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Correspondence Between Sydney May And F.J Watson Concerning Aboriginal Place Names (ITM489477)

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Union Street, Toowong, S.W.1. April 7th, 1941.

Mr. Sydney May, Hon. Secretary, Q.P.N. Committee, University of Queensland,

Dear Sir,

On the matter of the place name Beachmere, the following is a copy of a letter which I have received from Mrs. Ethel Smith, of Caboolture.

"From information gathered I think the first settler to take up land, extending from Toorbul point to King Johnny Creek, was a man named Bonney. Toorbul point later belonged to a man named Hamilton. From the scrubs around Cabulture township that is now, were cut the cedar and pine logs which were rafted down the Caboolture River to what is now called Beachmere Flats. With a pitsaw the logs were cut, the planks hand-dressed, and, on the bank at the mouth of the Caboolture River, Bonney built his homestead, naming it Beachmere; "Beach" on account of the narrow strip of sandy beach in front of the house, and "mere" because of the marshy nature of the land. Bonney died and was buried on the place and a Mr. Geddes then took over, and it was to this very homestead that my father (the late Mr. D.E. Boustead) brought my mother as a bride in the year 1880, my father being manager for Mr. Geddes at the time. the original homestead stood until a few years ago when it was demolished and rebuilt at what is now known as Beachmere Beach, a mile away from the first building site, only to be pulled down again and rebuilt in the town of Caboolture, the present owner being Mr. Mat. Zanow.

I believe a Mr. Arty Bonney (90 years of age), a son of the first settler, is at present living at Sandgate, although I have not been able to locate his proper address. Probably you could accomplish this with the aid of the Postal Department and he, no doubt, could give you much more valuable and useful information knowledge of the place.

(From)

[pencil comments] 4 copies

Last edit over 2 years ago by daravenh
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From this I would say the correct spelling would be Beachmere, and, situated between seven and eght miles from the township of Caboolture, at the mouth of the Caboolture River, was the homestead built by the first settler, a Mr. Bonney, in the year 1870.

I feel sure you will find this information most correct."

----

The above letter was forwarded to me as a reply to a letter of inquiry addressed by me to Mr W. Smith of Caboolture.

Mr. Smith handed my letter to Mrs. Smith for reply evidently for the reason of her life-long acquaintance of the locality in question.

Yours faithfully, [signature] (F.J. Watson).

Last edit over 2 years ago by sandra.grinter
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Union Street, [Toowong], S.W.1. 7th April, 1941.

[Mr. Sydney May], Hon. Secretary, Q.P.N.Committee, University of Queensland,

Dear Sir,

I have your letter of 3rd April to hand. Regarding the list of place names therewith,-- I have no knowledge of the suggested names Mangool,Calebra, Pombel and Bubialo,they being foreign to any of the languages with which I am acquainted.

The name Cuppie, is, I presume, meant for the Brisbane River name of the grey opossum, but the name ,as spelled, gives a wrong impression as to pronunciation. Better spelling would be Kupi, or Koopi, as the first vowel should be sounded as in English coop (as in hen-coop) and the last vowel short as in English it, and not as ee. On objection to the use of this name is that a railway station on the Isis Railway has the same meaning although is wrongly spelled as Kowbi. In place of this name I might suggest Narambi, which has the same meaning.

Another sugestion for the name of a cross-over is Wangau which in the Kabi language means a "crossing"or"across."

Your sincerely [FJWatson] ([F.J.Watson])

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3rd April, 1941.

[Mr. F. J. Watson], "Nyleta", Union Street, TOOWONG. S.W.1.

Dear Sir,

I am enclosing a list of five names which the Railway Department have just selected for new crossing loops and unattended staff stations. Your comments on such are always of value.

Yours faithfully,

Hon. Secretary.

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Union Street, [Toowong], S.W.1. March 27th, 1941.

[Mr. Sydney May], Hon. Sec. Q.P.N.Committee, University of Queensland.

Dear Sir,

Regarding northern place names;---

[Tolga], a railway station on the Cairns-Herberton Railway.

The [Athertone Scrub] at its farthest north, before its general destructon took place, diminished to a long tapering point, on one side of which was [Martin Town] and on the other side was [Atherton]. In 1886, [Martin Town] was one of the only three post-offices between [Port Douglas] and [Herberton] and was on the pack track between these two towns. [Martin Town] was named after a family of Martins, two of whom, [George Martin]and [Robert Martin], were still operating a sawmill there when I last saw the place in 1911.

On the completion of the railway from [Cairns] to [Atherton], a railway station was established about half a mile, or less, from [Martin Town], and was named [Tolga]. In 1910,a native trooper, loaned to me by the Police Sergeant at [Mareeba] as a guide,informed me that the name Tolge indicated "where the scrub begins".

This nearly coincides with [Mr. O'Leary]'s definition.

Kairi and [Kureen?].

In questioning the trooper above mentioned on these names, he laconically replied, "Kareé, Kareém ,Kareeńda; all the same, mean "the place where you go in (i.e.the scrub)". I did not then know that a selection near [Kairi] had been named [Corinda]. Later on, I was given to understand that the latter name had no connection with [Corinda] near [Brisbane]. I think that the aboriginal names refer to the scrub pockets where the scrub pockets where the scrub blacks camped. I have spelled the names phonetically,as as the trooper gave them. The first vowel in each case is obscure.

Kulara .

