Placenames in Australia and New Zealand named after famous people

 I wondered about how many places in Australia and New Zealand are named after famous people. My first thought was Victoria after Queen Victoria. My second thought was Melbourne, after her minister, Melbourne.

I did a search with Gemini and was delighted to find a whole lot more, especially Tasmania and Cook.

Australia

States, Territories & Capital

• Victoria: State named after Queen Victoria of Great Britain.

• Queensland: State also named in honor of Queen Victoria.

• Tasmania: State named after Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who was the first European to reach the island in 1642 (formerly Van Diemen's Land).

• Brisbane (Queensland): Capital city named after Sir Thomas Brisbane, Governor of New South Wales (1821–1825).

• Sydney (New South Wales): Capital city named in honor of Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney, British Home Secretary.

• Melbourne (Victoria): Capital city named after British Prime Minister William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne.

• Darwin (Northern Territory): Capital city named after naturalist Charles Darwin by his former shipmate Captain John Clements Wickham of HMS Beagle.

• Hobart (Tasmania): Capital city named after Robert Hobart, 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire, British Colonial Secretary.

Major Cities & Regions

• Adelaide (South Australia): Named after Queen Adelaide, wife of King William IV of the United Kingdom.

• Perth (Western Australia): Named by Sir James Stirling after Perth, Scotland, in honor of Sir George Murray, British Secretary of State for War and the Colonies (who was born in Perthshire).

• Townsville (Queensland): Named after founder and sea captain Robert Towns.

• Alice Springs (Northern Territory): Named after Alice Todd, wife of Sir Charles Todd, Superintendent of Telegraphs during the construction of the Australian Overland Telegraph Line.

• Flinders Ranges / Flinders Island: Named after navigator and cartographer Matthew Flinders, who first circumnavigated mainland Australia.

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New Zealand

Major Cities & Regions

• Auckland: Largest city named in honor of George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland, First Lord of the Admiralty.

• Wellington: Capital city named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, hero of the Battle of Waterloo.

• Christchurch: Named after Christ Church college at Oxford University, heavily associated with British politician and founder John Robert Godley.

• Nelson: City named in honor of British naval hero Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson.

• Picton: Town named after Sir Thomas Picton, a British general who died at the Battle of Waterloo.

• Gisborne: Named after William Gisborne, New Zealand Colonial Secretary (1869–1872).

• Palmerston North: Named after Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, former British Prime Minister.

• Hastings: City named after Warren Hastings, the first Governor-General of India.

• Napier: City named after Sir Charles Napier, British general in the Anglo-Sikh Wars.

Geographic Features

• Cook Strait & Mount Cook (Aoraki): Named after English explorer Captain James Cook, the first European to circumnavigate and map New Zealand.

• Tasman Glacier / Tasman Sea: Named after Dutch explorer Abel Tasman.

• Foveaux Strait: Named after Joseph Foveaux, Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island and administrator of New South Wales.

• How many more do you know? Please contact me through comments. 

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