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A to Z of Darwin




The Names of the Streets of Darwin

Darwin Harbour was sighted in 1839 by John Lort Stokes of HMS Beagle. The ship’s captain, John Clements Wickham, named it after Charles Darwin, the British Naturalist, who had sailed with him on an earlier expedition of the Beagle. It was not until 1869 that a permanent European settlement was established by the South Australian Government who had control of the Territory until its transfer to the Commonwealth in 1911.

On 5th February 1869, George W. Goyder, the Surveyor-General of South Australia, established a small settlement at Port Darwin. Goyder named the settlement Palmerston (now known as Darwin), after the current British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston.

The town plan had been drawn up on board the ‘Moonta’ during the voyage north from Adelaide by Joseph Brooks, the expedition’s official photographer and draughtsman. This was because Goyder had got Brooks to use the grid-plan of the town of Adelaide which he intended to simply transpose to the location upon arrival. Goyder named the streets of Palmerston after surveyors and members of his party except for Cavenagh Street, which was named after Wentworth Cavenagh-Mainwaring (1822-1895), a South Australian farmer, land agent and MP who was the Commissioner for Lands. His name was given to the principal street and the town square. Brooks transposed North Terrace to become Mitchell Street, Franklin Street became McGinn Street, Morphett Street was transposed as Bennett Street and Hutt Street became Daly Street.

No one had taken into consideration that it was the middle of the monsoon season, the worst time of the year to do what they planned to do, and so they spent much of the first few weeks battling wild weather as they looked for a suitable site for the township. Goyder settled on Fort Point in Darwin Harbour. Once the surveyors finally set to work, it was soon evident that a much smaller elongated version was called for as, unlike Adelaide, Palmerston would directly face the sea. It took Goyder just one morning to go ashore and modify the grid pattern of Adelaide to fit the topography before surveying of town lots could begin.

Within two weeks, the town survey had been completed and by 26th April, plans and drafts of the township were sent to Adelaide with photographs, so as to meet a 1st October deadline when land would go on sale there. 43,000 acres had been surveyed into 160 and 360 acre sections around the townsite, with 1,019 allotments in the town itself. Field surveys of 600,000 acres were completed by the end of August.

The first permenant building was The Residency, erected on a hill facing Fort Hill where Goyder had first planted the Union Jack. The Residency was built to be the home of the new Resident, Capt. Bloomfield Douglas, who arrived to take up his post in June 1870. In that year, the first poles for the Overland Telegraph were erected. The discovery of gold at Pine Creek in the 1880’s further boosted the young colony’s development. Upon Commonwealth administration, Darwin became the city’s new name.

Lambell Street: Acountant and Postmaster J.M. Lambell. He kept the accounts during the expedition and looked after the mail for the survey groups. Lambell issued instructions on behalf of Goyder, recalling parties etc when required.


Hood Street: Goyder expedition staff member F.W. Hood.


Daly Street: Daniel Dominick Daly (the nephew of the Governor of SA, Sir Dominic Daly) who was a 2nd class surveyor with G.G. McLachlan’s No. 6 Party with Goyder’s Expedition of 1869. Mr Daly afterwards married Harriet Douglas, the daughter of Captain Douglas, who was the first officially appointed Government Resident at old Palmerston (Darwin). He relieved Dr Millner who had been acting in that capacity.





McLachlan Street: George McLachlan (above), a 1st Class Surveyor in charge of No. 6 Party, Goyder’s expedition, 1869. A JP, he died of disease of the lungs in March 1873, at Port Darwin. Flags were flown at half mast. McLachlan found the Northern Territory’s first commercial goldfield near Pine Creek. He had contributed a great deal to the initial survey of Palmerston and particularly in the area around Virginia. He had also been involved in the exploration of a route for the proposed Overland Telegraph Line between Katherine and Palmerston (later Darwin).





Peel Street: surgeon Dr Robert Peel (above). He was the surgeon of Goyder’s party and Darwin’s Medical Officer and Protector of Aborigines until he left in September 1869.


