Who is Canberra named after and why is it that capital city of Australia?

Answer 1

Canberra is not named after anyone. The first settler in the Canberra region - then known as Limestone Plains - was Joshua John Moore who took up land in the area in 1824, naming it Canberry. He took this name after hearing the local indigenous people use the word Kamberra when they conversed, referring to the site as a "meeting place".

When the site was chosen for the nation's capital, it was to be the "meeting place" for the political parties and the people. Hence, the name Canberra was chosen.

The city of Canberra is the capital because it was built for the purpose of it becoming the national capital of Australia, and land for the Australian Capital Territory (originally Federal Territory of Australia) was purchased from New South Wales for the purpose.

Australia's two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, had been rivals since before the goldrush days. After Federation in 1901, it was therefore decided that the nation's capital should be situated between the two cities. A location was chosen which was 248km from Sydney and 483km from Melbourne.

Section 125 of the Constitution of Australia provided that:

"The seat of Government of the Commonwealth shall be determined by the Parliament, and shall be within territory which shall have been granted to or acquired by the Commonwealth, and shall be vested in and belong to the Commonwealth, and shall be in the State of New South Wales, and be distant not less than one hundred miles from Sydney.

Such territory shall contain an area of not less than one hundred square miles, and such portion thereof as shall consist of Crown lands shall be granted to the Commonwealth without any payment therefore. The Parliament shall sit at Melbourne until it meets at the seat of Government."

The first survey peg marking the beginning of the development of the city of Canberra was driven in on 20 February 1913. The foundation stone was laid on 12 March 1913. Lady Denman, wife of the Governor-General, then announced the name of the city as Canberra, believed to be a derivation of an Aboriginal word for 'meeting place'.