DOLA Internet home page contains history of northern suburbs

10/5/97

The name of the suburb of Mariginiup, created north of Wanneroo in 1982, is Aboriginal for 'the place where I hurt my foot'.

Nedlands is thought to have been named by colonial Military Commander Colonel John Bruce in 1854, who intended the land to be the heritage of his son, Edward, and referred to it as 'Ned's Land'.

Burswood is derived from 'Burrs-Wood' and received its name from original land owner Henry Camfield, after his father's farm in England, but was mispelled by the men who painted the sign for the first railway station in the area, coming to be known hence as Burswood.

Mirrabooka is an Aboriginal word for the Southern Cross constellation and Nollamara is the Aboriginal word for the red and green kangaroo paw - Western Australia's floral emblem.

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.

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.

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 WA."

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.

Further information: Anabel Gomez 9366 0300