This is a list of place names and their meanings from the old Shires of Berwick and Cranbourne, the Bass Coast and neighbouring areas. There is some information provided on early schools in the area, as school names often reflect the fluidity of town names in the early days. They also indicate the locations of towns that no longer exist. I have been working on this list for years. I started it as a list of place names in the City of Casey and Shire of Cardinia, when I was Local History Librarian at Casey Cardinia Libraries and then I expanded it and it to include neighbouring area. It is still a work in progress and gets revised on occasions. The meanings and origins of place names, surnames and personal names is one my favourite areas of interest. There is sometimes more than one source for or interpretation of the origin of the place name, it is not an exact science.
The letters in round brackets refer to the sources used, which are listed at the end.
AndersonAnderson was the closest Railway Station to San Remo, on the Nyora to Wonthaggi railway line. The Railway line took its first load of coal to Melbourne in February 1910 and the passenger service commenced in May 1910. In 1835, Samuel Anderson (1803-1863) and his business partner, Robert Massie, settled at Bass River. Samuel Anderson ‘discovered’ Anderson’s Inlet, however the town of Anderson was named for Samuel’s brothers - Thomas and Hugh - who took up land in the area in the 1850s. (Hor) (Hu) (Wh)
Army Road, PakenhamArmy Road marks the location of the salvation Army Boy's home established in Pakenham in 1900. It subsequently became a home for Girls and then a home for elderly men. The home closed in the 1920s. The Army Road School. No.3847, operated intermittently form 1914 until 1947. (W) (V)
AuraSee Menzies Creek.
AvonsleighJohn (J.W) and Anna wright owned a guesthouse called Avonsleigh House at the corner of Emerald-Macclesfield and Emerald Roads. The name was adopted in 1911. The area was previously known as East Emerald. See also Wright Railway Station. (C)
Balla BallaThe Balla Balla run on Rutherford inlet was taken up in 1839 by Robert Innes Allan. The meaning is uncertain. Ballarat is aboriginal for resting or camping place from balla 'resting on one's elbow; and arat 'place', so it could mean 'resting'. Another possible meaning is 'mud'. There is a Balla Balla river, near Whim Creek, in the Pilbara, Western Australia which was first recorded by Surveyor, Alexander Forrest in 1879. The name is thought to be derived from the Aboriginal word parla, from the Kariyarra language, meaning 'mud'. (B)
Ballarto Road
John Bakewell retained ownership of the Tooradin run in 1856 when his partnership with John Mickle and William Lyall dissolved. In the early 1860s, Bakewell subdivided the Tooradin run into smaller properties amongst which were Ballarto (the namesake of the road), Sherwood and Yallambie. Ballarto, on the intersection of Ballarto Road and the South Gippsland Highway, was held by James Smith Adams, jun., in the 1860s, then Hon. James Gibb and later Albert Nash. The town of Bullarto, near Daylesford, comes from the Aboriginal for 'place of plenty'. Ballarto was the original name for the Cardinia School. See also Cardinia. (B) (G) (Ca) (Cly) (V)
Bangholme
From the Aboriginal word for 'hut'. The name is taken from the cattle run, on the Bigning waterholes, taken up by Joseph Hawdon in 1837. Bigning was also known as Bangholme, Bangam or Barnham. (B) (G) (U)
Bank Box Siding
See under Koala.
