Wynyard

Wynyard wi-nyuhd) is a rural town located on the North West coast of Tasmania, Australia.

Wynyard wi-nyuhd) is a rural town located on the North West coast of Tasmania, Australia. Wynyard is situated 17 kilometres (11 mi) west of Burnie. As of the 2016 census, Wynyard has an estimated urban population of 5,168 and a total greater area population of 6,001. The town is a regional hub servicing the surrounding rural areas, the adjacent Burnie Wynyard Airport provides commercial flights to Melbourne and other districts. The main council offices for the Waratah-Wynyard local government area are located in Wynyard.

Three ex-convict Alexander brothers established a settlement, Alexandria, on the west, or Table Cape, side of the Inglis River in the 1850s. They bought large areas of farmland on Table Cape and built several small ships for produce and timber trading. Shortly afterwards, Wynyard town, on the east side of the river, was laid out, but lagged well behind Alexandria which had a church and several shops including a blacksmith and general store. After the Inglis River was bridged in 1861, Alexandria began to fade and Wynyard, with better wharfing, became the district's centre of commerce.

Wynyard was probably named after Major-General Edward Buckley Wynyard in the early 1850s. Table Cape Post Office opened around 1856 and was renamed Wynyard in 1882.Wynyard handled more shipping than Burnie in the late nineteenth century and its population reached 500 by 1900. However, in the 20th century Burnie flourished and become the dominant regional and industrial hub for the region.