Notes on the Origins and Locations of Place Names
Newcastle - Lake Macquarie - Hunter Valley
R
Radfordslea Estate - near Black Creek. Singleton district. 2000 acres owned by Alexander Brodie Sparke
Ramsgate - Catherine Hill Bay
Rankin Park - Newcastle. Named for solicitor A.A. Rankin
Raspberry Clear - Singleton district
Raspberry Gully - original name for the present day Gully Line
Rathbourne Cottage - near Osterley
Rathmines - Edward Hely named 'Rathmines' after the family's home town near Dublin, Ireland. The disused Seaplane Base at Rathmines was purchased by the Lake Macquarie Council in 1964[42].
Rattigan - Estate of Alexander McLeod
Ravenodale - Wyong district - named after a place in Derbyshire, England [46]
Ravenscroft - At the Allyn River near Eccleston
Ravenshaw Hills - above Stroud River - see Dangar's map [29]
Ravenshaw St. Newcastle - named for J.H. Ravenshaw, director of A.A. Co.
Ravensworth - Estate belonging to James Bowman; situated in Co. of Durham between Fallbrook and Foybrook. Singleton district
Rawdon Stream - Co. of Gloucester, the name of the S. head of the Barrington River. [37]
Raworth - After a place in Suffolk, England. This land near Morpeth was a grant to James Griffith in 1823. John Howe purchased this 200 acres in 1839.
Raymond Terrace - After Midshipman Raymond, who in 1797 was sent by Lieut. Shortland by boat up the River Hunter and who remarked on the 'terraced'; appearance of the trees at the junction of the Hunter and William Rivers. The locality for some time was called 'Raymond's Terraces'.[46] Situated in Co. Gloucester on E. bank of Hunter river. According to Huntington also known as Green Hills. Alternative naming was after James Raymond Postmaster-General
Recovery - Estate at Lake Macquarie opposite Rev. Threlkeld in 1838
Redbourneberry - A grant of 700 to John Howe as reward for his discoveries. Situated on the eastern side of Singleton
Redmanvale - Singleton district
Red Head - Situated in Co. of Northumberland, a few miles north of Reid's Mistake (1848). Named after an adjacent red headland [46]
Red House - Inn known as The Red House - Black Creek
Reedy Creek - Singleton district. A small tributary of the Glendon Brook
Reid Lane - Newcastle. Named after James Reid whose office was in the brick terrace facing Watt St. and backing on to Reid street
Reid's Mistake - Situated at the entrance of Lake Macquarie. Named after the discoverer Captain William Reid, master of a small coasting vessel "Martha" who mistook the island outside for Nobbys and instead of entering Port Hunter as was his intention, took his vessel into this opening or entrance to Lake Macquarie.[46] Mullug-bula - the name of two upright rocks about nine feet high springing up from the side of a bluff head on the margin of Lake Macquarie; Beneath the mountain on which the two pillars stand was a seam of coal from which Reid obtained a cargo of coals when he mistook the entrance of Lake Macquarie for Newcastle {Threlkeld}
Retreat - Cattle run on the Macdonald River leased by Robert Pringle
Retreat Farm - Cockfighter's Creek
Rhondda - Teralba - site of the Rhondda Colliery. Named after a coal mining town in Wales [46]
Richmond Vale - near Maitland / Cessnock. Name of estate owned by John Palmer in 1823
Ringwood - Raymond Terrace
Riverville - Hunter River. Estate of Sampson Marshall
Rix's Creek - Singleton district . North tributary of the Hunter River flowing into it at Auckland
Robertson Street, Carrington - named after Sir John Robertson KCMG premier of NSW
Rocky Creek - Cattle station at Liverpool Plains leased by Robert Pringle
Rosebank - Grant of 2560 acres to Thomas Bartie - Hinton
Rosebrook - Estate of James Reid, Hunter River
Rosebrook Estate - 1 mile from Muswellbrook (1894)
Rose Cottage - Residence of John Eckford in 1852 - Maitland
Rose Hill Farm -Millfield. 320 acre far sold to John McDougall. Near the Rising Sun Inn, Wollombi
Rosemount - Estate of John Larnach 6 miles from Singleton
Rosemount Cottage - Situated in Bourke Street West Maitland
Rose Tree Hill - early name for Bennetts Green
Roslyn Castle - Raymond Terrace - House of Michael Henderson. Adjoined the Irrawang estate. House built at vast expense being a double pavilioned roofed mansion. Later purchased by the Bishop of Newcastle.
Roseneath - Day Street Maitland. Formerly the Queen Victoria Inn built by Samuel Clift
Rossett - Early name for Charles Boydell's Camyr Allyn estate
Rothbury - After a village near Morpeth, England.[46] Situated in Co. of Northumberland; bounded on the N. by Belford; W. by Ovingham and E. by Black creek. Singleton district
Rouchel named by Peter McIntyre of Segenhoe after a place in Perthshire, Scotland where it is spelled Ruchil but pronounced rouchel. It means red water [46]
Rouchel brook - An eastern tributary of the Upper Hunter, fed by Davis and Dry Creeks. Falls into the main stream about 6 miles NW of Aberdeen.
