Jim Cavill

James Freeman Cavill (c.1862 –1952 in Surfers Paradise, Queensland) a Brisbane hotelier, was one of the pioneers of the Gold Coast, Australia.

Jim Cavill, 1951

Early life

Information about his early life is sketchy as he told a number of conflicting stories, which cannot be validated from official records. He often claimed to be born in Carlton, Melbourne but also claimed to be born in Sydney as the son of Frederick Cavill (1839–1927), a champion swimmer, and Maria Rhodes a cousin of Cecil Rhodes.[1]

Business life

From 1903–1913, Jim Cavill was a hairdresser with premises in Edward Street, Brisbane.[2][3] Although an employer himself, he campaigned for hairdressers to have reduced working hours, similar to shop and factory workers.[4][5][6]

In 1917, Jim Cavill was the licensee of the Royal Exchange Hotel in Toowong, Brisbane.[7]

Many years after Johan Meyer's initial entrepreneurial endeavours failed, James Cavill purchased 25 acres (101,000 m²) of land in the Elston subdivision. He built a sixteen-room timber hotel,[8] which he named the Surfers Paradise Hotel.[9]

With the construction of the new hotel, postal services were revived and refreshments and accommodation were provided for visitors to the area. James Cavill was heavily involved in the early promotion of Elston, and lobbied hard for the name, which was in common use, to be changed to Surfers Paradise (the same as his hotel). The area was officially renamed Surfers Paradise in October 1933.[10]

On the morning of 6 July 1936, the Surfers Paradise Hotel was destroyed by fire [11][12] and a new palatial brick hotel, which officially opened on Friday 24 September 1937, was erected in its place.[13]

The Elston area was slow to take off, but when it finally did, it was labelled the Gold Coast in newspaper reports [14][15][16] and in 1958 it became the official name for the town.

Cavill Avenue, and its extension, the Cavill mall, in Surfers Paradise were named in honor of James 'Jim' Cavill; previously it had been named Meyer's Ferry Road or just Ferry Road.[17]

Jim Cavill died at the Surfers Paradise Hotel on 5 March 1952 and was buried in the Southport cemetery.[18][19][20]

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References
  1. Fischer, Pat. Cavill, James Freeman (Jim) (1867–1952). Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  2. Queensland Electoral Roll 1903
  3. Queensland Electoral Roll 1913
  4. "Factories and Shops Bill". The Brisbane Courier. 7 September 1907. p. 9. Retrieved 26 August 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "Hairdressers' Hours". The Brisbane Courier. 30 November 1910. p. 21 Supplement: Courier Home Circle. Retrieved 26 August 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. "Hairdressers' Half-Holiday". The Brisbane Courier. 7 October 1913. p. 4. Retrieved 26 August 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "Reduction of Licenses". The Brisbane Courier. 29 August 1917. p. 5. Retrieved 26 August 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "Surfers' Paradise Founder". The Cairns Post. 15 (598). Queensland. 6 March 1952. p. 5. Retrieved 26 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. "Real Estate". Daily Mail (7091). Brisbane. 18 November 1924. p. 16. Retrieved 11 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. "Elston Renamed". The Telegraph. Queensland. 12 October 1933. p. 18 (City Final Last Minute News). Retrieved 25 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. "Local and General". The Richmond River Herald and Northern Districts Advertiser. New South Wales, Australia. 10 July 1936. p. 2. Retrieved 26 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. "Surfers Paradise Hotel Destroyed by Fire". The Telegraph. Queensland. 6 July 1936. p. 10 (Second Edition). Retrieved 26 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. "Surfers' Paradise Hotel". South Coast Bulletin. 9 (490). Queensland. 24 September 1937. p. 10. Retrieved 26 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. "Gold Coast Slur". South Coast Bulletin (1610). Queensland. 30 December 1953. p. 26. Retrieved 25 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. "Name to oust "Gold Coast"". Brisbane Telegraph. 7 May 1954. p. 2 (City Final). Retrieved 25 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. "Column 10". The Queensland Times (25, 136). 6 October 1954. p. 2 (Daily). Retrieved 25 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. "Town Council Matters". South Coast Bulletin (907). Queensland. 24 October 1945. p. 2. Retrieved 11 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. Queensland Registrar-General Index of Births, Deaths and Marriages
  19. Ancestry.com.au
  20. "Death of Man Who Named Surfer's Paradise". Townsville Daily Bulletin. LXXII. Queensland. 7 March 1952. p. 2. Retrieved 11 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.


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