Bennett Street: J.W.O Bennett, a Draftsman who was killed by natives at Fred’s Pass. His body was interred on the top of Fort Hill, and a monument erected there. Speared between hours 12 and 1 pm on Monday, 24th May, 1869. Died 10am Friday, 28th May. He was taken by wagon to Elizabeth River landing and then by boat to Fort Hill where he was buried at 2.30 pm on Saturday 29th May. The name was applied by Surveyor General Goyder in 1869.





Knuckey Street: 2nd class surveyor Richard Randall Knuckey (above). Knuckey surveyed part of the Overland Telegraph Line in later years. Born in Cornwall (England), Knuckey was educated in Kadina (SA), trained as a surveyor in Adelaide and served in the Northern Territory.


Green Street: cadet surveyor C.N. Greene. The letter ‘e’ was deleted when the name was gazetted.


Harvey Street: 1st class surveyor William Harvey. He would later work on surveying for the Overland Telegraph line.



McMinn Street

McMinn Street: 1st class surveyor Gilbert Rothgate McMinn. After assisting with laying out the town, McMinn stayed on in Darwin with the first settlers and eventually became the Northern Territory’s senior surveyor. He designed a number of Darwin’s first public buildings, including the old Court House, Cell Block and Police Station on The Esplanade.

McMinn had migrated to South Australia in 1850 and on leaving school, took up surveying. Prior to coming to the Territory as a Senior Surveyor under Goyder in 1869, he was at Escape Cliffs in 1864 with the Boyle Travers Finniss expedition. He was placed in charge of surveying the Central Sections of the Overland Telegraph Line, and later appointed Government Resident of the Northern Territory. He held freehold sections in the Darwin Rural area.







Wood Streets: 1st class surveyor A.T. Woods. He was in charge of No. 2 Party, on G.W. Goyder’s expedition of 1869.





Smith Street: 1st class surveyor A.H. Smith (above). He was in charge of Number 3 survey party. (Previously known as Smith St West prior to 1st July 1970 and prior to 1954 – Beetson Street).


Cavenagh Street: Wentworth Cavenagh-Mainwaring (1822-1895), the Commissioner for Lands, a South Australian farmer, land agent and MP. His name was given to the principal street and the town square.





Mitchell Street: 1st class surveyor Alexander James Mitchell. Goyder’s second in command, Mitchell was in charge of the Number 1 survey party. He was involved in the actual surveying of the land where the current Palmerston stands. Following the surveying around Port Darwin, he is known to have been employed by the Lands Department in NSW prior to emigrating to California, USA, in 1874.


Sandover Lane: the business firm of post-war Darwin, Millar and Sandover, which originated in Western Australia.


Searcy Street: Alfred Searcy, Sub Collector for SA Customs 1883-1896 with headquarters at old Palmerston. Author of “In the Australian Tropics” and “In Northern Seas”.


Shadforth Lane: Ernest Henry Shadforth, Water Supply Supervisor in Works Department before and after World War II. Enlisted from Darwin in 1939 and saw service in the Middle East. His father originally owned Springvale at Katherine. Mr. Shadforth died in 1961.


Shepherd Street: Frank Shepherd, a Government Surveyor, who was responsible for many surveys in the Territory. He was Surveyor General of the Territory from 1932-1938.


West Lane: William West, Chief Supervisor of Public Works 1925 to 1942. Travelled extensively over North Australia in the course of duty. He died about 1955.


Whitfield Street: W.M. Whitfield, the first Town Clerk for the first District Council of old Palmerston in 1874. Originally the street was known as Whitefield Street but when this was found to be incorrect the name was changed to Whitfield Street.

Beetson Street: cadet surveyor D.L. Beetson.

McKay Street: cadet surveyor A.L. McKay.


Schultze Street: survey party botanist F.W. Schultze.

Burden Street: cadet surveyor P.H. Burden.

Thomas Street: 2nd class surveyor J.M. Thomas.


King Street: 2nd class surveyor Stephen King Jnr. The name King Creek was applied by W P Auld in 1865 after Stephen King Snr to the upper reaches of the Creek whilst Auld was traversing from Escape Cliffs to Port Darwin.

Roberts Street: cadet surveyor JF Roberts.


Christopher Giles Jnr.

