Dattening, Western Australia

Town in Wheatbelt region of Western Australia

32°31′59″S 116°53′35″E / 32.533°S 116.893°E / -32.533; 116.893Established1908Postcode(s)6308Elevation320 m (1,050 ft)Location

178 km (111 mi) ESE of Perth
20 km (12 mi) W of Pingelly

LGA(s)Shire of PingellyState electorate(s)Wagin Federal division(s)O'Connor

Dattening is a small town in the Shire of Pingelly, between Boddington and Pingelly in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia.

During the 1890s a farmer named Norris Taylor sunk a well in the locality and the area was initially known as Taylor's Well.^[1]

By 1906 the local progress association petitioned for a townsite to be surveyed and blocks were subdivided in 1907. Blocks were sold in 1908 with 20 "working men's blocks" being put on the market with prices between £8 and £14.^[2] The name, Dattening, was suggested as an alternative to Taylor's Well after this name had been rejected because it duplicated the name of a town in South Australia. The Morambine Road Board suggested the name Dattening, being the Aboriginal name of a spring in the vicinity of the well. The meaning of the name is unknown. The town was gazetted in 1908.^[3]^[4] The town residents petitioned for the name of the town to be changed to Taylor's Well in 1925,^[5] and 1929 but were unsuccessful on both occasions.

References

^ "Taylors Well Notes". The Pingelly Leader. Vol. XVII, no. 825. Western Australia. 11 October 1923. p. 3. Retrieved 4 January 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^ "Working Men's Blocks". The Sunday Times. Perth: National Library of Australia. 12 April 1908. p. 3. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
^ "History of country town names – D". Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
^ "Dattening News". The Pingelly Leader. Vol. XVII, no. 861. Western Australia. 26 June 1924. p. 3. Retrieved 4 January 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^ "Pingelly Road Board". The Pingelly Leader. Vol. XVIII, no. 897. Western Australia. 2 April 1925. p. 3. Retrieved 4 January 2024 – via National Library of Australia.