You may remember that I pointed out that, in [Bailey]'s "Queensland Flora", the name Kalaara is given as the nativename of

Last edit over 2 years ago by L.Vink
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of the scrub iron-wood (Myrtus Hillii), and suggested that it might be the origin of the place name Kulara. but having looked up a list of names of fauna and flora of the locality, compiled, I think, by S.W. Jackson, a naturalist whose calling has lead him to journey far and wide in Queensland, I find that Kulara is the "gigantic parasitical figtree". This has reminded me that close to Kulara Railway station, at a crossing of the Barron River, there was and, I hope, still is, an immense fig-tree which was a land mark of the locality. It was so large that a good sized picnicking party, including my wife and self, en route to Lake Barrine, sheltered from a rain shower and lunched within its hollow bole. I have little doubt that the railway station Kulara was named from this tree.

Yungaburra.

A station on the Tolga-Millaa Millaa Branch Railway. I do not think that I ever put it into writing, but I may have told you that a local resident told me that the name meant "Fox camp", but the alternative spelling or pronunciation, Tchankaburra given by Mr. O'Leary, gives, after a short study of the word, the reason why the white men adopted the above meanning of the name, which, of course, in incorrect. The name is probably derived from tuangun, which, according to Mr. Jackson means a native's hut. In accordance with aboriginal orthoepy this word may be pronounced alternately tchuangun or dyuangan. The affix would be equvalent to "place of", make it "place of natives' huts or a camp".

Yours sincerely, [signature] (F.J. Watson).

Last edit over 2 years ago by daravenh
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Union Street, Toowong, S.W.1. March, 1st, 1941.

Mr Sydney May, Hon. Sec. Place Names Committee, University of Queensland,

Dear Sir,

Your letter of 28th ultimo is to hand. Regarding the letter in last Tuesday's Telegraph, I have noted it and have replied thereto, but I think my letter has not yet been published.

Regarding Domville Taylor and Back Creek,- - according to H.S. Russell, "Genesis of Queensland", and Thos. Hall," History of the Warwick District", a Mr. Wingate took up land at what was known as the Broadwater on the Condamine River. He, shortly afterwards, handed it over to Dr. Rolland and Domville Taylor,

It was then named Tummavil. Hall states that the name originated by the liberty some of Taylor's friends took with his christian name. I do not know if Back Creek was included in this holding but it probably was, for Mount Domville, named after Taylor lies to the west of it. I lived for some months in 1906 at Milmerran near where I established a branch business of the Silverwood Dairy Company. While there, an early selector of the district informed me that Tummavil was an aboriginal pronunciation of Domville which had been adopted as the name of the Station. My informant also told me that the local township was to have been named from Mount Domville but it was finally decided to name it after the native's name for the Mount, i.e. Mil merran, the meaning of which I have already given you.

The accentis on the first syllable of the second word and the r's are slightly stressed. By the places named after him, I think that Taylor must have popularly known by his christian name. My informant---I much regret that I cannot recall his name--- spoke of him as Captain Domville, but I do not know whether he bore this title. Rolland and Taylor did not long hold Tummaville--- as it is spelled--- long before

[edited in pencil, some place names underlined]

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before it, including Back Creek was merged witht he Gores' Yandilla holding. I may say that when I was at Milmerran the name was spelled with one 1 only. I have at hand a letter from the Under-Secretary for Agriculture, dated April, 1906, on which date is spelled as above. I was well acquainted with the late Mr. Walpole, mentioned in W. Gargett's letter, and I never heard him or any other resident of the locality pronounce the name of the township in any other way than as I have above mentioned. I might mention in passing, that notwithstanding Mr. Gargett's assertion that Mr. Walpole was a member of a Society of Friends, he was when I knew him, a prominent member of the Anglican community.

Re. The place Kuranda, I thinkI have given you the meaning of that word, taken from Bailey's "Queensland Flora."

Regarding Kosh, -- while journeying near this place about thirty eyars ago with a local native, I asked him what was its meaning. He replied "Name belongs blackfellow". He gave me the same reply to an enquiry re Mantaka, a railway station nearby. His definition of Myola, was, "Big camp. Where old fellow (presumably tribe elders) sit down).

While at Drynan's Crossing on the Lower Burnett, some years later, I took the opportunity of asking an intelligent aboriginal as to the meaning of some local place names.

I then casually and, under the circumstances, unreasonably, asked him if he knew the meaning of Myola. He did not know, and he asked me where it was. On my replying that it was near Cairns, he said he would ask his wife, as she was from the North.

She gave the information that it meant "the main or principal camp". As I had in no wise prompted these people, it was at least a curious coincidence of definition.

Trusting that this may be of some service, I am, yours faithfully, F. J. Watson

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28th February, 1941.

Mr. F. J. Watson, Union Street, TOOWONG. S.W.1.

Dear Sir,

I wonder whether you noticed a letter in Tuesday's Telegraph (25th instant) with regard to Millmerran. Could you give me some further information about Domville Taylor and when he occupied Back Creek. I have your letter of April 15th but would like some more information about Taylor, especially the date of his occupation of the property.

Furthermore, do you know anything about Myela, Koah, and Kuranda. The Railway Department says Myola is a coined word. Dr. White's sister says that Koah was a blackfellow and Myola was his gin and A. Meston claims that Myola means the home of the bandicoot.

Yours faithfully,

Hon. Secretary.

Last edit over 2 years ago by MMcKL
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SLM/PMc.

Queensland Place Names Committee, c/- The University, George Street, BRISBANE.

23rd January, 1941.

Mr. F.J. Watson, "Nylita", Union Street, TOOWONG. S.W.1.

Dear Sir,

In your letter of the 9th May, 1939, you have the following notes on "Goomeri" —

'A Railway station on the Nanango Railway. The words means a shield. The shielf was the narrow one used in hand to hand fighting with nulla or dhaberi. The word which is of Wakka origin was sometimes pronounced gudmeri. The Kabi word for this weapon is kunmarim.'

I was under the impression that you had said that "Goomburra" had the same meaning.

Yours faithfully,

HON. SECRETARY.

Last edit over 2 years ago by MMcKL
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