MANDURAH

resort town, southwestern Western Australia. It lies at the entrance to Peel Inlet, 40 miles (65 km) south of Perth. Founded in 1895, it lies on the original land tract granted in 1829 to Thomas Peel, a cousin of the British prime minister Robert Peel, for a grandiose but unsuccessful colonization venture. The name Mandurah comes from the Aboriginal term mandjar, meaning trading, watering, or meeting place. Serving a district of dairying, poultry farming, and fishing, Mandurah now functions mainly as a resort for the Perth metropolitan area, to which it is linked by road. Pop. (1991 prelim.) 26,841.