Naming of Toodyay, Western Australia

The town of Toodyay, Western Australia was not always known by that name. Initially Toodyay was located in what is now West Toodyay before repeated flooding caused the town centre to migrate to the area around the Newcastle convict depot creating the town of Newcastle. After approximately 50 years of confusion the name of Newcastle was changed to Toodyay and the original Toodyay became known as West Toodyay.

The original townsite of Toodyay was determined in 1836. Following serious flooding in 1857 and 1859, the decision was made to transfer the town to the site of the Toodyay Convict Depot located approximately 5 kilometres (3 mi) upstream.

The new township, to be known as Newcastle, was gazetted on 1 October 1860. The name "Newcastle" was derived from the Secretary of State for the Colonies, the Duke of Newcastle. The township of "Old" Toodyay continued to exist, although it ceased to expand.

In August 1909, the Federal authorities urged the town of Newcastle to change its name. The towns of Newcastle in New South Wales and Newcastle in Western Australia were being confused. All too often the problem of duplicated place names was causing mail to go astray.

One instance of mail going astray concerned an item discovered by Sir John Forrest. A beautiful French ormolu clock had been delivered mistakenly to Newcastle, New South Wales, where it had sat unclaimed. Forrest recognised that the clock belonged to William Demasson of Newcastle, Western Australia, and arranged for it to be restored to its rightful owner. This incident is known to have contributed to the call for change.

In February 1910, the Municipal Council held a referendum and, by a slim majority, it was decided to change the name of the town to Toodyay. On 6 May 1910, it was declared that the town of Newcastle would henceforth be known as Toodyay and the old town of Toodyay would henceforth be known as West Toodyay.

The French Ormolu clock, long held by the Demasson family, was purchased by the National Trust of Western Australia in 1987. In turn, the clock, together with its documents was offered to the Toodyay Historical Society. On 21 October 2007, the clock was welcomed back to the town of Toodyay.

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