46

Union Street,
Toowong, S.W.1.
March, 1st, 1941.

Mr Sydney May,
Hon. Sec. Place Names Committee,
University of Queensland,

Dear Sir,

Your letter of 28th ultimo is to hand. Regarding the
letter in last Tuesday's Telegraph, I have noted it and have
replied thereto, but I think my letter has not yet been
published.

Regarding Domville Taylor and Back Creek,- - according to
H.S. Russell, "Genesis of Queensland", and Thos. Hall," History
of the Warwick District", a Mr. Wingate took up land at what
was known as the Broadwater on the Condamine River. He, shortly
afterwards, handed it over to Dr. Rolland and Domville Taylor,

It was then named Tummavil. Hall states that the name
originated by the liberty some of Taylor's friends took with his
christian name. I do not know if Back Creek was included in
this holding but it probably was, for Mount Domville, named after
Taylor lies to the west of it. I lived for some months in
1906 at Milmerran near where I established a branch business of
the Silverwood Dairy Company. While there, an early selector
of the district informed me that Tummavil was an aboriginal
pronunciation of Domville which had been adopted as the name
of the Station. My informant also told me that the local
township was to have been named from Mount Domville but it was
finally decided to name it after the native's name for the Mount,
i.e. Mil merran, the meaning of which I have already given you.

The accentis on the first syllable of the second word and the
r's are slightly stressed. By the places named after him, I
think that Taylor must have popularly known by his
christian name. My informant---I much regret that I cannot
recall his name--- spoke of him as Captain Domville, but I do
not know whether he bore this title. Rolland and Taylor
did not long hold Tummaville--- as it is spelled--- long
before

[edited in pencil, some place names underlined]