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What’s In A Name?
6/24/2011 2:13:30 PM
In our last issue we reported on a research study examining the derivation of Welsh names and the origins of some place names in Australia.
The study is being undertaken by Dr David Lucas, president of the Welsh Society of Canberra, in collaboration with Ian Kendall, a Melbournian who was born in North Wales and whose hobbies include British place names and Welsh Folk Dancing.
We are grateful to the researchers for allowing us to report upon some of their findings, including the identification of some place names in Australia which have - or are most likely to have - a definite Welsh connection.
Commencing with the letter ‘A’, these include:
Aberdare
A town in the Hunter Valley, NSW, now considered a suburb of Cessnock. Named after the area of Wales from which the Very Rev. Rabbi Morris came in 1903. Aberdare in Wales is in Cynon Valley, in the South Wales coalfields. Aberdare is also the name of a parish in Marreba Shire, on the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland.
Abergavenny
An historic parish, proclaimed in 1836, in the former County of Cumberland, Tasmania (now the Cumberland Land District). Abergavenny -Y Fenni in Modern Welsh - is a large town in NW Monmouthshire.
Aberglasslyn
A suburb of Maitland in the Hunter Valley, NSW. There is a mountain stream called Afon Glaslyn, which runs through the picturesque village of Beddgelert in the former county of Caernarvonshire. The Pass of Aberglaslyn (also known as Aberglaslyn Gorge), Pont Aberglaslyn and Aberglaslyn Hall are names that can be found in the same area.
The researchers say the meaning would be ‘mouth of the (river) Glaslyn’, with Glaslyn signifying ‘blue lake’ (Ayto & Crofton, 2005:6). They say: “The Maitland suburb of Aberglasslyn is home to Aberglasslyn House, a sandstone mansion built in 1842 and considered to be one of the most important early colonial homes in Australia.
“Aberglasslyn was the name of a farm owned by Henry Dixon Owen, who arrived in the Hunter Valley in 1822 (Hunter Valley Settlers 1837).
“The City of Maitland is also home to Bryn Glas, a mansion built around 1903 for Azariah Thomas, a Welsh mining engineer who arrived in the Hunter Valley in the 1890s.”
Abermain
A small town in the Hunter Valley, NSW, established in 1903 and now considered a suburb of Cessnock. The town is said to have been named after the Abermain coalmine which was opened in 1903. The surrounding district was called Aberdare.
According to the researchers, both names first came from mining towns in Wales. They point out that Kerry Hickley, MP for Cessnock, told Parliament that the Abermain Eisteddfod was “the oldest established eisteddfod in New South Wales and probably Australia, and strongly continues to this day.”
Acton
A suburb of central Canberra, ACT. This suburb was apparently named by Lieutenant Arthur Jeffreys RN in 1843 after a town in Denbighshire . Acton Park in Denbighshire is now a district of Wrexham.
Allynbrook
A village on the Allyn River in the Lower Hunter Valley, NSW. Citing sources claiming that early settlers named the village after places near the Welsh border, they submit that Allyn is probably a misspelling of Alyn, pointing out that the River Alyn -Afon Alun in Welsh - is a tributary of the river Dee in NE Wales.
Anglesea
A coastal resort in Victoria, SW of Geelong, and the name of the river on which the town stands. Anglesea Army barracks in Hobart, established in 1814 and named for Lord Anglesea, of the Board of Ordnance, is the oldest Australian Army barracks still in use. Anglesea is also the name of a small island in Leschenault Inlet, Bunbury, WA.
Anglesey
A county in central Victoria, proclaimed in 1849. The island of Anglesey in north Wales has a Norse name, from Ongulls Ey, meaning ‘Ongull’s Island’. The researchers cite further sources suggesting that the modern spelling and pronunciation, Anglesey, appears to have been influenced by the name ‘Angles’ to describe the English. Anglesey is also the name of a parish in Etheridge Shire, SW of Cairns, Queensland.