What’s in a name?

Children’s literature of years ago made the writer feel a little cheated, introducing exotic place names like North America’s Arkansas, Massachusetts and Wyoming. Our cousins in the United Kingdom had Avon in England, Carrickfergus in Northern Ireland and Gwynedd in Wales.

But Australians seem to have their colonial ties well and truly cemented with Queensland, Victoria, and New South Wales. And, oh, the imagination that must have gone into Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

"Curly" Wemyss is pictured getting his hair cut on a forestry site, some time before World War II. Like many Queensland foresters, Curly served his country in this war and, like many, he did not return. Curly is remembered by the Wemyss logging area.

While our states are so les Anglais, however, Australia abounds with place names as rich and intriguing as anywhere in the world, thanks mainly to the vivid language of our country’s first inhabitants. Wynnum, Moggill, Coorparoo, and Indooroopilly are well known. Coonan Gibber, Tankallaman, Gooroomjan, Moonda Waamba, Moonarrumbi and Yarraman are less known, but are all forestry areas.

Yarraman is an Aboriginal word that means horse. It is also a scenic rural town a few hours’ drive north-west of Brisbane and a centre for Forestry Plantations Queensland's multi-million dollar hoop pine plantations. State Forest 117, the Archookoora State Forest, is a part of the Yarraman forestry district, and was named in 1914 (by the Railways Department, no less).

Archookoora comes from the Kaibara language and means a turn in the road, or a question like "which way from here?". But 1914 is still some 44 years after one of the first timber reserves was gazetted in Queensland. This was on 6 October 1870, and referred to a plot of timber located 20 kilometres north-west of Ipswich, bounded by the Brisbane River and, possibly, the township of Fernvale.

Forestry place names often reveal important or interesting history about forestry activities. State Forest 151 is in the Bunya Mountains, which is named for the bunya pine (Araucaria bidwillii). The name comes from a melding of the various names Aboriginal tribes gave to the tree, including "banasya", "bon-ye", and "boonya". Similarly, nearby State Forest 257 is the Googa State Forest, "googa googa" being Aboriginal for the place of the bubbling springs.

The town of Benarkin, 10 kilometres south-east of Yarraman, is named from the Dungibara dialect word "Benarquin", which refers to the blackbutt tree (Eucalyptus pilularis) so prevalent in the district. Throughout Queensland there are numerous state forests and other forest and timber reserves that have been named according to local legends, local people, and significant (or prosaic) events.

The town of Imbil, a major hoop pine producing area, takes its name from the Aboriginal word for scrub vines. Closer to Brisbane, Mt Mee, a forest reserve and recreational area, was named in the 1890s from the Aboriginal word "mia mia", meaning a view or outlook. Mt Mee was originally Dahmongah, which is Aboriginal for flying squirrel. Further west, the forest plantation town of Passchendaele comes from the World War 1 battlefield of the same name in Belgium. And "Hill 60", at Benarkin in the Brisbane Valley, was named after the famous battle of Hill 60 at Gallipoli.

Records indicate that Deer timber reserve, south-west of Kilcoy, was named a year before the hostilities of World War 1, in 1913. It was most probably called Deer Reserve to commemorate the release of several red deer in the forest that were part of a gift from Queen Victoria to the State of Queensland. For operational purposes, Forestry Plantations Queensland divides its plantation forests into logging areas, giving the ideal opportunity to name a particular area to acknowledge notable locals, local features, or, more poignantly, those who gave their lives in war.

Logging areas named after serviceman who were killed in World War II include Hudson, Rush, Wemyss (George "Curly" Wemyss is pictured having his hair cut), Richards, Dobbyn and Stocker. Logging areas are also named after early settlers, pioneering forestry staff and even ecological events. Pteropus logging area at Monto takes its name from Pteropus poliocephalus, the botanical name for flying foxes, as for many years there was a large colony of these animals along nearby Granite Creek.

More prosaic are the logging areas Power, at Yarraman, named after the nearby Tarong power station; Million, at Amamoor near Gympie, named to describe the total superfeet of timber that grew in the area; Three Mile, indicating the distance the logging area is from the town of Kilkivan; and Resumption, at Monto, signifying that the land was, at some stage, resumed for forest production.

Some areas are named after trees, such as Ash, Bunya, Acacia and Bluegum. Some are named after animals, including Wallaby, Emu, Opossum and Blacksnake. Others are descriptive of the area and include Muddy, Sandy, Frosty, Limestone and Cliff. The Greek alphabet has provided Alpha, Beta, Delta and Epsilon.

Salt Shed, near Esk, was named after an old cattle salt lick that was in the area. Other areas were named after particular features such as Pitsaw, Gate, Ramp, Barb Wire, and Winder and Winch.

A number of logging areas are named after deceased forestry staff. Grenning and Swain were past Conservators. Rogers is named after a past Deputy Conservator. Twine, Sharman, Ashby, Mocatta and Woodrow are all named after Forest Rangers. Wrattens and Fraser were past Overseers.

Foresters and historians have a fascination for the history of forestry in Queensland, believing that as we enter the industry's second century in Queensland, it is important to appreciate where we’ve been as well.

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