Roughit - Singleton district. So called because the early settlers had to rough it [46]
Rous Lench - part of the Edinglassie estate
Rowan - A parish in the co. of Durham bounded on the N. by Sandy Creek; S. by Muswellbrook; and W. by the River Hunter
Roxburgh - After a place in Scotland, the home town of the wife of Sir Thomas Brisbane, Governor of N.S.W.
Royal (Mount Royal) - A mountain situated in Co. of Durham; from this mountain the Allyn and Paterson rivers take their rise
Runnimede - property belonging to John Terry Hughes on Erina Creek
Rushholme - John Cobb. Situated on Munnimbah Brook - see Dangar's Map[29]
Russell - A parish in the Co. of Durham bounded N. and W. by the Hunter River and S. by Sandy Creek
Rutherford - After George Shaw Rutherford early settler
Ryhope - West of Awaba area. Named after a place in Durham, England [46]
Notes on the Origins and Locations of the Hunter Region has been derived from the following sources
[1] Trove - National Library of Australia
[2] Newcastle Morning Herald 11 December 1954
[3] The Newcastle Sun 2 May 1918
[4] The Newcastle Sun 26 January 1931
[5] The Many names of Newcastle Mulumbinba
[6] The Muswellbrook Chronicle 8 November 1899 ( native names of place from black tracker Jimmy of Muswellbrook)
[7] Lake Macquarie History of Places
[8] Cadell, F.A., Survey of Newcastle, Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Australian Historical Society, 1936
[9] Davies, Noel, Convict Nobbys : the story of the convict construction of Macquarie's Pier and the reconstruction of Nobbys Island
[10] Historical Roads of New South Wales
[11] Keith H. Clouten, Reid's mistake : the story of Lake Macquarie from its discovery until 1890
[12] County Electors in Newcastle 1855
[13] Hunter Estates Comparative Heritage Study
[14] The Dungog Chronicle 6 July 1949
[15] The Scone Advocate 24 July 1894 (Muswellbrook names)
[16] Wingham Chronicle 13 November 1931 (Manning River places)
[17] King Tom's Aboriginal Geography in Memorandum of E.C. Close, in Australian Town and Country Journal, 12 January 1878, p. 8.
[18] Aboriginal names, Australian Town and Country Journal 11 January 1879p. 17
[19] Henry Thomas Ebsworth papers, June 1825-February 1827; with illustration and maps
[20] Horsemen of the First Frontier (1788-1900) and the Serpent's Legacy Front Cover Keith Robert Binney
[21] An Australian Language as spoken by the Awabakal, the people of Awaba, Lake Macquarie, being an account of their language, traditions and customs - Lancelot Threlkeld (many of the aboriginal terms above have come from this source which is probably the language of the lower Hunter tribes)(many of the aboriginal terms above have come from this source which is probably the language of the lower Hunter tribes)
[22] Hunter Living Histories - Ludwig Leichhardt in Newcastle
[23] A geographical dictionary or gazetteer of the Australian colonies ... By William Henry Wells
[24] Placenames as a guide to language distribution in the Upper Hunter - Jim Wafer
[25] Lake Macquarie : past and present
[26] Wangi Wangi Street Names by Clive Read
[27] Forgotten place names of Lake Macquarie - Lake Macquarie Library online
[28] Lake Macquarie: Parish of Awaba, County of Northumberland, Shire of Lake Macquarie. Parish map in 4 sheets and reference sheet: South East Sheet
[29] Map of the Hunter River and its branches by Henry Dangar 1828
[30] Robert Dixon's 1837 Map - Trove
[31] Ensign Francis Barrallier's Map 1801 - Hunter Living Histories
[32] Australian Town and Country Journal 22 November 1873
[33] Procter's Sketch 1841 - Hunter Living Histories
[34] Tegg's Pocket Almanac
[35] Map of Young Wallsend (Edgeworth) showing Salty Creek Recreation Area, c.1920. Scanned from: Road and tourists' map of Lake Macquarie and environs, H. E. C. Robinson Limited, Sydney.
[36] Salty Creek Recreation Area
[37] Geographical Encyclopaedia of New South Wales
[38] Atlas of the settled counties of New South Wales - State Library NSW
[39] Maitland Weekly Mercury 4 July 1896
[40] Empire 3 Dec 1853 Lecture on the Kamilaroi Blacks (Rev. William Ridley)
[41) Israel's subdivision map of Wangi c. 1923. State Library of NSW
[42] Hunter 2000, National Trust of Australia (NSW), 1973
[43] Lauchland, E. S., Homes we Visited - Dumore. Newcastle & Hunter District Historical Society Journal, 1947 p. 39
[44] Boyle's Lower Hunter index, 1801-1883 (Harry Boyle)
[45] Hunter Valley Place Names and their Meanings, Newcastle Library, Archived 14 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
[46] Toponomy: Place Names of New South Wales: Their Origin, Meaning and Locality, compiled by J. Carlos W. Stretch
[47] Rediscovering the Coquun: towards an environmental history of the Hunter River. Address given at the River Forum 2000 at Wyndham Estate, Hunter River; by Glenn Albrecht PhD, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Studies, The University of Newcastle
[48] How Many Inventors? Russell Rigby, Hunter Living Histories, 10 October 2017
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