 It was named after Lady Bowen (the Countess Diamantina Georgina di Roma), daughter of a Governor of the Ionian Islands, and wife of the first Governor of Queensland, Sir George Ferguson Bowen.The town of Roma was declared a municipality in 1867 and grew slowly as a pastoral service centre and government administrative centre until the opening of the Western railway line in the 1880s, connecting the Maranoa to the coastal ports, after which the town flourished.In addition, the vast Great Artesian Basin was tapped in the late 1880s and early 1890s, securing an alternative water supply for cattle and sheep.