YORKE PENINSULA PLACE NAMES
Sat 5 Mar 1921, The Pioneer (Yorketown, SA : 1898 - 1954) Trove
HISTORY OF THEIR ORIGIN. No. I—The Work of Matthew Flinders.
The object of these articles is not to attempt to set down a history of the settlement and progress of Yorke Peninsula, but to place on record a narrative of its geographical nomenclature as complete as the information at our disposal will allow. Of course, the two subjects, history and nomenclature, are inseparable, and research in either must yield results common to both. We are hopeful that one effect of the publication of this series of articles will be to awaken interest in the nomenclature of the Peninsula among readers of the Pioneer generally, and especially among the old residents, who may be able to furnish missing name-place derivations or to amplify others now presented. Only by such co-operation can anything like a complete schedule be recorded, and the value of it especially in time to come, will be obvious to everyone. The place names of the Peninsula may be classified in several groups. The influence of that great navigator, Matthew Flinders, is detected along the whole stretch of coastline washed by the waters of Spencer's Gulf. St. Vincent's Gulf, and Investigator's Strait. A considerable interval separated the nomenclatural "stuffing" of the big boot, and this process was shared in by pioneer settlers, by the Governors of the State, particularly the late Sir James Ferguson, and by those who showed some regard for the mellifluous native language. A One British flavor has always characterised Yorke Peninsula geographical christenings since the beginning of settlement, when enemy place names came under the ban of the Nomenclature Committee during the war not one within the whole County of Fergusson had to be changed, Let us give the first attention to Flinders.
THE PENINSULA.
Yorke Peninsula was christened by Flinders on March 30, 1802, after the Right Honorable Charles Phillip Yorke, one of the first Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty who honored the voyage of the Investigator with their patronage. Yorke had a useful naval career, and was present at the bombardment of Algiers. Afterwards he was engaged actively in the suppression of piracy in the Mediterranean. He sat in the House of Commons for several years and succeeded his uncle as fourth Earl of Hardwicke. The fourth noble Earl was Postmaster-General in Lord Derby's Ministry in 1852, became an Admiral on the retired list in 1868, and died in 1873. Ernest Scott, author of "Terre Napoleon," says:'—" From the time when the Investigator passed the head of the Bight, the whole of the coastline traversed was virginal to geographical science. With a clean sheet of paper. Flinders began to chart a new stretch of the earth's outline, and to link up the undiscovered with the known portions of the great southern continent. Our interest in his work is intensified by the reflection that of all the coasts of the habitable earth, this was the last important portion still to be discovered." Priority of discovery has invariably carried with it the right of geographical christening, but every South Australian who has learned anything at all about the history of his State knows of the audacious attempt to rob Flinders of his privilege which followed the voyage of the French ships, Le Geographe and Le Naturaliste. Thus on Freycinet's atlas published in 1808 Yorke Peninsula was styled Presqu lie Cambaceres, after Jean Jacques Regis Cambaceres, Duke of Parma, who was raised to distinction by the French Revolution. He was a special favorite of the Emperor Napoleon, who made him President of the Chamber of Peers. Cambaceres was banished on the second restoration of Louis XVIII, but was afterwards allowed to return to Paris, where he died in 1824.
THE BIG WATERS.
Investigator's Strait bears the name of Flinders' ship, a sloop of 334 tons, originally called H.M.S. Xenophon. He circumnavigated Australia for the first time in this vessel, which was condemned as unseaworthy in 1803. On the French map Investigator's Strait appears as Detroit de Lacepede, in honor of Count Bernard Germain Etienne de la Ville Lacepede, French naturalist, 1756—1825, who was a member of the Institute of France that was entrusted with the Baudin's preparation of instructions for voyage of discovery Spencer's Gulf was named by Flinders on March 20, 1802. " in honor of the respectable nobleman who presided at the Board of Admiralty when the voyage was planned and ship put into commission”. This was the Right Honor-George John, second Earl Spencer. His sister was the beautiful Duchess of Devonshire (Georgiana). He became Viscount Althorp by courtesy on the elevation of his father to the earldom in 1765. He removed from the House of Commons to the House of Lords in 1783, when he succeeded his father. Earl Spencer went to Vienna as Ambassador Extraordinary, and upon his return in 1794 was appointed first Lord of the Admiralty, an office he held for six years during a glorious period of England's naval history. Spencer is famous for his rehabilitation of Althorp Library, founded by an ancestor and said to be the finest private library in Europe. He died at Althorp in 1834. Cape Spencer has a similar derivation. If Baudin's names bad endured Spencer's Gulf would now be known as Golfe Bonaparte. St. Vincent's Gulf was christened by Flinders on March 30, 1802, " in honor of the noble Admiral who presided at the Board of Admiralty when I sailed from England, and who continued to the voyage that countenance of which Earl Spencer had set the example." (Right Honorable John. Earl of St. Vincent). Flinders dedicated his journal to this and other First Lords of the Admiralty. St. Vincent was in active service as Admiral in command of the Channel Fleet in 1800, when passports were issued by the Admiralty to the French discovery ships Geographe and Naturaliste. Baudin's name for St. Vincent's Gulf was Golfe Josephine, " in honor of our august Empress." The author of " Terre Napoleon " says :— " It was a presty piece of courtiership, but unfortunately Napoleon's nuptial arrangements were in a state of flux, and when the trenchant 'Quarterly Reviewer' of 1810 came to discuss the work the place of Josephine was occupied by Marie Louise. The reviewer saucily suggested 'Bonaparte has since changed it for Louisa's Gulf.' " St. Vincent's Gulf, west of Glenelg, was known to the aborigines as Wongayerlo. meaning literally "overwhelming water in the west ; the place where the sun disappears."
