March. The wet season features hot, humid days and nights and erratic downpours. In some years there may be no wet season at all, as occurred in 1923–24 and in 1951–52, but in other years, such as 1999–2000, more than the average annual rainfall has fallen in a month. Derby can be affected by severe tropical cyclones. The dry season lasts from April to November and features very little rain, warm to hot daytime temperatures, and mild to cool nights. Extremes of temperature range from 47.8 °C (118.0 °F) on 17 November 1968 to 5.0 °C (41.0 °F) on 21 July 1965, while the wettest month on record was January 1917, when 803.6 millimetres (31.64 in) of rain fell, including the wettest day, 7 January 1917, when 418.3 millimetres (16.47 in) was recorded.

Climate data for Derby Post Office (1883 to 1997)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	45.2 (113.4)	43.8 (110.8)	42.8 (109.0)	42.1 (107.8)	39.4 (102.9)	36.2 (97.2)	36.7 (98.1)	39.5 (103.1)	42.8 (109.0)	43.4 (110.1)	47.8 (118.0)	45.7 (114.3)	47.8 (118.0)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	35.0 (95.0)	34.7 (94.5)	35.3 (95.5)	35.2 (95.4)	32.4 (90.3)	30.1 (86.2)	29.6 (85.3)	31.7 (89.1)	34.2 (93.6)	35.7 (96.3)	36.5 (97.7)	36.2 (97.2)	33.9 (93.0)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	25.9 (78.6)	25.6 (78.1)	25.2 (77.4)	22.7 (72.9)	19.2 (66.6)	16.2 (61.2)	14.7 (58.5)	16.2 (61.2)	19.4 (66.9)	23.0 (73.4)	25.5 (77.9)	26.4 (79.5)	21.7 (71.1)
Record low °C (°F)	17.1 (62.8)	19.4 (66.9)	18.8 (65.8)	13.9 (57.0)	9.6 (49.3)	5.8 (42.4)	5.0 (41.0)	8.0 (46.4)	12.4 (54.3)	14.0 (57.2)	18.8 (65.8)	20.3 (68.5)	6.0 (42.8)
Average rainfall mm (inches)	181.7 (7.15)	157.3 (6.19)	108.9 (4.29)	31.0 (1.22)	22.1 (0.87)	10.4 (0.41)	5.9 (0.23)	1.3 (0.05)	0.3 (0.01)	2.5 (0.10)	16.2 (0.64)	83.1 (3.27)	620.7 (24.43)
Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm)	11.8	10.6	7.9	2.4	1.4	1.0	0.5	0.1	0.1	0.5	1.9	6.5	44.7
Average relative humidity (%)	67	69	63	52	45	44	40	39	43	51	55	61	52
Source: Bureau of Meteorology[27]

Climate data for Derby Aero (1991 to 2020)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	44.0 (111.2)	43.8 (110.8)	41.9 (107.4)	41.5 (106.7)	40.3 (104.5)	36.6 (97.9)	36.2 (97.2)	39.3 (102.7)	42.1 (107.8)	44.8 (112.6)	44.6 (112.3)	45.6 (114.1)	45.6 (114.1)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	35.2 (95.4)	34.6 (94.3)	35.4 (95.7)	35.8 (96.4)	33.0 (91.4)	30.7 (87.3)	30.9 (87.6)	32.7 (90.9)	35.6 (96.1)	37.3 (99.1)	38.2 (100.8)	37.2 (99.0)	34.7 (94.5)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	25.7 (78.3)	25.5 (77.9)	25.1 (77.2)	22.8 (73.0)	18.8 (65.8)	15.8 (60.4)	14.7 (58.5)	15.8 (60.4)	19.3 (66.7)	23.2 (73.8)	25.6 (78.1)	26.3 (79.3)	21.6 (70.9)
Record low °C (°F)	19.2 (66.6)	19.2 (66.6)	19.3 (66.7)	13.7 (56.7)	9.1 (48.4)	6.1 (43.0)	6.0 (42.8)	6.1 (43.0)	9.1 (48.4)	11.7 (53.1)	19.0 (66.2)	18.5 (65.3)	6.0 (42.8)
Average rainfall mm (inches)	224.9 (8.85)	219.9 (8.66)	149.8 (5.90)	20.8 (0.82)	22.7 (0.89)	6.8 (0.27)	9.6 (0.38)	1.6 (0.06)	0.7 (0.03)	2.8 (0.11)	15.2 (0.60)	129.8 (5.11)	804.6 (31.68)
Average rainy days	14.8	13.2	11.1	3.3	1.9	1.0	0.8	0.2	0.2	1.3	2.3	10.0	60.1
Average relative humidity (%)	62	67	59	46	35	33	30	27	34	40	42	56	44
Source: Bureau of Meteorology[28]

