NOMENCLATURE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 473 



TOWNS. 



The right of naming or approving of names proposed for Govern- 

 TTient towns is possessed by all the Governors in virtue of their repre- 

 sentative character. From their pen the mandate issues, " Let the 

 name be so-and so," and the name is fixed by proclamation in the 

 Government iSazette; but future generations will be left to inquire 

 in vain concerning the persons or places intended to be immor- 

 talised . 



The composite names of Johnburg, Lucy ton, Jamestown, Carrie- 

 ton, Percyton, Snowtown, and Edithburgh are rather less intel- 

 ligible than native names, and will have no charm of association 

 for posterity. The same verdict may be pronounced upon names 

 of places from across the sea transplanted into mallee scrub and 

 working men's blocks, to blossom odorous with the memories of 

 other days to the initiated, but odious to many who can find no 

 reason for the name. 



Out of a list of 400 post office towns in South Australia pub- 

 lished in the latest directory only 25 per cent, have names selected 

 from the native language, the greater number of them having been 

 introduced from the older countries and also reproduced in the 

 other colonies, whilst the remainder consist of the surnames of 

 persons who formerly owned the land upon which the towns have 

 been laid out. 



Aeelaidk. 



The request of King William IV., or rather his royal command, 

 to the South Australian Colonisation Commissioners before any of 

 them left England, that Adelaide, the name of his amiable and 

 beloved consort, should be conferred upon the capital city of the 

 new colony was a hap^jy inspiration. The popularity of the name 

 was testified to by interested grouj)s of early colonists present upon 

 the site near the beginning of 1837 when the survey of streets and 

 allotments was officially announced as completed. 



The choice of names for streets, squares, and terraces was in no 

 less degree a marked success — a result which may probably be 

 correctly ascribed to Colonel Liyht, conjointly with Sir James 

 Hurtle Fisher and Governor Hindmarsh. A scrutiny of the names 

 of the oriiiinal streets, as marked ui>on the first official plan, dis- 

 closes the fact that the names of the Colonisation Committee, of the 

 founders, and of certain other noted men, who assisted by their 

 enliiihtened views, tlieir peisonal influence, and their votes in the 

 House of Commons the passing of the Act authorising the settle- 

 ment of the country, and who, by undertaking monetary responsi- 

 bilities contributed largely to its ultimate success, were regarded as 

 being worthy of such honorable remembrances. In sympathy with 

 this idea I deem the present a suitable occasion for setting before 

 this Science Congress, and through it the public, some items of 

 information which may serve to bind more closely the name of the 

 street and the person associated with it. 



