Extract

Finniss River

Extract date: 10/06/2026

Name	Finniss River
Type Designation	Stream
Place Id	12828
Place Type	Feature
Status	Recorded
Date Registered
Location (Datum GDA94)
	Latitude: -12° 53' S (Decimal degrees -12.885721)
	Longitude: 130° 20' E (Decimal degrees 130.336468)
Locality / Suburb
	Rakula
	Rum Jungle
Local Government Area
	Coomalie Community Council
History/Origin	Finniss River was named by Fred Litchfield on 22 May 1865 after Colonel Boyle Travers Finniss, who was the Commander of the Escape Cliffs settlement and 1st Government Resident of the Northern Territory. Boyle Travers Finniss who was born at sea, off the Cape of Good Hope, on August 18 1807, was educated at Greenwich and then at Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He served in the Military for 17 years until 1835 when he sold his commission to qualify as Deputy Surveyor of South Australia. Finniss arrived in the fledgling Colony of South Australia with his wife Anne Frances (nee Rogerson) on 11 September 1936. Finniss was an Assistant Surveyor to Colonel Light when the foundations of the City of Adelaide were laid in 1836 and became Deputy Surveyor General after Light's death in 1839. In 1843, after a failed business venture, Finniss returned to the public service as the Commissioner of Police and Police Magistrate until 1847 when he succeeded Sturt as Registrar-General and Treasurer. He was commissioned to form a Cabinet in 1856, but after many changes he sat in the first Parliament in 1860 and retired in 1862. In 1864 the Ayers Ministry appointed Finniss to found a settlement at Escape Cliffs in the Northern Territory. He was the first Government Resident of the Territory and later became special and stipendiary magistrate as well. Unfortunately, the relative failure of the expedition to establish a capital for the Northern Territory led to Finniss' recall to Adelaide to appear before a Royal Commission and the eventual abandonment of the settlement in 1866. Finniss died in Adelaide in December, 1893.

Name

Finniss River

Type Designation

Stream

Place Id

12828

Place Type

Feature

Status

Recorded

Date Registered

Location (Datum GDA94)

Latitude: -12° 53' S (Decimal degrees -12.885721)

Longitude: 130° 20' E (Decimal degrees 130.336468)

Locality / Suburb

Rakula

Rum Jungle

Local Government Area

Coomalie Community Council

History/Origin

Finniss River was named by Fred Litchfield on 22 May 1865 after Colonel Boyle Travers Finniss, who was the Commander of the Escape Cliffs settlement and 1st Government Resident of the Northern Territory.

Boyle Travers Finniss who was born at sea, off the Cape of Good Hope, on August 18 1807, was educated at Greenwich and then at Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He served in the Military for 17 years until 1835 when he sold his commission to qualify as Deputy Surveyor of South Australia. Finniss arrived in the fledgling Colony of South Australia with his wife Anne Frances (nee Rogerson) on 11 September 1936. Finniss was an Assistant Surveyor to Colonel Light when the foundations of the City of Adelaide were laid in 1836 and became Deputy Surveyor General after Light's death in 1839. In 1843, after a failed business venture, Finniss returned to the public service as the Commissioner of Police and Police Magistrate until 1847 when he succeeded Sturt as Registrar-General and Treasurer. He was commissioned to form a Cabinet in 1856, but after many changes he sat in the first Parliament in 1860 and retired in 1862.

In 1864 the Ayers Ministry appointed Finniss to found a settlement at Escape Cliffs in the Northern Territory. He was the first Government Resident of the Territory and later became special and stipendiary magistrate as well. Unfortunately, the relative failure of the expedition to establish a capital for the Northern Territory led to Finniss' recall to Adelaide to appear before a Royal Commission and the eventual abandonment of the settlement in 1866.

Finniss died in Adelaide in December, 1893.

Date	Gazettal	Comment
	(None Found)

Date

Gazettal

Comment

(None Found)

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GPO Box 1680, Darwin NT 0801. Ph 08 8995 5333.
place.names@nt.gov.au

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Place Names Register Extract

Finniss River

Register & Gazettal information