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History of country town names - V


The following information is a summary of the origins for towns names in rural Western Australia. Please select the first letter of the town you wish to see.
Please note: The names of all rural towns are being added progressively to the database.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

VARLEY

Latitude 32° 48' S Longitude 119° 30' E

The townsite of Varley is located in the eastern agricultural region, 422 km east south east of Perth and 41 km north north west of Lake King. The area was opened up for agriculture in the 1930's, and in 1938 the local progress association sought the help of their member of Parliament to have a townsite declared. Approval was given in late 1938, and following survey the townsite of Varley was gazetted in 1939. Although local usage of the name was Lake Varley, the Varley form was favoured by the Nomenclature Advisory Committee, and Varley became the gazetted name. The townsite is named after nearby Lake Varley and Varley Rock. They were both named by the explorer Frank Hann in 1901, and although Hann does not specify the person he intended to honour by this name, it most likely honours Gustavus Varley, a public servant in the Mines Department in 1897, and appointed to the Lands and Surveys Department in 1904 as a Government Land Agent.


VASSE

Latitude 33° 41' S Longitude 115° 17' E

The townsite of Vasse is located in the south west, 240 km south south west of Perth and 11 km south west of Busselton. The townsite is named after the nearby Vasse River and Vasse Estuary, both of which are named after a French seaman, Thomas Timothee Vasse who was believed to have drowned here in June 1801. Vasse was a helmsman on the Naturaliste, a ship which was part of a French scientific expedition to Australia in 1801-03. He was washed overboard and lost, and the river was consequently named in his honour. In 1838, G.F. Moore interviewed the aboriginals about Vasse and noted in his diary that Vasse had not been drowned but died later from anxiety, exposure and poor diet.

Vasse townsite was formerly part of the Busselton Commonage reserve, an area set aside in 1879 for the common use of Busselton residents. In 1898 the land was inspected by the Department of Agriculture, and was proposed as suitable for subdivision into 5 and 10 acre blocks for dairying in support of the soon to open Busselton butter factory. The good land in the area was swamp land, and release of lots was delayed pending drainage. When subdivision was finalised in 1906, the surveyor suggested the area be named Vasse after the river, and the townsite of Vasse was then gazetted in 1907. The townsite is very elongated and covers three separate areas. Vasse Siding on the Busselton-Margaret River Railway was named in 1923.


VIVIEN

Latitude 27° 59' S Longitude 120° 34' E

Vivien is an abandoned goldfields townsite located 967 km north east of Perth and 14 km south west of Leinster. In 1905 the local progress association, calling itself the Progress Committee of Harris or Vivien requested the mining warden to arrange for lots to be made available. Development of Harris around 1903 was followed by an extension in 1905, commonly referred to as Vivien. The Vivien Gold Mine and the Vivien Gem Reef were located here. When the Lands and Surveys Department considered the gazettal of a townsite, both names were regarded as unsuitable and the Warden was asked to suggest an alternative name. He replied with strong support for Vivien, and Vivien townsite was gazetted in 1906. It is believed it may be named after the author May Vivienne whose book on travels in the Western Australian goldfields was published in 1902.

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