FOUR TROUBRIDGES.
Troubridge Hill. Troubridge Point Troubridge Shoal, and Troubridge Lighthouse, perpetuate the name of Admiral Sir Thomas Troubridge, a distingushed naval commander, who, when Flinders' ship was fitted out, was one of the Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom. Sir Thomas Troubridge fought in H.M.S. Culloden under Sir John Jervis (afterwards Earl of St. Vincent) in the battle off Cape St. Vincent on Feb. 14, 1797. Flinders was in New South Wales when this famous naval engagement occurred, and he bestowed the Troubridge names five years later. The Troubridge light was first exhibited in 1856
MORE 1802 CHRISTENINGS.
Corny Point was so named by Flinders because of its curious formation, and the navigator had in mind two gentlemen at the Admiralty when he christened Point Riley and Point Pearce. At the latter place a large town was surveyed in 1840, but not sold, although the location of the aboriginal mission station there has brought it into prominence. Hardwick Bay was bestowed as a compliment to the Earl of that name, who was formerly the Right Honorable C. P. Yorke. Flinders found the bay one of the safest and best in the gulf, with an abundance of wood and water on the shore. The Althorp Isles were so christened after Earl Spencer's eldest son and heir. This completes the most important share that Matthew Flinders took in the nomenclature of Yorke Peninsula. The next article will deal with the coming of the pastoral pioneers. Cricket reports are next issue.
YORKE PENINSULA PLACE NAMES
Sat 12 Mar 1921, The Pioneer (Yorketown, SA : 1898 - 1954) Trove
HISTORY OF THEIR ORIGIN. No. 2—Something about the Pioneers.
For years after the foundation of South Australia in 1836 Yorke Peninsula was comparatively neglected by the pioneer pathfinders. Mr. A. T. Saunders, whose interesting hobby for years has been to dredge history from early newspaper files, told the writer that up to' the fifties the references to the Peninsula are singularly scanty and unimportant. This, no doubt, was due to its almost insular situation, and to a belief originally entertained that the country consisted largely of a waterless scrub. In 1839 a body known as the Adelaide Survey Association spied out the localities known as Port Victoria and Port Vincent. The latter (originally Port St-Vincent) was named by Robert Cock in May of the year mentioned from the fact of its situation on the western shores of St. Vincent's Gulf. A special survey of 15,000 acres was applied for. The party that visited Port Victoria at the same period undertook the journey in the schooner Victoria, hence the name- James H. Hughes surveyed both these places, but the venture was not a success. In January,1840, he published the following advertisement:—"Mr. Hughes informs the shareholders of the above survey (Port Victoria), that he has discovered a reservoir of excellent fresh water only 7ft below the surface one and a half miles from the head of the inner bay. The supply is sufficient for a large town, and the cartage to Victoria is easy. Melbourne Street, North Adelaide, December 31, 1839."
EARLY PASTORAL DAYS.
The most interesting light on the early pastoral occupation of Southern Yorke Peninsula is furnished by the reminiscences of Thomas Giles (hence Giles's Point), published in 1887. He says that all the country between Cape Jervis and Mount Remarkable was stocked before stations were formed on Yorke Peninsula. Then he refers to the failure of the Vincent and Victoria special surveys, and adds that the country was not taken up until 1846. In that year Charles Parrington, one of Colonel Light's men, was sent by his employer, Alfred Weaver, of South Road, near Adelaide, to inspect the country on Southern Yorke Peninsula. Miss Weaver, a daughter of Alfred Weaver, is now living at Young St., Parkside, a suburb of Adelaide, and informed the writer that in 1846 her father was running sheep at Port Elliot. He did not like the gradual encroachment of new settlers, and therefore sent Pairington "to see what he could find up the Gulf.'' The latter is described as an exceptionally fearless man. He took out a run at Oyster Bay (named because of the abundance of oysters to be found there in the early days), and Mr. Weaver built a fine house oh his new country and settled on it with his family. The sheep suffered a lot from scab, and this pioneer remained on the Peninsula for only seven years. Weaver's Lagoon bears his name, and Miss Weaver has a fine painting of it in her house at Parkside. It was known only as the "Long Lagoon” In her childhood; Alfred Weaver died at the age of 89 years, and was interred at St. Mary's, South Road.
