Landgate

Logon to > MyLandgate

History of River Names - D


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

A B C D E F G H I J K L M

DAILEY RIVER – the Dailey River is a 9km long coastal stream on the south coast east of Esperance, near Duke of Orleans Bay. It was named by Commander J W Combe RN of HMS ‘Penguin’ during hydrographic surveys in 1900 after Mr R J Dailey, the boatswain aboard HMS ‘Penguin’.


DALE RIVER – The Dale River is a major tributary of the Avon River, and flows generally north east for about 75km before joining the Avon north west of Beverley. The river was named by Governor James Stirling prior to 1835 after Ensign Robert dale who first sighted the river during explorations in September 1831


DALE RIVER SOUTH – this river is the 38km long southern branch of the Dale River. It begins near Dattening and flows generally northerly.


DALYUP RIVER – the Dalyup River is a south coastal river, rising west of Scaddan and flowing generally southerly for 46km into Lake Gore. It was named the Gore River by Surveyor General J S Roe in 1848, after Third Lieutenant John Gore of Captain Cook’s bark the ‘Endeavour’, but referred to as the ‘Gage or Dal-yup River by surveyor Carey in 1875. Dalyup is an Aboriginal word which may be associated with the Noongar word for the King Parrot or Hookbill.


DALYUP RIVER WEST – this is the 39km long western branch of the Dalyup, first recorded a surveyor in 1925.


DANDALUP RIVER – the Dandalup is one of the shortest rivers in the state, being only 4km long. It is formed where the North and South Dandalup Rivers meet north of Pinjarra, and flows for about 4km to its confluence with the Murray River. The name is of Aboriginal origin, having been first recorded by a surveyor in 1835.


DARE RIVER – the Dare River is a short desert stream which rises in the Schwerin Mural Crescent near Giles, and flows for about 8km in a generally south east course. It was first noticed signposted in 1984, and is probably named after John Dare, a resident of Alice Springs who ran tourist buses out to the Giles Meteorological Station.


DARKIN RIVER – the Darkin River is a 27km long tributary of the Helena River, rising in state forest and flowing generally north westerly into the Helena at Lake O’Connor. The name is Aboriginal of unknown meaning.


DAVIS RIVER – the Davis River is a 116km long tributary of the Oakover River in the eastern Pilbara. It was named by surveyor W F Rudall in 1897, although F T Gregory had named a river in this general vicinity the Davis in 1861. The origin of the name is not known.


DE GREY RIVER – the De Grey River is one of the major rivers of the Pilbara region, rising at the confluence of the Oakover and Nullagine Rivers, and flowing generally westwards and north westwards for about 193km into Breaker Inlet on the Indian Ocean. The length of the De Grey and its longest tributary, the Oakover, is 468km. The De Grey was named by the surveyor/explorer F T Gregory in 1861 ‘in honour of the noble Lord who took a lively interest in promoting the objects of the expedition’. This was Earl de Grey, later the Marquis of Ripon, who was President of the Royal Geographical Society in 1859-60.


DE LANCOURT RIVER – the De Lancourt River is located in the east Kimberley region, and is a 57km long tributary of the Berkerly River. The name was adopted by the Surveyor General in 1927 after J C De Lancourt who explored in the region in 1926. The location of the river was doubtful for some time, and the current position was adopted in 1963.


DEEP RIVER – the Deep River is one of the few perennial rivers in the State, rising near Lake Muir and flowing generally southerly for about 103km into Nornalup Inlet. The river was named by Colonial Secretary Peter Brown in 1841, and was probably named to achieve a compromise between alternative names for the Frankland River being used by sealers who were in the vicinity prior to 1841. The Deep River was sighted by Captain Thomas Bannister in January 1831, and he crossed it a numb er of times in its upper reaches without naming it. It later appeared on plans in tow different parts as part of the Shannon River and the Forth River. W N Clark in 1841 explored and carried out soundings up this river which he called, descriptively, the ‘West River’, it being the westernmost watercourse entering Nornalup Inlet. In his report Clark stated that the sealers knew the eastern river (the Frankland) as the ‘Deep River’ and he suggested to Colonial Secretary Peter Brown that its name should be changed to ‘Hutt River’. Presumably this was to curry favour with the then Governor, William Hutt. The Colonial Secretary disagreed, the name Frankland River was retained and the name ‘Deep River’ applied to Clark’s ‘West River’.


DENMARK RIVER – the Denmark River was discovered by Dr T B Wilson RN during explorations in the area in December 1829, and was named by Wilson after his friend, Dr Alexander Denmark RN, a physician to the British Fleet. The river rises near Pardelup and flows 55km in a generally southerly direction into Wilson Inlet. The Noongar name of the river was recorded as ‘Koorrabup’ by surveyor Alfred Hillman in 1833.


DONALD RIVER – the Donald River is a 10km long stream on Barrow Island in the north west. The river was named by Professor A J Marshall during an ornithological expedition to the island in 1958. It was named after a small boy from Hampstead who had presented one of the party with a notebook used to take notes on the expedition.


DONNELLY RIVER – the Donnelly River is a south western stream about 85km in length which discharges into the Southern Ocean. Its main tributary is Barlee Brook. It was probably named by Governor James Stirling during the early 1830’s, possibly after Ross Donnelly Mangles, Stirling’s brother in law, but probably after Admiral Ross Donnelly, a close friend of the Mangles family and after whom Ross Donnelly Mangles was named. Donnelly was Rear Admiral of the Red, and had ‘stood’ for Ellen Mangles during her marriage to Stirling. The river was first sighted by Lt William Preston in 1831, but apparently not named at that time. Preston was also a brother in law to Ross Donnelly Mangles, having married Ellen Stirling’s sister, Hamilla Mary Mangles.


DRYSDALE RIVER – the Drysdale River is located in the north Kimberley region and is approximately 432km in length. It begins in the Caroline Ranges and flows into Napier Broome Bay north east of Kalumburu. The river was named by explorer Charles A Burrowes in 1886 whilst exploring in the Kimberley on behalf of the Victorian Squatting Company. It is named after T A Drysdale of Melbourne, a Director of the Victorian Squatting Company.


DUNHAM RIVER – the Dunham River is a 153km long tributary of the Ord River which flows north easterly into the Ord near Kununurra. The river was named by Kimberley pioneer ‘Stumpy’ Michael Durack in 1882 after Reverend Father Dunham of Brisbane, the first clergyman to visit Coopers Creek in western Queensland in 1873. The river has sometimes been shown incorrectly as the ‘Denham River’.


DURACK RIVER – the Durack River is a 306km long east Kimberley River which flows north and east into Cambridge Gulf south west of Wyndham. It was named by the surveyor/geologist John Pentecost in 1882 whilst on an exploring expedition led by ‘Stumpy’ Michael Durack. It was named after Durack, the expedition leader who was the first white man to cross the river.

Return to Top


Western Australian Land Information Authority