Charles Hope Harris discusses in his paper 'Geographical nomenclature of South Australia' the use of indigenous place names, but also asks who has the right to name a place: the explorer/discoverer, or the owner of the land? While the bulk of the paper records European place names in South Australia and the reasons for them, the lengthy introductory paragraphs deals with priority in naming places, and the issue of whether or not to use existing Aboriginal names. Harris is an advocate of this, and also of a record being maintained of all assigned placenames and the reasons behind them.

Charles Hope Harris obtained his surveyor's licence in 1869, and in 1871 was hired by the South Australian government to conduct surveys in the northern agricultural regions, and in 1874 to conduct trigonometrical surveys north-west of Port Augusta. He discovered and mapped Lake Harris, which was named for him by the government. Harris was Examiner of Licensed Surveyors' Work, a lecturer on surveying at the School of Mines and was the state's acknowledged expert on the variation and dip of the magnetic needle. Among a number of other books and articles he wrote Field service; handbook for Government Surveyors, the fourth edition of which was published in 1914. He maintained a keen interest in the early history of South Australia and on the use of Aboriginal names for place names.