Geraldton
city in Western Australia
Geraldton (/ˈd͡ʒɛɹəltən/, JER-əl-tən; Wajarri: Jambinu, Wilunyu: Jambinbirri) is a coastal city in the Mid West region of Western Australia, 424 kilometres (263 mi) north of the state capital, Perth.
As of the 2021 census, Geraldton had an urban population of 38,595. Geraldton is the seat of government for the City of Greater Geraldton, which also incorporates the town of Mullewa, Walkaway and large rural areas previously forming the shires of Greenough and Mullewa.
The Port of Geraldton is a major west coast seaport. Geraldton is an important service and logistics centre for regional mining, fishing, wheat, sheep and tourism industries.
Toponymy
The city is believed to have been named in honour of Captain Charles Fitzgerald, Governor of Western Australia from 1848 to 1855. The name Geraldton was likely chosen by the Surveyor General of Western Australia, John Septimus Roe.
Fitzgerald had been closely involved in the events leading up to Geraldton's foundation. In December 1848, shortly after his arrival at the then economically stagnant Swan River Colony, he landed at Champion Bay to view pastoral land and mineral resources in and around what is now the Geraldton area. There, he joined a party led by Augustus Gregory that travelled on foot to inspect a lead deposit at Galena on the Murchison River recently described by Gregory and others.
“Geraldton” enters the record as city in Western Australia. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Geraldton, city and Western can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Geraldton” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Geraldton, city and Western provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q605267. VIAF identifies the subject as 151775127. The Library of Congress control number is n82059280. Authority coordinates are -28.779, 114.614. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2021, 1848 and 1855.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Geraldton”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Geraldton primary sources, Geraldton archive and Geraldton research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Geraldton”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Geraldton” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.