Darwin

Location

Description

The central business area of the city derives its name from the harbour which was named by Wickham and Stokes in 1839 after their former shipmate, Charles Darwin, who had been with them on a previous voyage in the "HMS Beagle". Surveyor-General Goyder when he established the settlement in 1869 named the town - Palmerston - but by 1900 this had reverted to Port Darwin and later to simply Darwin - since all communications were by sea, goods and passengers continued to be consigned to PORT DARWIN. In 1911, when the Commonwealth relieved the State of South Australia of the economic burden the Territory had become, DARWIN was adopted as the official name of the capital