Bass River and BassNamed after explorer George Bass (1771 - 1803), who ‘discovered’ Western Port in January 1798. You can read about Bass,
here, in the Australian Dictionary of Biography (B)
BaxterNamed after Captain Benjamin Baxter (c.1805 - 1892) who took up the Carrup Carrup Run in 1838. He held the run until 1860. He was also the first postmaster of Melbourne. (B)
BaylesNamed after Frederick Bayles (1884-1915), the first member of the Railway Construction Branch to be killed in World War One. Frederick arrived in Melbourne in August 1913, enlisted on August 20th,1914 and was Killed in Action at Gallipoli on May 8th, 1915. I have writen about Frederic Bayles,
here. Bayles was the station on the Strzelecki line (opened June 29, 1922) for the Yallock Village settlement. The Bayles Railway Station closed February 1959. (B) (G)
Beaconsfield and Beaconsfield UpperNamed after Benjamin Disraeli, the Earl of Beaconsfield. Disraeli was the British Prime Minister 1868, 1874-1880. Some sources say that on the day he died in 1881 (April 19) a deputation waited on the Victorian Minister of Railways to have a station built at what is now Beaconsfield, however this incorrect as the railway station had opened December 1, 1879. The Post Office had opened on October 1, 1878. Beaconsfield originally referred to what we know call Beaconsfield Upper. The settlement which developed around the Station was at one time called Little Berwick or Lower Beaconsfield, however when a new Post Office was established there in June 1891, the town around the Station was officially known as Beaconsfield and the town in the hills, Beaconsfield Upper. Beaconsfield means ‘open land near a beacon or signal fire’. (B) (O) (W) (Wi)
BeenakFrom the Aboriginal word for ‘hand basket’. Mount Beenak School, No.3764, operated intermittently between 1912 and 1928. (B) (V) (W)
BelgraveEarly European pioneers, Stephen and William Benson, called their property Mount Belgrave, after a chapel in Yorkshire, which their parents, Mr & Mrs R.G Benson, had attended in the 1840s. In 1904 the local railway station was renamed Belgrave, replacing the name of Monbulk. (C)
BembridgeBembridge School, No.4557, operated from 1937 until 1953, on a site on the Tooradin-Tyabb Road. After the school was closed, students transferred to the Pearcedale School. Bembridge comes from the Old English and means ‘place lying this side of the bridge’ (B) (O) (Pe)
BerwickCaptain Robert Gardiner (1812 - 1889) one of the first European settlers, selected land in 1837. Gardiner named his property
Melville Park, after his father Melville William Gardiner. The Gardiner family had a connection to Berwick-upon-Tweed in the United Kingdom and this influenced the naming of town of Berwick. The word Berwick is from the Old English – ‘corn farm’ or ‘outlying part of an estate.’(E) (O)
Blind BightNamed because it is ‘blind’ or hard to spot from the sea. First settlement in the town took place in 1974. (T)
Botanic RidgeFormerly part of Cranbourne South. The City of Casey voted to create a new suburb known as Botanic Ridge on May 20th, 2008. The area is bounded by Pearcedale Road, Brown’s Road, Craig’s Road and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Cranbourne. The name reflects the proximity to the Royal Botanic Gardens. (A)
Bowman’s TrackThe track was established, around 1861, by Mrs Bowman, of the Gippsland Hotel on the Cardinia Creek, to link Beaconsfield to the Yarra track. It went from the inn yard around Mt Misery, O’Neil Road, Hughendon Road, Telegraph Road, then followed the ridge on what is now Beaconsfield-Emerald road, followed Paternoster Road ridge then along high ground to the east of Mount Burnett. It then reached the watershed dividing the Yarra basin and the creeks running to the Bunyip River, finally it followed what is now East Road and Beenak Road to the Upper Yarra country. Janet Bowman (nee Watt) was born in Kerriemuir, Angus in Scotland on November 22, 1810. In 1828, she married David Bowman, born in 1806 in Kerriemuir. The family arrived in Melbourne in 1840 and took up the Panty GurnGurn run on the Cardinia Creek in 1853 and established the Gippsland Hotel in 1855. David died in 1860 and Janet on January 21, 1904. (Bow) (E) (W)
BunyipThe Buneep Buneep cattle run was taken up by Henry Jennings in the early 1850s. The Bunyip, according to Aboriginal legend, was the ‘monstrous, swamp-dwelling creature with the harsh call’ (B) (W)
CaldermeadeCalder is Gaelic for ‘wood by stream’ and mead is a ‘meadow’. The town was named after Archibald McMillan’s property Caldermeade. The area and the railway station, which opened in February 1890, were originally known as Mac’s Lane (from McMillan’s Lane). (B) (G)
Cannibal CreekThe original name for Garfield. The term Cannibal Creek is believed to refer to the killing of dogs by dingoes and was the name of an early cattle run, also called Coonabul Creek, based around Mount Cannibal. Another interpretation is that the term comes from a corruption of the Aboriginal couna meaning ‘forehead’ and bal meaning ‘he’ or ‘she’. This possibly referred to the shape of Mount Cannibal, which was thought to resemble a head. I have also written about the name,
here.
