Dudley Peninsula

Dudley Peninsula South Australia
Cape Willoughby Lightstation. Cape Willoughby, Kangaroo Island
Dudley Peninsula
Coordinates	35°47′50″S 137°55′21″E / 35.79722°S 137.92250°E / -35.79722; 137.92250Coordinates: 35°47′50″S 137°55′21″E / 35.79722°S 137.92250°E / -35.79722; 137.92250
Population	595 (2011 census)
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 18.1 °C 65 °F 12.8 °C 55 °F 537.3 mm 21.2 in
Footnotes	Climate data Coordinates

Dudley Peninsula (known as Presquila Gallissoniere and as the MacDonnell Peninsula from 1857 to 1986) is the peninsula forming the eastern end of Kangaroo Island in the Australian state of South Australia. It was occupied by Aboriginal Australians as recently as 3,100 years BP but was found to be unoccupied by the first European explorers to visit it in the early 19th century. It was first settled by Europeans as early as the 1830s. As of 2011, it had a population of 595 people.

Dudley Peninsula is the eastern end of Kangaroo Island. It is connected to the main body of the island via an isthmus which itself forms the southern side of Pelican Lagoon. The peninsula is bounded to the west by Pelican Lagoon, American River and Eastern Cove all within Nepean Bay, to the north-east by Backstairs Passage from Kangaroo Head in the west to Cape Willoughby in the east and to the south by the body of water known in Australia as the Southern Ocean and by international authorities as the Great Australian Bight.

The first reported European name for the Dudley Peninsula is "Presquila Gallissoniere" which was given by the Baudin Expedition. In 1857, it was named the "MacDonnell Peninsula" by William Bloomfield Douglas after Richard Graves MacDonnell, the sixth governor of South Australia. In 1986, it was renamed as the "Dudley Peninsula" to be "in keeping with local usage."

The archaeological record indicates that Kangaroo Island was occupied by Aboriginal Australians as early as 16,110 years BP. European explorers visiting in the early 19th century found no evidence of human occupation as evident by lack of smoke from fires which was common along the Australian coastline at the time, overgrown vegetation that had not been managed by "firestick farming" and animals such as seals and kangaroos "appeared unused to human presence". Aboriginal sites have been identified by the South Australian Museum and others on the Dudley Peninsula. As of 1999, radiocarbon dating of material recovered via archaeological excavation from a site called Pigs Waterhole on the peninsula suggest aboriginal presence in the eastern end of Kangaroo Island as recently as 3,100 years BP.