Some years ago the South Australian branch of the Royal Geographical Society published the reminiscences of Octavius Skipper, who said that in he went to Yorke Peninsula with Mr. E. Thornton to settle a dispute over the delivery of "a small sheep station" by Weaver to G. M. Stephen. Two stockmen (Baynall and Armstrong), who went over with Skipper and Thornton, were murdered by natives, being speared through the kidneys. The other two white men had a narrow escape from a similar fate. Blacks were about to attack them when they were scared stiff by Thornton's glasses. They immediately adjudged him to be a white devil and decamped without wasting a spear.
GEORGE PENTON.
Mr. Giles' narrative says that Mr. Weaver's enterprise was soon afterwards followed by pastoral activities on the part of John Bowden, of Chain of Ponds, who applied for the country adjoining where Yorketown, Edithburgh, and Coobowie now stand and of Messrs Coutts and Sharpies- In the next year Mr Giles took up leases about Minlaton (then Gum Flat) Curramulka for Mr. G. A. Anstey. "It was no easy matter, he says," getting sheep round there, as the scrub grew so close to the cliffs that in some places we had to wait for low water to drive the sheep. Mr Coutts lost nearly 2,000 by their drinking salt water when being driven round in summer" Mr Giles had to travel 100 miles—from the River Wakefield to Gum Flat— for a of fresh water for his sheep. Messrs. Anstey and Giles selected Mr. George Penton as their overseer, and his name is perpetuated in Penton Vale. His employer wrote of him:—" He was an excellent judge of sheep, and moreover a determined, resolute fellow, just the sort of man for a new country. He came out in the Rapid with Colonel Light in 1836, and was one of the Colonel's best men." Mr. Giles describes Mr. Penton's exciting encounters with the blacks. Later be managed the run known as Penton Vale, which Mr Giles bought from Mr. Bowden, and continued in the employ of the same firm all his life. He died in 1867, and was buried at West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide. A daughter, Edward Stonhouse, who with her husband, spent many years on the Peninsula, is now living at Malvern. She has an excellent enlarged portrait of her late father, and her husband was formerly one of Mr. Giles overseers. Mr. Giles wrote : It used to be pleasant to hear Penton spin yarns about olden times Colonel Light. No man could have had greater respect the memory of an old master than he had for the fine old Colonel- By the way, - Light was only 51 he died. Mr Giles' remains rest at Clayton Churchyard, Kenington.
FORMER PENINSULA RESIDENTS.
Mr. and Mrs. Edward Stonhouse were able to throw considerable light upon some of Yorke Peninsula's early nomenclature. For example, there is Lake Stonhouse. They said that Charlie Parrington discovered and named Lake Sunday from the fact that he encountered fresh water in the locality on a Sunday. Lake Monday owes its christening to its proximity to Lake Sunday. A son of the late Mr. Parrington is now living at Bull's Creek. Lake Fowler keeps green the memory of William Fowler, another pastoral pioneer, who ended his days at Yarraroo, near Kulpara. Wool Bay was the place where the Penton Vale wool was shipped. Originally there was a cutting, now enlarged to a drive, just wide enough to admit of a bale of wool being rolled down. That place is now known officially as Pickering, calling to mind the father of the well known John Pickering, ex-Comptroller of Railway Accounts. Mr. Stonhouse remarked that it was a mistake to say that Yorketown was known originally as Weaner's Flat. The latter place was so designated because it was an ideal weaning station when the locality was in pastoral occupation. The Yorketown Show Ground now occupies the identical spot. Lake Stonhouse must not lie confused with Stenhouse Bay, which is a tribute to the enterprise of Andrew Stenhouse, who opened up the gypsum claims in the locality in conjunction with Messrs. James Bell & Co. Mr. Stenhouse came from Dumbarton, Scotland. He was formerly sole proprietor of the Broken Hill Globe Timber Mills, and at the age of 81 years successfully underwent an operation for the amputation of a leg. Wattle Point was once marked by a fine growth of wattles, which have long since given place to a waste of sand, utterly contradictory to the choice of its nomenclature. Mount Rat— the puzzle nowadays is to find either the mount or the rodent—was so named because kangaroo rats were commonly found there in the early days. The natives called the little creature " Yelki." Mount Terrible marked the location of the habitation of a hutkeeper known as "Terrible Jack."
THE ROGERS FAMILY.
