Bahrs Scrub                                                                                              

Bahr was a pioneer who took up land in the area.    

BakingBoard                                                                                                

A piece of bark was kept at this location for teamsters to make their damper on while camped on this higher ground west of Chinchilla.     

Bald Hills                                                                                                   

Two treeless hills amid scrub-covered plain gave rise to the descriptive Bald Hills, and this has been its official designation from 1871. Its Aboriginal name was Wyampa. There is a story about these bald hills being used by cattle duffers years before the first permanent settlers moved in which says that it was they who first made use of what has become the name for the district.     

Ballandean                                                                                             

According to the Queensland Railways, the Ballandean holding on the Granite Belt from which the district derived its name, was named after two early pioneers, Messer Ball and Dean. However it has more reliably been acknowledged as the name of the Scottish birthplace of Robert Mackenzie, the first owner of Ballandean Run. It means dwelling in the valley.        

Balmoral                                                                                                   

The existence of Balmoral House in the area may have influenced the choice of name, but the local authority area was given the name of Balmoral on its proclamation by the Executive Council, 21 January, 1888, in honour of the royal residence in Scotland acquired by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1852. The name in Gaelic means homestead in a big clearing.

Balmoral in Scotland has been a country retreat for British monarchs over the years since then. Prince Albert left his mark on the property through his overseeing of the rebuilding program and the establishment of the gardens, and because of this Balmoral Castle had a special place in Queen Victoria’s affections during the long years of her widowhood.

The name Balmoral was used in the subdivision of this Brisbane property in the latter part of the 19th century when Queen Victoria still ruled. It was confirmed in 1927 when the name was given to the tram terminus.       

Bannockburn                                                                                       

Bannockburn, a name derived from the stream, Bannock Burn, was the scene for a famous Scottish battle in 1314 when the Scots under Robert the Bruce routed the English forces under Edward II. Bannockburn, south of Windaroo, keeps the memory of that event, so important to Scottish nationalism, alive on the other side of the globe.   

Banyo                                                                                                      

According to Europeans, this was the Aboriginal name for the area and meant a ridge or small hill. Sir James Dixon, Minister for Railways, had earlier dubbed the railway junction there Clapham Junction, but the name Banyo has been used from about 1887.   

Bapaume                                                                                                   

Like other soldier settlement areas on the Granite Belt, this area was named after a First World War battlefield in France, where Australian soldiers fought.   

Barakula                                                                                                                                    

The State Forest near Chinchilla is aptly named as the Aboriginal word meant tall and big timber.   

Barambah

The name refers to the westerly wind.

Bardon                                                                                                     

The suburb derives its name from the house Joshua Jeays built for his wife in 1863. This prominent Brisbane architect and builder named it after Bardon Hill in his native Leicestershire. Architecturally the house which still stands, now owned by the Catholic Church, is in the Early Victorian Gothic Revival style and has been likened, in appearance, to an English manor house. Sadly his wife died before the house was completed, and he refused to live in it. His son took it over. Then later his daughter, married to Sir Charles Lilley, formerly Premier of the Colony of Queensland and recently made Chief Justice, lived there. It was later occupied by another Queensland Premier, Sir Thomas McIlwraith.    

Baroon Pocket Dam

From barun-ba, a place where fish could be obtained, but the name is also said to refer to an open grassy space or to the rat kangaroo. 

Baroona                                                                                                  

Baroona Road remains to remind us of an area once known as Baroona after the house of that name, a house which at one time belonged to Robert Philp who with James Burns formed the Burns Philp Company and was a member of parliament and, for a short period, Premier. The name is of Aboriginal derivation and means a place far away. 

Basin Pocket

Captain Logan named the limit of navigation on the Bremer River 'The Basin" and suggested that it would be a good site for a town. The name of Basin Pocket derived from this earlier designation. 

Battery Hill

This area near Caloundra gained its name from the fortifications built there in the 1880s when there was some fear of a Russian incursion.

Bauple

The Aboriginal name referred to the mountain, supposedly the dwelling place of a lizard-like demon.  The name refers to the frilled lizard. It has also been spelt Bopple, Boppil, Bahpil, Boopal and Baphal.

Beachmere                                                                                                   

It is said that a Mr Bonney who settled in the area around 1870 called it Beachmere because of the strip of sandy beach set amidst a marshy countryside. William Goodwin Geddes was the first person to hold freehold title for the area between King John Creek and the beach. About 1887 Millman moved from Oaklands to start dairying there and in the Millmans’ time it started to be used by picnicking parties.     

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