Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2017 October 23

= October 23 =

What did the Kaiser mean by "Nauticus"?
I am reading Lloyd George's War Memoirs. In Chapter 1, "The Brewing of the Storm", he mentions some notes of the Kaiser in which he says "For the rest, let them read the Navy Law - known for eleven years - and Nauticus!" What was Nauticus? DuncanHill (talk) 01:19, 23 October 2017 (UTC)


 * This source (p. 36) identifies it as "the navy's in-house yearbook". --   Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  01:28, 23 October 2017 (UTC)


 * Excellent, thank you, that helped me find this which calls it Tirpitz's journal for naval propaganda. DuncanHill (talk) 01:34, 23 October 2017 (UTC)

Swan River -> Western Australia
The prevailing wisdom on the Internet appears to be: Swan River Colony was established on 2 May 1829, and renamed Western Australia on 6 February 1832. You'll find many links on Google attesting to these two facts.

Now, it appears that "Swan River Colony" may not have been a formal name, and simply grew out of the fact that the colony was proclaimed at the mouth of the Swan River. But the Internet is very sure that it was officially renamed in 1832. And I cannot find any primary sourcing for this. Lots and lots of sites and even books say it happened, but I have found no detail on the mechanism or law that made it so, apart from the fact that James Stirling was specifically commissioned the governor of Western Australia starting on that date, so this may simply be the first time that name was used in a formal setting.

Does anyone know if there was any official naming of Swan River Colony, and if the rename in 1832 was a specific, official rename (like Van Diemen's Land -> Tasmania), or simply a matter of "well this is the title we gave the governor, so that sticks"? --Golbez (talk) 05:39, 23 October 2017 (UTC)


 * The British Act of Parliament under which the colony was established, the Western Australia Act 1829, seems to make no mention of the Swan River at all. The entry for Stirling, Sir James (1791–1865), the founder and first governor, calls the colony "the Swan River settlement", which suggests that it was an unofficial name. Alansplodge (talk) 10:16, 23 October 2017 (UTC)
 * User:Golbez, I just found Lieutenant-Governor Stirling's Instructions 30 December 1828 which was his letter of appointment. I'll leave you to try to decipher it, as I have run out of tea break. The precis uses the snappy title; "the Port on the Western Coast of New Holland at the mouth of the River called "Swan River" with the adjacent territory". Alansplodge (talk) 10:31, 23 October 2017 (UTC)
 * To muddy the waters a little, I also found Lieutenant-Governor Stirling's Proclamation of the Colony 18 June 1829 The precis says: "On 18 June, Stirling and others landed on the mainland at Rous Head and formally published, both on the mainland and at Garden Island, this Proclamation constituting His Majesty's Settlement in Western Australia". The phrase "His Majesty's Settlement in Western Australia" is in the first paragraph of the first page. The Museum of Australian Democracy's Timeline 60,000 BC–1836 has only "First meeting of the five-member Legislative Council of Western Australia" for 1832. Alansplodge (talk) 17:35, 23 October 2017 (UTC)
 * Yeah, that site has been very helpful to me, thanks... I suppose I shouldn't be surprised there's some variance in times, what with the extremely long travel time of information from London to Australia. --Golbez (talk) 13:48, 24 October 2017 (UTC)
 * See Western Australia Day.  A settlement was founded in the far south west of the continent in 1826 as a military outpost of New South Wales, and in 1827 claim was laid to the whole of the western third of Australia, which the British government ignored.   However, after representations by Stirling this was formalised by a Bill introduced in the British parliament in 1829 and proclaimed by Charles Fremantle when he arrived at the Swan River on 2 May.   The phrase "Swan River Colony" aptly described the new settlement, and by extension was applied to all the territory which came under his administration.   In 1831, however, the settlement in the south west was renamed Albany and placed under Stirling's jurisdiction .   On 4 March 1831 James Stirling was confirmed as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Western Australia.   So at that point the description "Swan River Colony" became an anachronism. 92.27.49.50 (talk) 13:52, 24 October 2017 (UTC)
 * Charles Fremantle never had jurisdiction, although on 9 May 1829 (one week after arriving) he took formal possession in the name of His Majesty King George IV of 'all that part of New Holland (Australia) which is not included within the territory of New South Wales'.  James Stirling, who arrived a few weeks later, had been appointed Governor the previous year. 92.8.218.38 (talk) 10:25, 25 October 2017 (UTC)