Quinns Rocks, Western Australia

Infobox Australian Place | type = suburb
name = Quinns Rocks
city = Perth
state = wa


caption = Quinns Beach looking south
lga = City of Wanneroo
postcode = 6030
est =
pop = 7,991 (2006)
area =
propval =
stategov = Mindarie
fedgov = Pearce
near-nw =
near-n = Jindalee
near-ne = Butler
near-w =
near-e = Merriwa
near-sw =
near-s = Mindarie
near-se = Clarkson
dist1 = 38 | dir1 = NNW | location1= Perthcoord|-31.671|115.698|type:city(7991)_region:AU-WA_scale:30000|format=dms|display=title

Quinns Rocks is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. It is located within the City of Wanneroo.

History

1867–1930

Quinns Rocks takes its name from the offshore reef first noted during a coastline traverse by Assistant Surveyor James Cowle in 1867. Cowle was continuing a survey begun by Robert Quin who had reached a spot about 4 kilometres south-east of the rocks in 1866. Although spelt with a double 'n', the rocks are thought to have been named after Quin, who emigrated to Western Australia in 1863 and was appointed as an Assistant Surveyor on his arrival. He occupied this position for 22 years, carrying out most of his surveys in the Gingin-Moore River area. He died in July 1886.The general area on the coast opposite the rocks was referred to as Quinns Rocks by the Wanneroo Road Board when they requested the survey of a road that led there in November 1925. Later the place also came to be called "Wanneroo Beach".

1930–1959

In 1930 the whole beachfront came under the control of the Wanneroo Road Board, which issued "boatshed and campsite permits" to holiday makers at a rental of $4.20 per annum. The first permanent residents appear to have been in 1942. During the 1950s an increasing number of shacks lined the ocean front. Leasing of the beachfront reserve was phased out towards the end of that decade and most shacks had been removed by August 1959.

1959 onwards

In 1958 Lot 223 was purchased and subdivided the following year. Four applications to build were approved in March 1959 and a major sale on 10 June saw nearly 300 blocks purchased. The subdivision was extended northwards in the early 1960s and Quinns Rocks was declared a townsite under the Local Government Act on 27 July 1962. Further extensions took place in 1964 and 1972. The locality encompassing this Local Government townsite, gazetted as "Quinns" in 1974 for future postal services, [Gazette WA | title = Naming of Localities in the Shire of Wanneroo | file = 242/73 | page = 1974:1206 | date = 5 April 1974] was changed to Quinns Rocks in 1977, [Gazette WA | title = Change of Name of Quinns Locality | file = 2984/64 | page = 1977:1121 | date = 22 April 1977] so as to coincide with the townsite name.

References