Thanks to the Redlands City Council for the details
The Quandamooka story
The traditional owners knew the area as Nandeebie or Nandillie. This was a Jandai language word spoken by the Koobenpul people, the earliest known occupants of Cleveland and surrounds. Like the rest of the Redlands, there are several accounts of early interactions between the original inhabitants and the first European settlers.
Behind the name
Originally Thornlands was part of Cleveland. It was named Thornlands after George Thorn, one of the early land buyers in the area. George Thorn was an Ipswich businessman and politician. Thorn bought a big parcel of land between South St, Redland Bay Rd and King St, most likely in the 1860s. He died in 1877.
His land stayed with the Thorn family for another 23 or so years and was finally subdivided and sold about 1900. At the time, the land was called the Thornlands Estate and only included about a third of the current suburb of Thornlands. As the years went by, land around the Thornlands Estate also became known as Thornlands.
When the settlers arrived
During the 1850s, all of the area from Ormiston to the Logan River was leased to Joseph Clark, who ran cattle on the land. He relinquished the lease in 1858 and farmers began arriving in the area, mostly to grow fruit crops such as bananas, citrus and mangoes.
As the years passed, the land was slowly subdivided into smaller parcels. The subdivisions were given their own names, much like today. For example, the area near Eprapah Creek was called the Eprapah Estate. Another large area was called Pink’s Selection and later became Pinklands.
As interesting as it is, none of this will help you find the cache but I hope none of it will drive you up the wall either.