See also Garfield. (B) (Fr) (Wa)
Cannons Creek
There are two suggested origins for the name of Cannon Creek, firstly that it was named for the Cannon family, early European settlers. They owned land around current day Glenalva Parade in Cannons Creek. Blake suggests that the town may have been named after one of ‘several public officers of this name during the 1860s.’ The first permanent resident of the town was Bert Watson in 1940. (A) (B) (T)
Cape Woolamai
Named by George Bass in January 1789. Bass described the Cape as ‘high and rather steep and resembling a snapper’s head’. Wollamai is Aboriginal for snapper (B)
Cardinia
There are two meanings listed for this name, related but slightly different. One version is that it comes from the Aboriginal ‘look towards the rising sun’, the other version suggests it means ‘sunrise’. The first school at Cardinia, and the area itself, was known as Pakenham South. This school, No.2139, operated in Bould Road, from 1873 until 1906. Cardinia School, No.3689, was opened in 1911 and was originally called Ballarto State School. The Shire of Cardinia was created from areas from the City of Cranbourne and the Shire of Pakenham and came into existence on December 15, 1994 at 4.00pm.
(Ca) (G) (V) (VACL)
Carrington
The railway reached Lang Lang in February 1890 and Carrington was the original name of the Lang Lang Railway Station and the town that developed around the station. It was renamed Lang Lang in December 1890. Carrington was named after Charles Robert Carrington, the third Baron Carrington, who was Governor of New South Wales from 1885-1890. Carrington was later created the Marquess of Lincolnshire. Carrington had the honour of being the first living person, other than Queen Victoria, to ever appear on an Australian postage stamp. He and Governor Arthur Phillip jointly appeared on a New South Wales stamp in 1888. See also Lang Lang and Tobin Yallock. (Bo) (L)
Carrum DownsCarrum Downs was in the Shire of Cranbourne and became part of the City of Frankston in the 1994 Council amalgamations. It takes its name from the Carrum Swamp, which was reclaimed when channels were created to take the waters of the Dandenong and Eumemmerring Creeks to the Bay. These creeks were connected to the man-made Carrum Outfall, now the Patterson River. The drainage works commenced in 1869. The name Carrum comes from the Garem Gam run which was taken up by Dr James Bathe and T.J Perry in 1840. This was also known as Gurn Gurn or Carrum Carrum. Garem Gam is thought to be Aboriginal for boomerang. (B) (G)
CaseyThe City of Casey was named in honour of Lord Casey (1890-1976). Lord and Lady Casey lived at Edrington in Berwick. Lord Casey was a diplomat, a politician and the Governor General of Australia from 1965 until 1969. The City of Casey was created from the City of Berwick and parts of the City of Cranbourne. It came into being on December 15, 1994 at 4.00pm. You can read about Casey,
here, in the Australian Dictionary of Biography. (A)
CataniNamed after Carlo Catani, Public Works Department Engineer. Catani (1852 -1918) was in charge of the Koo Wee Rup Swamp Drainage Scheme from 1893. I have an entire blog devoted to Carlo Catani, see it
here. The Catani Railway Station opened June 29,1922 and closed in April 1950. The Catani State School, No. 4154, opened in January 1923 and closed December 1993. (G) (V)
CentrevilleCentreville was a locality in Cranbourne South bounded by Cranbourne-Frankston Road to the north, Centre Road to the west, Pearcedale Road to the east and McKays Road to the south. There was a Centreville general store. (Ho) (M)
Chinaman Island, Western Port BayChinese fishermen were said to live on this island. They ‘fished for the type of fish eaten by the Chinese, dried them and sent them to China’ (Ba)
Churchill IslandNamed for John Churchill, of Dawlish in Devon, by Lieutenant James Grant. Churchill had supplied Grant with seeds of vegetables and fruits to plant for ‘the future benefits of our fellow-men be they countrymen, Europeans or Savages’. They were planted on Churchill Island. (Cut) (Re)
ClematisThe railway station on the Puffing Billy line was called Paradise Valley when it opened in 1902, the name was shortened to Paradise in 1908. The area was known as Paradise until 1921 when a public meeting voted to change the name to Clematis, after the wild clematis creeper that grew prolifically in the area. An early settler, Michael O’Connor, named his farm Paradise and his house Eden House, which became the Paradise Hotel c.1926. (B) (C) (Fid)
ClydeNamed after the River Clyde in Scotland. The name was originally given to a watercourse that divided the Mayune and the Garem Gun runs. Apparently, a shepherd named James McKay, who worked for Alexander Cameron (1813 -1896) had cut the name on a tree whilst watering sheep, the name was then used for the creek and then the town. Clyde was initially based north of the existing town along Berwick Road, basically between Patterson Road and Hardy’s Road. When the railway went through in 1888, the town which developed around the railway station became known as Clyde and the original town was called Clyde North. (Cl) (G)