Mrs. Klem, of Corney Point, is another old resident who has made an interesting contribution to the nomenclature of the Peninsula. The Rogers family held a lot of country in the Hundred of Carribie and elsewhere, and several geographical place names perpetuate the cognomens of members of the family. Egan's Well embraces the maiden name of Mrs. Rogers, who was a daughter of a former keeper of the Adelaide Gaol. Point Deberg reminds one of John Thomas Deberg Rogers, a son of Thos. Win. Rogers. He was once in the South Australian Survey Department, and is now living in Western Australia. Bob's Well honors Win. Robert Rogers, a brother of T. W. Rogers, and Point Annie is after Aunie Egan, a neice of Mrs. T. W. Rogerf with whom she lived for some time. She lost an arm as the result of blood poisoning. Mrs Kleni says that Constance Bay is also traceable to the Rogers family. The Dairy in the Hundred of Carribie was so called because the same family made butter and cheese there, and sold the produce at good prices to those employed at the Wallaroo Mines. 'Mrs Klem also communicates the fact that Gellerttown, a suburb of Edithburgh was named after James Leon Gellert, grandfather of Leon Gellert, the Anzac poet. He was the first school teacher at Edithburgh, and owned the land cut up as Gellerttown, which is wrongly printed in the official list of villages and townships as Gillerttown, and now known as Gillerton. Ward's Crossing has a little history attached to it. The swamp which it traverses was very difficult for traffic to negotiate, and the late Hon. Ebenezer Ward, who once resided at Para Wurlie, was instrumental in getting the swamp metalled. His wife opened the new highway and christened it Ward's Crossing, which action hardly squares with the action of Mr. Ward, who unsuccessfully moved the following motion in the House of Assembly on October 9, 1872:—" That it is undesirable to continue the system of giving to townships and hundreds the names or surnames of ladies and gentlemen."That legislator's name afterwards got inside a hundred. Point Gilbert recalls the name of another early squatter in the late Mr. Joseph Gilbert, who held Tucock Cowie, Orrie Cowie, and other Stations, and is best known as the founder of famous Pewsy Vale Estate on the mainland. His daughter married Colonel John Adam Fergusson, brother of the Governor.
[The Rev. Robert Kelly, the first Methodist minister to reside in this district, has sent us a stamped envelope bearing the "Weaner's Flat" postmark. A photo block published in "The Pioneer" on August 29, 1930, shows a picture of Erichsen's store with the words "Weaner's Flat Store" printed on the sign board. These two facts alone point out that Yorketown was originally known as "Weaner's Flat."—Ed.] The next article will deal with the gubernatorial aspect of the Peninsula's nomenclature.
YORKE PENINSULA PLACE NAMES
Sat 19 Mar 1921, The Pioneer (Yorketown, SA : 1898 - 1954) Trove
HISTORY OF THEIR ORIGIN. No. 3—Viceregal Christenings.
The whole of Yorke Peninsula is comprised within County Fergusson which honors the name of the Right Honorable Sir James Fergusson, sixth baronet, Who was Governor of South Australia from 1869 to 1873. He had more to do with place-naming on the Peninsula than all our other vicegerents put together and made the duty quite a family affJir. Sir james was born in Edinburgh. After leaving South Australia he served for two years as Governor of New Zealand, and then followed a useful political career in England. He fought in the Crimea War, and was wounded in a wrist at the battle of Inkerman. Other high offices filled by Sir James Fergusson were the governorships of Bombay and Jamaica, and during the latter regime he lost his life in the great earthquake at Kingston in January, 1907. Edithburgh, which was laid out in 1869, perpetuates the name of Lady Edith Fergusson, wife of the Governor, who was a daughter of the Marquis of Dalhousie, a former Governor General of India. Blanche and Edith streets in the same township bear the names of Lady Fergusson’s daughters. The " Private Letters of the Marquess of Dalhousie," edited by J. G. A. Baird, form an interesting volume on the biographical shelves. In 1859 the Marquis was hopelessly broken in health, and, writing to Sir G. Couper with regard to the approaching marriage of his daughter Edith to Sir Jas. Fergusson, of Kilkerran, Scotland, he said:—"Our marriage must be got over somehow, even if in total privacy. I trust in God I may look for a happy result to the event. All else is gloom on which I can no longer look with hope, and but that it were sin, I could wish that, so far as I am concerned, it were ended, and that I were taken away from a world in which I no longer serve any purpose but to be a dog to others and a weariness to myself" The marriage was indeed a happy one until Lady Edith died at Glanville Hall, near Port Adelaide on October 28, 1871. By the way, the sandstone for the building of Glanville Hall was brought to Port Adelaide from Yorke Peninsula by Capt. John Hart, C.M.G. The remains of Lady Edith were interred at North Road Cemetery near Adelaide. The funeral sermons were preached in St. Paul's Church, Adelaide, where she played the organ and trained the choir.
MORE FAMILY NAMES.
