Place Names of South-East Queensland

Murrarie

Murrarie is one of those districts that got its name when the railway came through. An Aboriginal word meaning plenty of sweet water was adopted.

Murrumba Downs

Tom Petrie's acquisition of the property after which Murrumba Downs is named was unusual in that it involved the consent of the local Aboriginal people. Dalaipi of the local tribe offered him land along the North Pine River when he learnt that Tom was looking for a place to which he might bring his young wife, Elizabeth, daughter of John Campbell of John Campbell and Sons, timber merchants.

This was not in the first wave of European settlement, so the land already belonged, in the white man's system, to someone else. Tom had to see whether the owner, Mrs Griffin of Whiteside station, would sell.  This she was only too happy to do because the hostility of the natives made it virtually impossible for her to run cattle on that part of her property.

Tom had no such trouble for he was loved and respected by the Aboriginal people, so he successfully worked the property that he called Murrumba, using an Aboriginal word meaning good. He had the assistance of his Aboriginal friends in splitting slabs, posts and rails for his humpy and stockyards. Later he built a fine house overlooking the North Pine River with views out to Moreton Bay, and here Elizabeth gave birth to each of her nine children.

The extension of the railway line to North Pine in 1888 helped to open up the country, but it cut through the best part of the Murrumba farming land. Tom lost some of his property to the banks when drought ran him into financial difficulties in 1902. 

Musgrave Park

In 1890 the name was changed from Waterworks Road to  honour the memory of Sir Anthony Musgrave, Governor of Queensland, 1883-1888.

Mutdapilly

The present name is the Aboriginal name for the area. It means sticky gully.

Myall Creek

Frank Brennan, in 1865, named this Darling Downs creek after the Myall Scrub, a name said to be derived from the Aboriginal myalla meaning big talk. 

Myora

The freshwater springs of Myora on Stradbroke Island were at one time used by the Helidon Spa Water Company for its drinks, and they have provided many people, both of the Noonuckles and of the white newcomers with cool refreshing water. It appears that, in Aboriginal usage, the name Moongalba was applied to these springs. It is now used for another site nearby. Myora meant a gathering.  



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