CockatooNamed Cockatoo Creek in 1859 by gold diggers, because of the abundance of cockatoos. The town was settled in the 1870’s. The railway station was originally called Devon when the Puffing Billy line opened in 1900. It changed to Cockatoo Creek in 1901and then shortened to Cockatoo in 1904, though the Post Office retained the named of Cockatoo Creek until the First World War. (B) (Fid) (W)
Cora LynnCora Lynn was originally called Koo Wee Rup Central and renamed Cora Lynn on July 1st, 1907, when the Progress Association requested that the newly established postal service be established under the new name of Cora Lynn, to prevent the confusion of the name with Koo Wee Rup. Joe Dineen had recalled that it was the Head Teacher of the school, John McGibbon, who proposed the name, after the scenic rocky gorge and popular picnic area on the North Esk River, just out of Launceston in Tasmania. The name Cora Lynn comes from the Gaelic coire meaning ‘cauldron or kettle’ and linn ‘pool’. (B) (D)
CorinellaAboriginal for running water. Corinella is the location of Settlement Point. This was the first settlement in Victoria and was established by Captain Samuel Wright on December 12, 1826. It was abandoned on February 19, 1829. Corinella was officially proclaimed a town in 1872. A pier was constructed in 1884. Corinella School No.1392 opened in May 1874. Corinella East School No.2224 opened in December 1879 and closed April 1896, re-opened as St Hellier State School in 1900, closed and re-opened in 1918, opened in a new building in 1935 as The Gurdies and finally closed in 1962. (B) (Co) (Wh)
CornucopiaA locality near Tynong North. Cornucopia was the name of a property owned by Arthur and Inez Weatherhead at Tynong North and later on the name of a Folk Museum, also at Tynong North, established by their son Max. Cornucopia comes from the Latin ‘horn of plenty’, a mythical horn able to supply whatever is desired. (We)
Coronet BayThe area was originally the Yoohooga sheep run owned by Harry Peck, author of
The Memoirs of a Stockman. The land was sub-divided in 1959 and called Coronet Bay. (Bi) (Pet)
CowesNamed in 1865 by Commander Henry Laird Cox, who surveyed Western Port, after Cowes on the Isle of Wight. The name Cowes on the Isle of Wight came from the supposed resemblance of sandbanks, where the town was established, to cows. (B) (O)
CranbourneThere are two possible origins of the Cranbourne name. The Ruffy brothers were the first Europeans to settle permanently in the Cranbourne area, on the Mayune run, and they operated the Cranbourne Inn. The Inn was named after a town in Berkshire, England. Gunson suggests that Cranbourne was named for Viscount Cranborne (no u), the brother of the British Prime Minister. Viscount Cranborne was born in 1821 and developed blindness as a very small child. He died in 1865, and thus his brother succeeded to the title and then became the Marquis of Salisbury in 1868 when their father died. Salisbury was the British Prime Minister on three occasions between 1885 and 1902. The word Cranbourne means ‘stream frequented by cranes or herons’ See my blog posts on Cranbourne street names,
here. (B) (G) (O)
Crouch’s BeachLes Crouch was one of the early European settlers at Warneet. He had a shack / holiday house on the beach from 1925. The area was locally known as Crouch’s Beach until it was officially called Warneet. See also Warneet. (Ba) (T)
DalmoreNamed after Duncan MacGregor’s estate (see McGregors Road entry). Previously called Koo Wee Rup West and renamed Dalmore in 1909. The Dalmore Railway Station was firstly known as Peer’s Lane, then Koo Wee Rup West and finally in 1909, Dalmore. Dalmore comes from dale ‘valley’ and more ‘pond’. Peer’s Lane (now Dalmore Road) was named after a local land owner Frederick Peers (1843-1896). (B) (Bo) (G)
DalystonArea originally known as Price’s Corner, after the Price family who moved to the area in 1856, it changed its name to Dalyston around 1910. Named after Patrick Daly, Shire Councillor from 1899- 1924. Patrick and his brothers, John and Charles, arrived in the area in 1880. The School which opened in October 1900 was originally called Bridge Creek, No.3376 and changed its name to Dalyston in May 1912. (Da) (Wh)
DandenongFrom the Aboriginal meaning ‘lofty mountain’. Early survey maps spelt the name Tanjenong or Tangenong. (U)
Devon MeadowsThe land was originally part of the Sherwood run, until it was sub-divided by owner Benjamin Cox. Cox named the estate Devon Meadows and donated five acres of land for a Mechanic’s Institute and School. Devon is an English County. (B) (G) (R)
DewhurstHurst means ‘wooded hill’. The original town was established in the 1920s and the area now forms part of the Cardinia Reservoir, which was completed in 1973.The Dewhurst School, No. 4522, operated from 1934 until 1953. (B) (O) (V) (W)
Diamond HillA locality near Dandenong - the rise just over the railway crossing on the South Gippsland Highway or Cranbourne Road as it was called in the early days. It extended south to around Green's Road. Read more about Diamond Hill,
here.