Giles Street: cadet surveyor Christopher Giles Jnr. Giles was later a surveyor under Richard Knuckey when he surveyed the central part of the Overland Telegraph Line in later years.


Esplanade: designated by Goyder as a “Public Esplanade”. It first appeared on Goyder’s plan of old Palmerston as the area of foreshore around the town that faces Darwin Harbour. The name was later applied to the road that would eventually be built through it.

Atkinson Walk: Carl Atkinson who took up a lease for the purpose of ship maintenance and storage at Doctors Gully in the early 1950s. A renowned deep sea diver and engineer he designed and built his own decompression chamber which saved the lives of a number of divers over the years. He also fed a large school of milkfish which came regularly to the inlet of Doctors Gully on high tide. The area is now a popular tourist destination. He died on the Gold Coast in 1985.

Austin Lane: Frederick Steeple (Suny) Austin who was an Insurance and General Agent in Darwin for 30 years. He died in 1960.

Briggs Street: Arthur A Briggs, Staff Surveyor in the NT 1913-1915, who affected extensive surveys between Darwin and Newcastle Waters.

Chapel Lane: Named after a “Chapel” which is an old term describing a printing office. A meeting of the chapel is a gathering of the members of a union involved in the printing and publishing business. The name commemorates the NT News occupation of a nearby site from mid-1960 until 1968.

Edmunds Street: Robert Henry Edmunds (1834-1917) who was a prominent surveyor connected with Northern Territory surveys and explorations. He was with Boyle Travers Finniss on the second expedition to Adam Bay and Escape Cliffs in 1864-5, and guided the survivors back to Dar win in sensational circumstances.. Later Edmunds was superintendent of the Yatala Labour Prison.

Paul Foelsche

Foelsche Street: Paul Heinrich Matthias Foelsche who was the Inspector in Charge in the NT Police Force 1870-1904. He was widely known for his earliest photographs of Darwin. Foelsche died in 1914 aged 83.

Gardiner Street: Waiter Gardiner, the first white child born at Palmerston (now Darwin) in 1869.

Lindsay Street: David Lindsay, born 1854. Noted NT Surveyor and explorer from 1878 to 1916. He died in 1922.

Frederick Henry Litchfield

Litchfield Street: Frederick Henry Litchfield, explorer and Special Constable, old Palmerston NT with Finniss’ survey party 1864/5. He was the first to find gold at Tumbling Waters in 1868.

Mott Court: John W. Mott, Staff Surveyor NT 1913-15. Effected extensive surveys between Roper River and north coast. He established an accurate longitude fix at Katherine, this being the first in the locality. Originally named Mott Street in 1955.

Nuttall Place: Wilfred Nuttall, Works Supervisor under W West and later successor in office until his retirement in 1955. He was with the Works Deptartment for 28 years and died in 1960.

Reg Leydin Place: Reginald (Reg) Sylvester Leydin who was a member of the first Administration. He was later appointed Town Clerk under Mayor Watts in 1928 and following the War became Government Secretary and Member for the legislative Council in 1948. He also acted as Administrator in 1954.

Spain Place: Antonio Spain, an old identity of Darwin who came from Thursday Island in 1894. He was a diver and later a hairdresser and his son Felix who was born on 21st February 1893 carried on the hairdressing business until his death.

Stott Lane: Gordon Cameron Heaslop Stott, a Northern Territory Policeman who served for 41 years from 1924 until his death in 1965.

Turncock Place: recalls Robert (Bob) Sidney Parker aka Turncock, who joined the NT Public Works Department in 1918 and in 1924 purchased a block of land overlooking Doctors Gully. During the war he was part of the essential services team engaged in the provision and maintenance of the Darwin water supply. For security reasons both Bob Parker and his home carried the code name Turncock. This name has been commemorated in the area where the Parker residence was once situated. Bob Parker was awarded the BEM in 1961 for meritorious service after 42 continuous years in Government employment in the Northern Territory. He died in 1974.

Yuen Place: Yuen Yet Hing (better known as Yuen Yet Leong) who arrived in Darwin in 1886 and died in Darwin in 1916. He owned land in Cavenagh Street and traded under the name Yet Leong and Company.

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