First Nations Language Collection

"Nyleta" Union Street, Toowong, S.W.I November 24th, 1942.

Mr. Sydney May,

University of Queensland,

Dear Sir,

I have to hand your letter of 20th instant relative to the place names Mt. Beppo, and Tin Can Bay.

I know of no authority as to the application of the n name Beppo to the mountain in question, but I have little doubt that it is derived from the Yugarabul (Brisbane River language) word "bippo" which itself means "mountain.

Re. Tin Can Bay.

Tin Can is a conversion, by "folk etymology" of the word "tintchin" --- approximate spelling ---- an aboriginal name for a species of mangrove, Bruguiera Rheedii. The meaning of the name was given to me, from a now forgotten source, some 55 years ago. Its earliest known history is connected with the early sawn timber industry of Maryborough, when Messrs Pettigrew and Sim of Dundathu Sawmill exploited it for soft timbers, chiefly kauri pine from which a local creek ---Kauri Creek-- was named. Much of this timber was rafted and towed by tugboats to Maryborough.

With the "cutting out" of the pine forests and the consequent waning of the timber industry at Maryborough the bay has become a station for fishermen, professional and amateur.

The shores of Tin Can Bay are swampy and the mangroves which abound therein doubtlessly inspired the name.

Yours faithfully, FJ Watson Associate Member Q.P.N.C

[left margin] To/ Mr. Sydney May, Hon. Secretary, Q.P.N.C. University, Brisbane.

COPY:

"Nyleta" Union Street, Toowong. S.W.I November 24th, 1942.

Mr. Sydney May, University of Queensland.

Dear Sir,

I have to hand your letter of 20th instant relative to the place names Mt. Beppo, and Tin Can Bay.

I know of no authority as to the application of the name Beppo to the mountain in question, but I have little doubt that it is derived from the Yugarabul (Brisbane River language) word "bippo" which itself means "mountain".

Re - Tin Can Bay.

Tin Can is a conversion, by "folk etymology" of the word "tintchin" --- approximate spelling --- an aboriginal name for a species of mangrove, Bruguiera Rheedii. The meaning of the name was given to me, from a now forgotten source, some 55 years ago. Its earliest known history is connected with the early sawn timber industry of Maryborough, when Messrs. Pettigrew and Sim of Dundathu Sawmill expoited it for soft timbers, chiefly kauri pine from which a local creek -- Kauri Creek -- was named. Much of this timber was rafted and towed by tugboats to Maryborough.

With the "cutting out" of the pine forests and the consequent waning of the timber industry at Maryborough the bay has become a station for fishermen, professional and amateur.

The shores of Tin Can Bay are swampy and the mangroves which abound therein doubtlessly inspired the name.

Yours faighfully, (signed) F. J. Watson Associate Member Q.P.N.C

COPY:

"Nyleta", Union Street, Toowong. S.W.I November 24th, 1942.

Mr. Sydney May, University of Queensland.

Dear Sir,

I have to hand your letter of 20th instant relative to the place names Mt. Beppo and Tin Can Bay.

I know of no authority as to the application of the name Beppo to the mountain in question, but I have little doubt that it is derived from the Yugarabul (Brisbane River language) word "bippo" which itself means "mountain".

Re - Tin Can Bay.

Tin Can is a conversion, by "folk etymology" of the work "tintchin" --- approximate spelling ---- an aboriginal name for a species of mangrove, Bruguiera Rheedii. The meaning of the name was given to me, from a now forgotten source, some 55 years ago. Its earliest known history is connected with the early sawn timber industry of Maryborough, when Messrs. Pettigrew and Sim of Dundathu Sawmill expoited it for soft timbers, chiefly kauri pine from which a local creek --Kauri Creek-- was named. Much of this timber was rafted and towed by tugboats to Maryborough.

With the "cutting out" of the pine forests and the consequent waning of the timber industry at Maryborough the bay has become a station for fishermen, professional and amateur.

The shores of Tin Can Bay are swampy and the mangroves which abound therein doubtlessly inspired the name.

Yours faighfully, (signed) F. J. Watson Associate Member Q.P.N.C

COPY:

Union Street, Toowong, S.W.1. November 24th, 1942.

Re the place name Dundathu.

Dundathu was originally the name of a sawmill and its township situated on the bank of the Mary River some nine miles below Maryborough. This mill was established by Messrs. Pettigrew and Sim in about 1860 and abandoned about 1880, but the locality and the adjoining river reach retain the name.

The name is derived from the local (Kabi) word, dhan-dauwa-dhu, meaning "place of timber" , from dhan, a contraction of dhagun, dauwa, dry or withered, and dhu, tree or wood, the combined words, dauwa-dhu, being the nearest translation of the English word timber, i.e. sawn timber.

It has been generally accepted, probably on the authority of Tom Petrie's Reminiscences", that the name, Dundathu, was identical with the natives' name for the Kauri pine tree, which Petrie gave as dundardoom. This arose, no doubt, from the fact that at Dundathu the first Queensland kauri pine was milled and exported therefrom, and it became generally known as Dundathu pine.

The habitat of the kauri pine, Agathis robusta, of South Queensland, is Great Sandy or Fraser's Island and a restricted area of the mainland adjacent thereto, including the area about Tin Can Bay, from whence this log timber used to be rafted to Dundathu and later, to Maryborough sawmills.

The aboriginals' name for the kauri pine throughout the said area is "nunmula" (nunmoola).

(Signd.) F. J. Watson

Note:

I have long been in possession of the above information but deferred recording it until I could obtain a statement, from a reliable aboriginal source, substantiating the word "nunmula", as the Wide Bay aborigines' name for the kauri pine tree, which I have recently been enabled to do.

(Signed.) F.J.W.

COPY:

Union Street, Toowong, S.W.1. November 24th, 1942.

Re the place name Dundathu.

Dundathu was originally the name of a sawmill and its township situated on the bank of the Mary River some nine miles below Maryborough. This mill was established by Messrs. Pettigrew and Sim in about 1860 and abandoned about 1880, but the locality and the adjoining river reach retain the name.

The name is derived from the local (Kabi) word, dhan-dauwa-dhu, meaning "place of timber" , from dhan, a contraction of dhagun, dauwa, dry or withered, and dhu, tree or wood, the combined words, dauwa-dhu, being the nearest translation of the English word timber, i.e. sawn timber.

It has been generally accepted, probably on the authority of Tom Petrie's Reminiscences", that the name, Dundathu, was identical with the natives' name for the Kauri pine tree, which Petrie gave as dundardoom. This arose, no doubt, from the fact that at Dundathu the first Queensland kauri pine was milled and exported therefrom, and it became generally known as Dundathu pine.

The habitat of the kauri pine, Agathis robusta, of South Queensland, is Great Sandy or Fraser's Island and a restricted area of the mainland adjacent thereto, including the area about Tin Can Bay, from whence this log timber used to be rafted to Dundathu and later, to Maryborough sawmills.

The aboriginals' name for the kauri pine throughout the said area is "nunmula" (nunmoola).

(Signd.) F. J. Watson.

Note:

I have long been in possession of the above information but deferred recording it until I could obtain a statement, from a reliable aboriginal source, substantiating the word "nunmula", as the Wide Bay aborigines' name for the kauri pine tree, which I have recently been enabled to do.

(Signed.) F.J.W.