Wellesley Islands

The Wellesley Islands is a group of islands off the coast of Far North Queensland, Australia, in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

The Wellesley Islands is a group of islands off the coast of Far North Queensland, Australia, in the Gulf of Carpentaria. It is a locality within the Shire of Mornington local government area. In the 2016 census, the Wellesley Islands had a population of 1,136 people.

An Australian Aboriginal language, Lardil (also known as Gununa, Ladil), is spoken on Mornington Island and on the Northern Wellesley Islands, all of which are within the local government boundaries of the Mornington Shire.The islands were charted by Matthew Flinders on 6 December 1802 (although he probably did not name them until sometime between 1803 and 1810, when he was in French captivity on Mauritius Island; he devoted that time to working on his charts and journals). Flinders probably named the island group in honour of Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley: As the Governor of Madras and Governor-General of Bengal from 1797 to 1805, Wellesley tried to secure Flinders' release. He definitely named the largest island in the group Mornington Island after Wellesley (who was also the second Earl of Mornington.Mornington Island State School opened on 28 January 1975.In the 2016 census, Wellesley Islands had a population of 1,136 people.