Harvey, Western Australia

Harvey Western Australia
Stirling Cottage, just north of Harvey
Harvey
Coordinates	33°05′S 115°53′E / 33.08°S 115.89°E / -33.08; 115.89Coordinates: 33°05′S 115°53′E / 33.08°S 115.89°E / -33.08; 115.89
Population	2,606 (2006 census)
Established	1880s
Postcode(s)	6220
Elevation	247 m (810 ft)
Location	141 km (88 mi) from Perth 46 km (29 mi) from Bunbury 28 km (17 mi) from Waroona 54 km (34 mi) from Pinjarra 62 km (39 mi) from Collie
LGA(s)	Shire of Harvey
State electorate(s)	Murray-Wellington
Federal Division(s)	Forrest
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 23.0 °C 73 °F 11.4 °C 53 °F 963.7 mm 37.9 in

Harvey is a town located in the South West of Western Australia along the South Western Highway, 140 km south of Perth, between Pinjarra and Bunbury. It has a population of 2,606.

Harvey's name is derived from the nearby Harvey River, named by Governor James Stirling in 1829, soon after the river's discovery by explorers Dr Alexander Collie and Lieutenant William Preston RN.

Although not positively known, the river is most likely named after Rear Admiral Sir John Harvey RN. In 1817–18, Harvey was Commander in Chief of the West Indies Station - Stirling served under him while in charge of the HMS Brazen, and Harvey recommended him for promotion. Stirling named a number of Western Australian features after his former navy colleagues.

According to Dr James Battye, Stirling selected 12,800 acres (52 km²) known as Wellington Location 50A and established the Harvey River Settlement. The only improvement he made to the land, as far as is known, was the erection of a hunting lodge near the present town of Harvey, known as "The Hut", featuring a shingled roof, jarrah walls and hexagonal paving blocks. In the 1880s, this hut became the childhood home of children's author May Gibbs MBE. Stirling called the area around the town of Harvey "Korijekup", using the Noongar Aboriginal name meaning "place of the red-tailed black cockatoo".

The area was settled slowly over the remainder of the 1800s. During the 1860s, Australind, originally the site of a failed grandiose settlement scheme, was the centre of the Harvey District community. In 1863, a road was gazetted from Pinjarra to Brunswick Junction, which was built by convicts between 1864 and 1876 - it was called the "foothills route" and later became the South Western Highway.