Whats in a Name?
Wed, Aug. 7, 2019
You may have noticed that Victor Harbor is missing the ‘u’ from the typical spelling and wondered why…
The harbour was proclaimed on 27 May 1915 under the Harbors Act 1913,and its name established on 15 June 1921 as “Victor Harbor”. The name of the harbour was changed from Port Victor as a result of a near shipwreck blamed on confusion with Port Victoria on the Yorke Peninsula.
According to the State Library of South Australia, the lack of the “u” is not influenced by American spelling, but archaic English spelling. The spelling of the name is not consistently applied throughout the region. The Victor Harbor Times used “Harbour” in its masthead from 1922 to 1978, before reverting to "Harbor". The Victor Harbour railway station is spelt with the ‘u’ even to this day. To read more on the history of Victor Harbor and other moments in Australian history visit the Monument Australia website.