Baby name story: Canberra

The Trans-Australian train (westbound, in 1938).
The Trans-Australian Train

Here’s a quick story from 1927 about an Australian baby named after the Australian capital:

Canberra is the name of the first baby born on the trans-Continental train. The mother was proceeding to Kalgoorlie from Cook for treatment.

The article didn’t include the parents’ names or the specific date of birth, but we do know that “£15 was collected among the passengers, and presented to the mother.”

(I wasn’t able to find this particular “Canberra” in the records, but I did find an earlier one: Andrew Canberra Brown, born in Tasmania in 1913.)

Source: “Baby Named Canberra.” Inverell Times [NSW] 27 May 1927: 5.
Image: The ‘Trans-Australian’ westbound by John Buckland

2 thoughts on “Baby name story: Canberra

  1. Maybe being born before getting to their destination was a stoke of good luck for the baby. Being named Canberra is a whole lot better than Kalgoorlie!

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