DovetonNamed after Captain John Doveton and Mrs Margaret Doveton, early European settlers. Captain Doveton (1843-1904) and Margaret (1844-1941) were first cousins, their fathers were brothers. They married at All Saints Church in St Kilda in 1873. The suburb was officially named in October 1954. Residents in the area previously used Eumemmerring or Dandenong or Grassmere as an address I have written about John and Margaret Doveton,
here and how Eumemmerring and Grassemere became Doveton,
here. (Do) (RB) (U)
DrouinThere are two possible derivations - either it is from the Aboriginal word drouran meaning ‘north wind’ or it is named after a Frenchman, called Drouin, who ‘invented a chlorination process for ore treatment’ according to Blake. I can’t find any evidence for the existence of Monsieur Drouin, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t correct. (B)
EmeraldLocal historian, Frank McGuire, says that the Emerald diggings were so named at a meeting on March 12, 1859, on the basis that the discoverers of the gold diggings were predominantly natives of Ireland, the Emerald Isle. However, Helen Coulson, says the town derived its name from nearby Emerald Creek, which had been named after an early prospector Jack Emerald. Emerald, the town, was first officially known as Main Ridge. Gold was found in the Emerald area in 1858. Emerald, the town, was first officially known as Main Ridge. The first Emerald school, No.2110, was located on what is now Avon Road in Avonsleigh. The existing primary school, Emerald Township School, No.3381, was opened in 1901 and moved to the current site in 1909. In the 1871 Census, the Emerald gold field was referred to by Government officials as Irishtown to distinguish it from the township of Emerald. The lush vegetation apparently reminded some people of Ireland. (B) (C) (V) (Wa) and personal correspondence from Frank McGuire.
Endeavour HillsNamed after the Endeavour, Captain Cook’s ship. The area was officially gazetted as a suburb on July 14, 1971. First land sales took place on November 24, 1973. Other suggested names for the area were Piney Ridge after a property in the area or Pine Hills in recognition of the many pine trees in the area. Many streets in Endeavour Hills are named for the crew and passengers from the Endeavour, see the list
here. (A)
EumemmerringFrom the Aboriginal ‘we are pleased to agree with you’. Ummemmering‘was the Native name given to that part of the district just over the Dandenong Creek outside the township of Dandenong’ (Uhl). The Doveton and Hallam area was previously known as Eumemmerring. School, No.244, began in 1858 as the Eumemmerring Denominational School, then became a State School, changed its name to Hallam’s Road in 1906 and to Hallam in 1923. The modern suburb of Eumemmerring was gazetted on May 20th, 1981. See also Hallam. I have written about Eumemmerring,
here (Do) (U) (V)
Evans Inlet, Western Port BayNamed after Matthew Evans (1836-1909), early settler at Tooradin. (T)
EvelynCounty of Evelyn. Named after William John Evelyn, Member of Parliament for Surrey West, England, 1849-1857. (B)
Fielder Railway StationA station on the Puffing Billy line, between Cockatoo and Gembrook. It opened in 1928. M.T Fielder is listed on the Parish Plan as a landowner in the area. (Fid) (P)
Five MileA town on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp, five miles from the Main Drain outlet on Western Port Bay. Also known as Koo Wee Rup North. The Koo Wee Rup North School, No. 3198, opened on July 7,1894 and closed in November 1959 when the students were transferred to Pakenham Consolidated School. (V)
Five WaysDescriptive name. Road junction where Clyde Road, Fisheries Road, Finsbury Road meet the South Gippsland Highway. (M)
FlindersFederal electorate which covers part of the Casey Cardinia region. Named after Matthew Flinders (1774 - 1814) Flinders was a navigator and a hydrographer who, amongst other achievements, circumnavigated Tasmania with George Bass from October 7, 1798 to January 12, 1799 and proved that it was an island and not attached to the mainland. You can read about Flinders,
here, in the Australian Dictionary of Biography.