The Fergusson family Bible yields much more which is of interest in Yorke Peninsula nomenclature. The Hundred of Dalrymple was named by Sir James in 1872. His Excellency was a son of Sir Charles Dalrymple-Fergusson. The former's brother, Charles, assumed the name of Dalrymple as representing his great grandfather, Sir David Dalrymple, Bart. (Lord Hailes). For three years he was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Freemasons in Scotland, and died suddenly from heart failure in 1917. The Hundred of Ramsay got its cognomen from the fact that Lady Edith Fergusson's noble father was a son of George Ramsay, ninth Earl of Dalhousie, a branch of the main line of Ramsays famous in Scottish history. Melville township and the Hundred of Melville form another link with the Fergussons- Among the private letters of the Marquis of Dalhousie the following appears: " They have elected me a Governor of the Bank of Scotland in room of my good did friend Lord Melville. The compliment pleases me. I like to be recollected at home among my own folk."
A DISTINGUISHED GENERAL.
Kilkerran was christened after Sir James Fergusson's estate in Ayrshire, Scotland. The root word "Kit" originally denoted an enclosure of some kind, and the rest of the name embodies that of St. Ciarran, the apostle of the Scots-Irish, and the founder of a monastic rule. (See Taylor's " Words and Places"). General Sir Charles Fergusson succeeded our late Governor in the barouetcy in 1907, and played a distinguished part in the Great War. It is recorded that he received a hearty welcome and an illuminated address from his tenantry at Kilkerran on his return, after having spent six years at the front. He was one of the few Generals who went right through the campaign, and after the armistice was appointed Governor of the occupied territory in Germany, with headquarters at Cologne. His younger brother James commanded H.M.S Thunderer in the Battle of Jutland. Governor Fergusson named Maitland in 1872 after the maiden name of a relative, Julia Maitland, daughter of the Earl of Lauderdale. The native appellation for the place is Madi waltu, meaning "white flint." Ardrossan is after the beautiful seaport of the same name in Ayrshire, Scotland. It contains the Gaelic roots "ard," a height' and " ros," a prominent rock or headland. Balgowan comes from Perthshire, Scotland. The Hundred of Cameron, and Lochiel within it, are two more names of Scottish origin which Sir James Fergusson bestowed, and that about completes his share in the geographical christening of this part of the State. Another link between the Fergusson's and Yorke Peninsula is the fact that Sir James's only surviving brother, Colonel John Adam Fergusson, married a daughter of the late Mr. Joseph Gilbert; who once occupied Tiicock Cowie and Orrie Cowie stations. No doubt Point Gilbert, near Port Moorowie, derived its name from the source indicated. [The conclusion of the Viceregal Christenings will be inserted next week, to be followed by the fourth article containing a miscellaneous list-of well-known inland and coastal towns on Yorke Peninsula.—Ed
To the Editor.
Sir,—In your series of articles on Yorke Peninsula place names Peesey Range has not been mentioned. To the early settlers this was known as the Pise Hut Range, and when one keeps in mind the correct pronunciation of "pise" the evolution of the name to its present form is easily understood. I am. Sir, etc.,
YORKE PENINSULA PLACE NAMES
Sat 2 Apr 1921, The Pioneer (Yorketown, SA : 1898 - 1954) Trove
HISTORY OP THEIR ORIGIN. No. 4—A Miscellaneous Group.
Our three previous articles on the above subject dealt with names bestowed by Matthew Flinders, others having a personal association with Governors of the State, and a series connected with the early pioneers. Of equal interest is a miscellaneous group of names which do not come under any of the headings mentioned. Yorketown is regarded as the capital of the Southern Peninsula, and its nomenclatural history is the same as the Peninsula itself. (See Article No. 1). An old resident vouches for the fact that - Mr. Beaumont built the back portion of the present building known as the Melville Hotel, and surveyed the land around it. Just prior to leaving for Adelaide to fix his plans he named the place Yorketown. At that time it was the only town south of Moonta on the Peninsula. Originally it was proposed to call the place Yorke, but the authorities in Adelaide pointed out the undesirability of clashing with York, near Kilkenny. Messrs. Green & Co. and Mr. von Bertouch had a lot to do with the laying out of the township.
THE MINING TOWNS.
