James Cavill

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James 'Jim' Cavill, a Brisbane hotelier, was one of the pioneers of development on the Gold Coast, Australia. 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 hotel, which he named the Surfers Paradise 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 the Elston, and lobbied hard for the name change to Surfers Paradise (the same as his hotel). The Elston area was slow to take off, but when it finally did, the local newspaper men labelled it the Gold Coast 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.