A Look into the Past - Swansea
The first glimpse of a name came from the captains of the small trading vessels plying between Cooranbong and Sydney with cargoes of shells, shingles and timber. Using the extremity of the peninsula as a navigational reference they gave it the name of ‘Pelican Point’ no doubt due to the enormous flocks of birds that seemed to congregate there.
In about 1870 William Boyd applied for a liquor licence for his establishment that sits where the Paris Apartment is located today. A licence was eventually granted in 1876 for the sale of wine, cider and perry (wine made form pears) and one of the requirements was to give the establishment a name and ‘The Pelican Point Hotel’ was his choice.
In 1879 Robert Talbot a postmaster at Catherine Hill Bay was granted permission to move his Postal Services to a new yet to named location and an official name was required for this to happen. Postal services began on 1 December 1879 and the name chosen was ‘Pelican Flat’. The town now had an official name.
Around the same time an application for the publican’s licence was granted and the name for this establishment was ‘The Pelican Flat Hotel’.
On 7 October 1887 a public meeting was held for the purpose of altering the name of this growing township from ‘Pelican Flat’ to ‘Swansea. Chaired by Postmaster Robert Talbot and after lengthy discussion it was passed unanimously.
It has long been suggested that the choice came from Swansea in Wales, UK, where in the Welsh dialect the name Swansea becomes ‘Abertawe’ meaning where the river ‘Tawe’ enters the ‘Irish Sea’ and our Swansea channel enters the Pacific Ocean in the same way.
It is also alleged that Robert Talbot chose the name because of his family’s association with Port Talbot at the mouth of the river ‘Tawe’.
We should also be mindful of the fact that ‘Pelican Flat,’ at this time, as well as supporting huge numbers of pelicans, was also a ‘Sea of Swans’. On the 5 December 1865 cargo listed on William Boyd’s ketch ‘Village Maid’ included 40 pairs of ‘Black Swans’. It was said the birds were so numerous that to stand at the lakes edge and gaze upon their upturned feeding rumps was not unlike looking at recently ploughed fields.
Sourced from ‘What’s in a name’ by George and Noelene Boyd. Published by the East Lake Macquarie Historical Society.
|
 |
CONTENTS
newsletter archive
|