So far the Lower Peninsula has had all the attention, although its northern centres made it famous. The discovery of copper in 1860 soon resulted in the establishment of three important townships, and has been of inestimable service to the State ever since. Wallaroo is distortion of the aboriginal words wadla-waru (the d pronounced very softly), meaning wallaby's urine. It shows the care that should be exercised before native words are adopted for place naming. In the course of its corruptive evolution wadla-waru was twisted into Wallawaroo when Captain (afterwards Sir) W. W. Hughes held the country that locality for pastoral purposes. This was considered too cumbersome in the stamping of wool bales, and so the name was clipped to its present day form Wallaroo. In a New South Wales native dialect the same word means "black kangaroo" According to the late Mr. F. J. Gillen, S.M., a recognised authority on aboriginal dialects, the proper designation of Moonta is Moonta' Moonterra, meaning freely "place of impenetrable scrub." Before the discovery of copper the district was covered with a dense mallee scrub, which in parts was almost impenetrable owing to the abundant growth of creepers. The town was laid out in 1863, and was christened by Sir Dominick Daly. The third important mining centre, Kadina, was named by Governor Macdonnell in 1861. It retains in one word the sound of the native designation of a locality about four miles south of the present town—Caddy-yeena or Caddy-inn a, meaning "lizard plain." Other well known mining names are Yelta, a native word referring to a small animal, and Parramatta, borrowed from New South Wales, where the meaning has been recorded as "place where the eels sit down." Along the River Parramatta is a mud flat, on which eels used to disport themselves in great numbers, providing keen sport for the blacks and others when the waters subsided, Inseparable from the mining history is the name of Hughes. Port Hughes helps to keep green the memory of Sir Walter Watson Hughes, one of whose shepherds was the discoverer of the great mineral deposit in the northern peninsula. A fine bronze statue of the deceased Knight was erected some years ago in the grounds of the Adelaide Uuiversity, of which he was one of the founders.
BACK TO THE BOOT.
Getting back into the boot of the peninsula we have Brentwood, which was named by a pioneer who came from a market town so called in the Chelmsford division of Essex. The late Dr. W. L. Cleland told the writer that our Parkside Mental Hospital was modelled on the exact plans of the Brentwood asylum in Essex. During the war the English town was mentioned as having been bombed by Zeppelins. Two of the earliest settlers in Dowlingville were Messrs G.P.D. and J. T. Whittaker, whose mother's maiden name was Dowling, and another woman's name is perpetuated in Port Julia (Mrs Julia Wurm, of Stansbury) whose husband and sons took up land there. By the way, Stansbury was originally Oyster Bay, but when Governor Musgrave in 1873 bestowed the present appellation on this favorite watering place he left no record as to who he was honoring, beyond the fact that Mr Stansbury was a friend of his, Oaklands was christened nearly 50 years ago by Mr R. D. Anderson, who was the first man to take up land and grow wheat in the Hundred of Dalrymple. The cognomen was suggested by the abundant growth of sheoaks. Mr. Anderson afterwards lived at Streaky Bay. Minlaton is in the Hundred of Minlacowie, and the latter word means, in the native tongue, "sweet water," so that a free interpetation of Minlaton would be " sweet town"—certainly not an inappropriate effort in nomenclature. Honiton comes from Devonshire, and Melton occurs no fewer than sixteen times in England, while Sunbury had its beginnings in Middlesex, and Cranbrook in Kent. Howe in the Hundred of Clinton honors the late Hon. J. H. Howe, M.L.C., who attained Cabinet rank; Howetown, Port Pirie has a similar derivation. Kainton in the same hundred also looks like a personal name. In 1872 the local poundkeeper was one, P. J. Kaine. The cognomen is not officially recognised in the Lands Titles Office. Relatives of the late Inspector Alford, prominent in the police force in early days, say that Alford on the peninsula was christened after him Paskeville has reference to General Paske, brother-in-law of Governor Jervois. Green's Plains appeared on the map long before there was any agricultural settlement in the locality. This spot was christened — after a shepherd of Captain W. W Hughes. His hut was in the ( middle belt between the two plains, east and west. Two of Green's sons are on the land in Western Australia. (To be concluded )
YORKE PENINSULA PLACE NAMES
Sat 4 Jun 1921, The Pioneer (Yorketown, SA : 1898 - 1954) Trove
More Derivations.
In connection with the publication in the PIONEER of a series of articles dealing with the geographical nomenclature of Yorke Peninsula, the assistance of Mr. Francis Garnett, Superintendent of the Point Pearce Aboriginal Station, was enlisted. That gentleman appealed to two reliable native women under his charge for certain missing derivations, and the results were gratifying and interesting. Mr. Garnett has furnished the following native names with their meanings : —Kalkabury, shea oak hill; Muloowurtie, rat burrow; Coonarrie or Binnarrie, hollow tree: Moorowie, sand Water; Para Wurlie, camp meeting; Carribie, emu flat: PondolowieBay, stone waterhole; Tucock Cowie, mud water; Tiddy Widdy Wells, Tiddy Widdy Ned. Mr. Garnett concludes by expressing the interest with which he has read the articles in the PIONEER- His letter was referred to the writer of the articles, who has replied as follows:—"Mr. Garnett has rendered a distinct service to those who are endeavouring to establish a proper record of South Australia's geographical nomenclature. All of the derivations he has supplied are quite new, and have a genuine ring about them. The response on the part of Peninsula old-timers has not been such as one would have expected, but the new light thrown on the subject by Mr. Garnett alone makes the publication of the articles worth while- I am sure the PIONEER will be pleased to hear from him again if further research yields any more missing derivations."
