# Maitland, South Australia

Maitland (/ˈmeɪtlənd/) is a town on the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. By road, it is 168 km (104 mi) west of Adelaide, 164 km (102 mi) south of Port Pirie and 46 km (29 mi) north of Minlaton. The town lies in the traditional lands of the Narungga, whose name for the district is Maggiwarda.

## History

The town was established on the Yorke Peninsula, the traditional lands of the Narungga, an Aboriginal Australian people, who had lived there for thousands of years. Their name for the peninsula is Guuranda, and the Maitland district was Maggiwarda.
The town was named in 1872 after Lady Jean Maitland (died 1766), the wife of the 2nd Lord of Kilkerran, Sir James Fergusson (1688-1759) and great-great grandmother of the governor of South Australia at that time, Sir James Fergusson (1832–1907).
In October 1884 the Adelaide Observer noted:
   Maitland in situated about twenty-three miles from Moonta, on Yorke's Peninsula, and is about equidistant between the two Gulfs. The town stands about 490 feet above the sea, and is surrounded by some of the richest soil on the Peninsula. The township is only about nine years old, and has made steady progress, and bids fair to be the next largest town to Moonta on the Peninsula.
Agriculture was developed on lands formerly used as hunting grounds for the Narungga people, and they were employed in agricultural work from where they were moved to at Point Pearce (Burgiyana) mission.

## Location and description

Maitland is within a short driving distance of coastal towns on either side, with Port Victoria to the west and Ardrossan to the east, each within 25 km. It has a grain receiving depot operated by AWB Limited, serviced only by road.

## Climate

Maitland has a hot-summer mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa), with very warm, dry summers and mild, wetter winters. Temperatures vary throughout the year, with average maxima ranging from 29.3 °C (84.7 °F) in January to 14.3 °C (57.7 °F) in July, and average minima fluctuating between 15.9 °C (60.6 °F) in February and 7.0 °C (44.6 °F) in July. Annual precipitation is moderately low, averaging 502.5 mm (19.78 in), with a maximum in winter. There are 109.8 precipitation days, 95.8 clear days and 133.4 cloudy days annually. Extreme temperatures have ranged from 46.3 °C (115.3 °F) on 24 January 2019 to 0.0 °C (32.0 °F) on 29 June 1958 and 9 July 1959.
Climate data for Maitland (34º22'12"S, 137º40'12"E, 185 m AMSL) (1879-2024 normals, extremes 1957-2024) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 46.3 (115.3) | 43.5 (110.3) | 40.1 (104.2) | 37.0 (98.6) | 29.0 (84.2) | 25.0 (77.0) | 21.8 (71.2) | 28.0 (82.4) | 33.8 (92.8) | 37.9 (100.2) | 42.4 (108.3) | 46.0 (114.8) | 46.3 (115.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 29.3 (84.7) | 28.5 (83.3) | 25.9 (78.6) | 22.4 (72.3) | 18.2 (64.8) | 15.5 (59.9) | 14.3 (57.7) | 15.5 (59.9) | 18.1 (64.6) | 21.6 (70.9) | 24.9 (76.8) | 26.4 (79.5) | 21.7 (71.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 15.8 (60.4) | 15.9 (60.6) | 14.5 (58.1) | 12.6 (54.7) | 10.0 (50.0) | 7.9 (46.2) | 7.0 (44.6) | 7.2 (45.0) | 8.5 (47.3) | 10.1 (50.2) | 12.3 (54.1) | 13.8 (56.8) | 11.3 (52.3) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 7.7 (45.9) | 8.9 (48.0) | 7.2 (45.0) | 4.4 (39.9) | 4.0 (39.2) | 0.0 (32.0) | 0.0 (32.0) | 1.1 (34.0) | 1.1 (34.0) | 1.8 (35.2) | 4.4 (39.9) | 6.5 (43.7) | 0.0 (32.0) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 18.0 (0.71) | 21.9 (0.86) | 20.6 (0.81) | 42.3 (1.67) | 62.4 (2.46) | 68.1 (2.68) | 65.3 (2.57) | 61.5 (2.42) | 49.1 (1.93) | 41.1 (1.62) | 28.4 (1.12) | 23.9 (0.94) | 502.5 (19.78) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 3.9 | 3.6 | 4.6 | 8.3 | 12.1 | 14.2 | 15.3 | 14.6 | 11.7 | 9.7 | 6.5 | 5.3 | 109.8 |
| Average afternoon relative humidity (%) | 35 | 39 | 42 | 48 | 59 | 64 | 66 | 62 | 56 | 46 | 40 | 39 | 50 |
| Average dew point °C (°F) | 9.4 (48.9) | 10.4 (50.7) | 9.6 (49.3) | 8.5 (47.3) | 8.1 (46.6) | 7.3 (45.1) | 6.7 (44.1) | 6.5 (43.7) | 6.9 (44.4) | 6.6 (43.9) | 7.1 (44.8) | 8.3 (46.9) | 7.9 (46.2) |
| Source: Bureau of Meteorology (1879-2024 normals, extremes 1957-2024) ||||||||||||||

## Media

Maitland was home to a newspaper called the Maitland Watch (22 December 1911 – 26 June 1969). In 1969, the newspaper merged with Yorketown's the Pioneer (1898–1969) to become the short-lived Yorke Peninsula News Pictorial (3 July 1969 – 28 May 1970), which was then incorporated into the Yorke Peninsula Country Times from June 1970.