WYNYARD

town, northern Tasmania, Australia, at the mouth of the River Inglis on Bass Strait. Founded in 1841, it was made a municipality in 1856 and named Table Cape for a high promontory (380 feet ) to the south. It was gazetted a town in 1861, when its name was changed to honour Major General Edward Wynyard, commander in chief in 1850 of British forces in Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania). Located on a rail line and the Bass Highway to Launceston (80 miles southeast) and near the Waratah Highway link to the west coast, Wynyard is a service centre for a dairy, vegetable, and mixed-farming district. It has a vegetable cannery and cheese, butter, and bacon factories. A small fishing fleet operates from its port. Pop. (1986 prelim.) 4,705.