Who or what are the Australian capital cities named after?

Answer 1

• National capital - Canberra:

Joshua John Moore was the first European settler to establish a stock station in the area. He called it "Canberry", a name based on an Aboriginal title for the area "Kamberra" or "Kambery". Moore's property is approximately where Canberra's city centre is today. Canberra became the official name for the area in 1913, and is believed to be an Aboriginal word meaning "meeting place".

• Sydney, NSW:

Sydney was named after the British Home Secretary, Viscount Sydney. Governor Arthur Phillip named Sydney Cove (later Sydney), New South Wales, on Port Jackson after the British Home Secretary, Thomas Townshend, the First Viscount Sydney of England, in recognition of Sydney's role in issuing the charter authorising Phillip to establish a penal colony.

• Melbourne, Victoria:

Melbourne, Victoria, was named in 1837 after the British Prime Minister William Lamb, 2nd Viscount of Melbourne.

• Brisbane, Qld:

The Brisbane River (Queensland) was named first, in 1824, after the NSW Governor at the time, Sir Thomas Brisbane, and within a few years, the city of Brisbane was named after the river on which it was built.

• Adelaide, SA:

Adelaide, capital of South Australia, was named after Queen Adelaide, a German princess, who was the wife of William IV, the English king who reigned from 1830 until he died in 1837. Adelaide's full name was Adelheid Amalie Luise Theresa Carolin of Saxe-Meiningen. After she married the heir to the British throne in July 1818, she changed the spelling of her name, anglicising it from Adelheid to Adelaide. The name for the new city was chosen by the English authorities.

• Perth, WA:

Originally called the Swan River Colony, Perth in Western Australia had its name changed by Captain James Stirling after the Scottish city Perth. This was done because, apparently, Perth was the birthplace of Sir George Murray who was the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies.

• Hobart, Tasmania:

Hobart's first name was Hobart Town (some sources say Hobarton). It was named after Lord Hobart, the British Secretary of State for the Colonies. It started out as the Derwent River colony.

• Darwin, Northern Territory:

The capital of the Northern Territory, Darwin, was originally called Palmerston. Darwin was re-named after naturalist Charles Darwin, because the harbour on which Darwin lies was found in 1836 by John Stokes, surveyor aboard the ship HMS Beagle - which was, of course, the ship on which Charles Darwin sailed.