DOLA Internet home page contains history of Maddington/Gosnells

8/5/97

Maddington was named about 1832 after the outer London suburb and Gosnells takes its name from land-owner Charles Gosnells, a director of a famous London perfume manufacturing firm.

Kelmscott was named after a town in Oxfordshire, England, the birthplace of Archdeacon Scott, who was one of the colony's first ordained ministers and held Perth's first Christmas service.

Thornlie was named in 1956. Sources say it was named after Thornlie Bank in Madras. When pastorlist and merchant Walter Padbury owned the land it was run as an experimental farm by his niece's husband, Frank James, whose grandfather was in business at Thornlie Bank.

Perth was named after the Scots city by colonial Lieutenant Governor James Stirling, himself a Scotsman, under instructions from Britain's then Secretary for the Colonies, Sir George Murray, a politician from Scotland's Perthshire.

Lands Minister Doug Shave said finding the history behind the names of Perth's 333 suburbs was one of the fascinating things people could do by accessing the Department of Land Administration's (DOLA's) new LandSearch WA Home Page on the Internet's World Wide Web at http://dola.gov.wa.au.

Mr Shave said DOLA, which recently won gold and silver awards at the national Government Technology Productivity Awards, had become the latest State Government department to showcase its varied products and services through the Internet.

"Publishing relevant, up to date and useful information for customers on the Internet is in keeping with DOLA's continuous improvement in customer service," the Minister said.

"The department will build on the current web site and is seriously looking at future opportunities for electronic commerce.

"As the name of the site (LandSearch WA) suggests, the ultimate aim is to provide the public with a facility for online searching of land information in Western Australia."

The information provided, including how to use maps, measure distances and take compass bearings, was designed for adults and school children.

The site also detailed the latest information on changes to the strata titles legislation. User-friendly 'How To' kits have also been published to explain the conversion options now available to strata title owners.

The LandSearch WA web site was designed and developed by Dow Digital of Osborne Park.

Media Contact: Anabel Gomez 9366 0300