Ram Head or since 1970 Rame Head () is a coastal headland in eastern

Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Au ...

. It is within the

Croajingolong National Park The Croajingolong National Park is a coastal national park located in the East Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria. The national park is situated approximately east of Melbourne and south of Sydney. The name ''Croajingolon ...

. The local

aboriginal people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

call the headland Konowee or Kouowee. James Cook (

Captain Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

) named today's Rame Head as he passed by on 19 April 1770 og date Cook named

Rame Head Rame Head or Ram Head ( kw, Penn an Hordh) is a coastal headland, southwest of the village of Rame, Maker-with-Rame, Rame in southeast Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is part of the larger Rame Peninsula. History and antiquities The natural ...

Ram Head, after a point that can be seen going into

Plymouth Sound Plymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a deep inlet or sound in the English Channel near Plymouth in England. Description Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point in Devon, a distance of abo ...

, Cook wrote the name Ram in Modern English s used todayand that spelling was adopted by

Aaron Arrowsmith Aaron Arrowsmith (1750–1823) was an English cartographer, engraver and publisher and founding member of the Arrowsmith family of geographers. Life He moved to Soho Square, London from Winston, County Durham, when about twenty years of age, a ...

George Bass George Bass (; 30 January 1771 – after 5 February 1803) was a British naval surgeon and explorer of Australia. Early years Bass was born on 30 January 1771 at Aswarby, a hamlet near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, the son of a tenant farmer, George ...

Matthew Flinders Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British navigator and cartographer who led the first inshore circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then called New Holland. He is also credited as being the first person to u ...

, James Grant,

Louis de Freycinet Louis Claude de Saulces de Freycinet (7 August 1779 – 18 August 1841) was a French Navy officer. He circumnavigated the earth, and in 1811 published the first map to show a full outline of the coastline of Australia. Biography He was born at ...

and even

John Hawesworth John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

when commissioned by the Admiralty to edit Cook's papers and journal and that spelling became official when the Admiralty published Matthew Flinders' charts, dated January and February 1814. The

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

and later the

Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of D ...

continued to use Cook's spelling of "Ram" for the headland in Australia. In the early 1800s, while Ram Head was still being used in Australia, the British reverted to the

Early Modern English Early Modern English or Early New English (sometimes abbreviated EModE, EMnE, or ENE) is the stage of the English language from the beginning of the Tudor period to the English Interregnum and Restoration, or from the transition from Middle E ...

spelling of "Rame" for the point in Cornwall UK. In 1971, the

Victorian Government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and th ...

gazetted the point as "Rame" to match its Cornish namesake. From Rame Head

In Cook's time, Naval Charts used Cook's spelling for the Headland in Cornwall, and the small village nearby mainly used the

New modem English New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

spelling, we use today. Around 1810 the small village and Headland, in Cornwall, reverted to the

Old Modern English Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England * Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...

spelling of Rame. There are many grave stones in the area, dating back to the early and mid-1700s that also used "Ram". In 1986 one of Australia's foremost maritime historians, Lieutenant Commander Geoffrey Ingleton RAN – "An accomplished and fine Cartographer" – wrote in his book ''Matthew Flinders: Navigator and Chartmaker'' age 42 "The coastlines of both New South Wales (the present Victoria) and Van Diemens Land (the present Tasmania) were carefully delineated by Flinders, considering the nature and quickness of the survey. Particularly interesting was Flinders' correct identification of Cook's Ram Head, so named for its similarity to Rame Head in England in the western approaches to Plymouth. Flinders was familiar with its characteristic appearance – a conical hill on a distinctive promontory. The only feature on this coast SW of Cape Howe which meets exactly that description is the present Rame Head. This historic headland is identical with that shown on Flinders' charts; further, the name was correctly spelt by Flinders." There is a walking track to the "summit" of the head. However, this point lacks a clear vantage point over surrounding scrub, and is simply marked by a

trig point A triangulation station, also known as a trigonometrical point, and sometimes informally as a trig, is a fixed surveying station, used in geodetic surveying and other surveying projects in its vicinity. The nomenclature varies regionally: they a ...

Notes

References

Placenames Australia
journal of the ''Australian National Placenames Survey'', June 2002
Rame Head
at

Geoscience Australia Geoscience Australia is an agency of the Australian Government. It carries out geoscientific research. The agency is the government's technical adviser on all aspects of geoscience, and custodian of the geographic and geological data and knowl ...

External links

Captain Cook's Journal of the First Voyage Around the World

''A Voyage to Terra Australis''
{{1stVoyageCookAus Croajingolong National Park Headlands of Victoria (Australia)

See also

Notes

References

External links