Mount Coot-Tha District (Ext)

 

Locations

 Mount Coot-tha  , The Gap

Badge Description

Scout logo

Green Mountains = Mt-Coot-Tha

Towers = TV stations at Mirrimbul (or Mirrinbul, in the 1960s) on Mt Coot-tha [5].  Mirrimbul was an Aboriginal word that referred to a type of message sending using hand signals [6]

Blue river leading from dams at East Ithaca creek and J.C. Slaughter Falls.

History

Before the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement, Mount Coot-tha was the home of the Turrbal Aboriginal people.  Early Brisbane people called it One Tree Hill when bush at the top of the hill was cleared except for one large eucalypt tree. The Aboriginal people of the area used to come to the area to collect ‘Gootcha’ (honey) that was produced by the native stingless bee. Mount Coot-tha (Place of Honey), a derivative of (the indigenous term), replaced the former title ‘One Tree Hill’ in 1880 when the area was declared a Public Recreation Reserve [1].

Scout groups within Mt Coo-tha district were originally part of Taylor Range district, and were separated to form Mt Coot-tha District probably in 1969. The District Commissioner in 1970 was G. M. Dench.  It was not mentioned in the Branch Annual Reports 1967/68, and mentioned in the Brisbane North Area Annual Report 1970 [2, 3].  The district closed by the end of 1971, and was no longer mentioned in the Brisbane North Area Annual Report 1971 [4].  Groups were absorbed back into Taylor Range district [5].

Groups

Mt Coot-tha District Groups (1971): Mount Mirrimbul Scout Group, The Gap Scout Group, Turaubal Scout Group [7]

References

  1. One Tree Hill (Mt Cootha) was known as Gootcha and Mappee, gootcha being honey. (30/10/2018) Retrieved from: http://www.brisbanehistory.com/aboriginal_place_names.html
  2. Boy Scouts Association, Queensland Branch (1968). Annual Report 1967-1968.
  3. The Scout Association of Australia, Qld Branch. Brisbane North Area Annual Report 1970, p. 1.
  4. The Scout Association of Australia, Qld Branch. Brisbane North Area Annual Report 1971, p. 1.
  5. Haskard, D. (1983). The complete book of Australian Scout badges: Part 2, Queensland and Papua New Guinea. Chatswood, NSW: Badgophilist Publications. p. 18.
  6. Petrie, T. (1904). Tom Petrie’s reminiscences of early Queensland. Brisbane: Watson, Ferguson & Co. p. 125.
  7. The Boy Scouts Association, Queensland Branch (1971). Area, group and district directory 1971. Abel & Co.