PLACE NAMES OF YORKE PENINSULA
Fri 21 Nov 1930, The Pioneer (Yorketown, SA : 1898 - 1954) Trove
PART III. GOVERNOR FERGUSSON'S INFLUENCE.
A PUZZLE.
The Hundred of Cunningham may have been named after the Northern district of Avrshire or after Sir William Cunningham, who was member for Ayr Burghs about the time that the survey took place. Sir James Fergusson had great influence politically and otherwise throughout the County of Ayrshire, which he represented be fore going to South Australia. When he returned from Bombay he, with Sir William Holdsworth, represented Manchester, and became Postmaster-General, I think, in the Salisbury Government. Sir Charles Dalyrmple at this time represented, with Lord Ficho, the Town of Ipswich. Another derivation suggested is in honour of the late Mr. Hastings Cuningham (note the one N), founder of Mount Gambier township, who was a close personal friend of the Fergussons of Kilkerran.
ONCE MAUTLAND.
Governor Fergusson still had in mind noble relatives when he christened Maitland, a family name of the Earls of Lauderdale, representing a very old and distinguished Scottish clan. An earlier form of the name, in the old world, was Mautland. Our natives knew the locality as Madi waltu, meaning "white flint."
FROM SCOTLAND.
Ardrossan is after the beautiful seaport of the same name in Ayrshire, Scotland. It contains the Gaelic roots "ard," a height, and "ros," a prominent rock or headland. Balgowan comes from Perthshire, Scotland. The Hundred of Cameron, and Lochiel within it, are two more names of Scottish origin which Sir James Fergusson bestowed.
SALT LAKE CITY!
Yorketown answers for itself as to nomenclatural derivation, and, as explained in the historical scries, might have been Salt Lake City, Whatever may be peninsula rivalries, it is regarded on the mainland as the capital of southern Yorke Peninsula. An old resident vouches for the fact that Mr. Beaumont built the back portion of the present building known as the Melville Hotel, and surveyed the land around it. Just prior to leaving for Adelaide to fix his plans he named the place Yorketown. At that time it was the only town south of Moonta on the Peninsula. Originally it was proposed to call the place Yorke, and it was actually advertised as such, but the authorities in Adelaide pointed out the undesirability of clashing with York, near Kilkenny. Messrs. Green and Co. and Mr. von Bertouch had a lot to do with the laying out of the township.
PLACE NAMES OF YORKE PENINSULA AN UP TO DATE SURVEY
Fri 28 Nov 1830, The Pioneer (Yorketown, SA : 1898 - 1954) Trove
PART IV. COASTAL AND NATIVE NAMES.
Marion Bay and Sultana Point recall the wrecks of two ships so named—the former in August, 1831, and the latter in October. 1849. Sturt Bay is one of the many memories of the great explorer. Captain Charles Sturt, that our nomenclature supplies. Formby Bay was christened in 1908 after Mr. John Formbv, S.M., an ex-president of the Marine Board. Point De Mole reminds one of the late Mr. George E. De Mole, who accompanied Captain B. Douglas on his marine surveys and drew his charts, and Point Davenport represents one of half a dozen references to the late Sir Samuel Davenport in our nomenclature Port Rickaby preserves the name of Mr. T. Rickaby. J.P., an agricultural settler in the district served by the port, concerning whom the late Rev. Dr. H. T. Burgess published a very interesting biography in "The Cyclopedia of South Australia." Royston Head has an English derivation. Lord Royston was the eldest son of Lord Hardwicke (Hardwicke Bay). Black Point, a favorite resort of yachtsmen, is descriptive of the geological appearance of the locality. Point and Port Turton remind one of Mr. H H. Turton, accountant of the Savings Bank, who married Caroline, daughter of Governor Daly. There we have the derivation of Daly's Head. Point Souttar, as a name. is there because Mr. John Souttar, manager of the Bank of Adelaide, married Joanna, another daughter of Governor Daly.
THE NATIVE ELEMENT.
