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

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 Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

as the son of

Frederick Cavill Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederick ...

(1839–1927), a champion swimmer, and Maria Rhodes a cousin of

Cecil Rhodes Cecil John Rhodes (5 July 1853 – 26 March 1902) was a British mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. An ardent believer in British imperialism, Rhodes and his Br ...

Business life

From 1903 to 1913, Jim Cavill was a hairdresser with premises in

Edward Street King Edward Street is a street in the City of London that runs from Newgate Street in the south to Little Britain in the north. It is joined by Greyfriars Passage in the west and Angel Street in the east. Postman's Park is on its east side whe ...

, Brisbane. Although an employer himself, he campaigned for hairdressers to have reduced working hours, similar to shop and factory workers. In 1917, Jim Cavill was the licensee of the Royal Exchange Hotel in Toowong, Brisbane. 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, which he named the

Surfers Paradise Hotel The Surfers Paradise Hotel was the historic hotel that led to the development of Surfers Paradise in Queensland. History During the 1920s, The Australian hotelier Jim Cavill (born James Freeman Cavill) purchased 10 acres of land in Elston (no ...

. 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 Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

(the same as his hotel). The area was officially renamed Surfers Paradise in October 1933. On the morning of 6 July 1936, the Surfers Paradise Hotel was destroyed by fire and a new palatial brick hotel, which officially opened on Friday 24 September 1937, was erected in its place. The Elston area was slow to take off, but when it finally did, it was labelled the ''Gold Coast'' in newspaper reports 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. Jim Cavill died at the Surfers Paradise Hotel on 5 March 1952 and was buried in the Southport cemetery.

References

1860s births 1952 deaths History of Gold Coast, Queensland People from the Gold Coast, Queensland Surfers Paradise, Queensland Year of birth uncertain {{Australia-business-bio-stub