Sport and recreation

Derby hosts a lawn bowling club and Derby Golf Club.^[29]

References

1. "Derby Baobab prison tree a myth, say researchers". ABC News. 23 March 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
2. Vincent Serventy, Nature Walkabout (A. H. and A. W. Reed, 1967)
3. Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Derby (urban centre and locality)". Australian Census 2021. 
4. "Notes from Roebuck Bay". The Daily News. Perth, WA. 12 July 1883. p. 3. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
5. Macquarie Dictionary, Fourth Edition (2005). Melbourne, The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd. ISBN 1-876429-14-3
6. Groundwater, Ben (29 March 2023). "Eight Australian places we keep pronouncing incorrectly". Traveller. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
7. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Derby ( Urban Centre)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
8. Derby tides at derbytourism.com.au Archived 18 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 7 January 2007
9. "Map of Indigenous Australia". Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. 10 January 2021. Archived from the original on 4 October 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
10. Collins, Ben (19 June 2015). "Derby refugee recession after Curtin detention centre closure". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
11. Goodall, Geoff (15 July 2019). "West Australia Airways 1921-1936 Australia's first airline". Retrieved 22 January 2022.
12. "Derby Leprosarium". Find & Connect. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
13. "Government Members Mining and National Development Committees Fact Finding Tour July 21st-28th 1968" (PDF). Commonwealth of Australia. 1968. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
14. Mills, Vanessa (28 November 2011). "Police urged to reopen case on Derby boy who vanished in 1974". ABC Local. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
15. "Coroner records open finding on disappearance of 12-year-old Jimmy Taylor more than 40 years ago". ABC News. 23 December 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
16. "Jimmy Taylor inquest: Child killer James O'Neill denies abducting 12-year-old Derby boy". ABC News. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
17. Czachor, Emily Mae (31 May 2023). "Australia police offer $1 million reward in case of boy who vanished half a century ago". CBS News. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
18. "Home :: Derby Boab Festival 2021".
19. "Kimberley School of the Air". Derby, WA. Archived from the original on 3 January 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
20. "Derby Visitor Centre, Western Australia – Beyond the Boabs". Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
21. Hunjan, Raveen (8 July 2019). "Meet the Aboriginal doctor turning tragedy to triumph". Insight (SBS TV). Retrieved 10 November 2020.
22. Fitness, Blackfit (15 June 2020). "Culture today with Dr. Vinka Barunga". Blackfit Fitness. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
23. Gray, Lorna (18 November 2016). "Vinka Barunga is first Aboriginal doctor in her town". Now To Love. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
24. "Home at the heart of graduate's journey". The University of Western Australia. Medical School. 1 June 2017. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
25. Backhouse, Bebe (19 March 2022). "Blak & Bright". Blak & Bright (Australian literary festival).
26. O'Donoghue, Craig (4 November 2023). "Perth Wildcats star Keanu Pinder opens up on growing up in Derby ahead of NBL's Indigenous Round". The West Australian. Archived from the original on 5 November 2023.
27. Climate statistics for Australian locations – Derby Post Office
28. Climate statistics for Australian locations – Derby Aero
29. "Derby Golf Course » Shire of Derby / West Kimberley".

Further reading

• Derby's history at a glance: A chronology of Derby history, 1688-1992. Boab Babbler, 26 February 1993, p. 20