There never has been any official or any other systematic recording of aboriginal place names and their meaning in relation to the Yorke Peninsula region. Mr. J. Howard Johnson's vocabulary stands alone as the best effort of its kind, and the only rerget the writer had after reading and studying it was that the subject of place names did not claim greater attention. We meet the familiar "owie," and other forms of the terminal, as signifying "water." but the prefixes have always been the bug-bear of noinenclators. Coobowie was surveyed in 1874 by Mr. J. H. Packard at what had always been known as Salt Creek. He asked some natives on the spot by what name they knew the locality, and they replied "Coobowie," meaning "wild fowl and water" Mr. Packard recommended tile cognomen to Governor Musgrave, who adopted it. The sale of the township realized £1,200. Orrie Cowie in equivalent to "black spring water." Hubbracowie stands for "pigface waterhole," consistent with the growth of that plant near to it. Tiparra is a name by which a lighthouse, a spring, and a hundred are known. It was applied by aborigines to a remarkable spring within a short distance of the coast in a singular group of sandhills. In the centre of the hills is a hollow, like the crater of a volcano, containing fresh, clear spring water. No doubt the word has reference to these conditions. There has been much speculation as to the meaning of Warooka. The original assertion was that the name was applied to pastoral country taken out by Mr. Thomas Giles in the early fifties, and that is was the native appellation of a parrot with beautiful plumage. This drew the suggestion that the word was a corruption of Warriooka, meaning "Ship" in the Port Lincoln dialect, and that the natives would bestow on a ship a word equivalent to bird. Mr. M. Thring, of Strathalbyn. said he had often heard the expression from aborigines, when a sailing vessel hove in sight, "Warriooka come on." At the time of this controversy the late Mr J. Vigar, of Warooka, wrote:—"Warooka was first used by Messrs. John Young (now of Western Australia) and the late Thomas Robertson as the name for our post office. They both told me that Warooka was the native designation of a swamp or lagoon on an adjoining section, which the blacks called 'Warook.' The only native now living here told me it meant 'mud.'"
WHERE EMUS DRANK.
Curramulka represents a slight corruption of two native words—Curre (emu) and mulka (deep waterholes). Emus used to stoop to drink here and fall in, thus allowing themselves to be caught by the natives, who knew the place as Curre Mulka. Governor Jervois bestowed the named. Another authority says that the proper spelling is Curre-murrka, meaning "emu rockholes." Koolywurtie appears on the map as a Government township, a hundred, and a point (also named Black Point). Mr. R. Higgins, of Laura, wrote:—"The natives declared that this name should not have been applied to the nice country which it now represents. It properly belongs to a rugged, rocky point jutting into the sea, the literal meaning of the word being 'dirty tail.' "
Kulpara, originally the name of a pastoral lease, is aboriginal for "water-in-head—cocoanut." Wauraltee or Waralti Island is native for "bandicoot." It is also known as Wardang Island, which is not aboriginal.
COPPER REGION.
So far the Lower Peninsula has had all the attention, although its northern centres gave it fleeting fame. The discovery of copper in 1859-61 soon resulted in the establishment of three important townships, and was of inestimable service to the State. Wallaroo is a distortion of the aboriginal words wadla-waru (the d pronounced very softly), meaning wallaby's urine. It shows the care that should be exercised before native words are adopted for place-naming. In the course of its corruptive evolution wadla-waru was twisted into Wallawaroo when Captain (afterwards Sir) W. W. Hughes held the country in that locality for pastoral purposes. This was considered too cumbersome in the stamping of wool bales, and so the name was clipped to its present day form, Wallaroo. In a New South Wales native dialect the same word means "black kangaroo." According to the late Mr. F, J. Gillen, S M , a reconised authority on aboriginal dialects, the proper designation of Moonta is Moonta Moonterra, meaning freely "place of impenetrable scrub". Before the discovery of copper the district was covered with a dense mallee scrub, which in parts was almost impenetrable owing to the abundant growth of creepers. The town was laid out in 1863, and was christened by Sir Dominick Daly. The third important mining centre, Kadina, was named by Governor Macdonnell in 1861. It retains in one word the sound of the native designation of a locality about four miles south of the present town —Caddy-yeena or Caddy-inna, meaning "lizard plain." Other well-known mining names are Yelta, a native word referring to a small animal, and Parramatta, borrowed from New South Wales, where the meaning has been recorded as "place where the eels sit down." Along the River Parramatta is a mud flat, on which eels used to disport themselves in great numbers, providing keen sport for the blacks and others when the waters subsided. Inseparable from the mining history is the name of Hughes. Port Hughes helps to keep green the memory of Sir Walter Watson Hughes, one of whose shepherds was the discoverer of the great mineral deposit in the northern peninsula. A fine bronze statue of the deceased Knight stands in the grounds of the Adelaide University, of which he was one of the founders. He had been a student of metallurgy, and, having sensed the presence of copper in his sheepwalks at the top end of the peninsula, he encouraged his shepherds to look for the evidence.
MORE NATIVE WORDS.
Mr. Francis Garnett was, for a long period, superintendent of the Point Pearce Aboriginal Station, and was subsequently Protector of Aborigines . He filled in a piece of the vacant nomenclatural map in the following way:—Kalkabury, she oak hill; Muloowurtie, rat burrow; Coonarric or Hinnarrie, hollow tree; Moorowie, sand water; Para Wurlie, camp meeting; Carribie, emu flat; Pondoiowie Hay, stone waterhole; Tucock Cowie, mud water; Tiddy Widdy Wells. Tiddy Widdy Ned.