Fountain GateThe Fountain Gate housing estate was designed in the 1960s by architect Robin Boyd in conjunction with developer Isador Magid. There is a fountain at the entrance to the estate. Isador Magid also developed the Mountain Gate estate at Knox and the Fountain Gate Shopping Centre, which opened March 11, 1980. (A) (He) (Ste)
FrankstonMost likely named for General Sir Thomas Harte Franks (1802-1862). He was born in Mallow, County Cork in Ireland, joined the British Army in 1825 and came to prominence in the Sikh Wars (1845-1846, 1848-1849). The theory that Frankston was named for Charles Frank who was murdered by Aborigines in 1836 is not supported, according to Michael Jones, the author of
Frankston: Resort to City. (J)
French IslandOriginally named Ile des Francais (Island of the French people) by the 1802 French scientific expedition led by Captain Nicholas Baudin. The island was renamed French Island as early as 1826. (Co)
GarfieldThe town was originally called Cannibal Creek and re-named Garfield in 1887 in honour of the assassinated American President, James Abram Garfield, who was shot July 2, 1881 and died September 19, 1881 at the age of 49. Garfield Railway Station was originally known as Hopetoun, after Lord Hopetoun (1860-1908), the seventh Earl of Hopetoun and first Marquess of Linlithgow. Lord Hopetoun was the Governor of Victoria and later on the first Governor-General of Australia. Cannibal Creek State School, No. 2724, opened 1886 near the railway line and in 1888 was relocated to what is now called the Princes Highway, west of North Garfield Road. In May 1887, the Cannibal Creek Railway Siding was renamed Garfield and the school was renamed two months later in the July. In 1899 the School building was re-located to Garfield Road at the top of the hill, half-way between the Princes Highway and the Railway Station. In 1910 the Garfield School moved to a new building on its present site near the Railway Station. The old building was removed in 1914 to North Garfield where it became State School No.3489.See also Cannibal Creek (B) (Fr) (Gar) (V) (Wa)
GembrookGemstones were found in a creek by the Gembrook Mining Company. Albert Le Souef, part of the Company, named the creek Gem Brook. The town itself was pegged out in 1874. There have been five schools called Gembrook. Gembrook, No.2506, began in 1879 as the part time school No.2110 and became full-time in 1889. Classes took place in the Union Church from 1884 until it moved to the Main Street in 1906 and to the present site in 1915. Pakenham Upper School, No.2155, was called Gembrook South from 1879 until 1916. Gembrook West, No.3211, operated for just over a year from August 1894 until October 1895. The second Gembrook West School, No.4073, operated from 1921 until 1923. Finally, Gembrook South East, No. 3468, opened half time with Nar Nar Goon North in March 1904 and closed in December 1908. (P) (V) (W)
GippslandNamed in honour of Sir George Gipps, Governor of New South Wales from 1838-1846. The Cardinia Creek was the boundary between the Port Phillip District and Gippsland. Thus, the Central Hotel (on the Cardinia Creek) was at one time called the Gippsland Hotel. The Gippsland boundary is now considered by some to be the Bunyip River, I have written about this
here. (B) (E) (W)
GrantvilleNamed for James Macpherson Grant (1822-1885) M.L.A., an early agitator for land reform. However, many references say the town was named for Lieutenant James Grant (1772-1833) of the Lady Nelson, the first commander to traverse Bass Strait from west to east. You can read about Lieutenant Grant,
here, in the Australian Dictionary of Biography. (Adb) (B) (Bi) (Wh)
GrassmereGrassmere was name of the 1,200 hectare (3,000 acre) property of Thomas Power, which was subdivided and sold in 1888. The land was on the east of the Dandenong Creek, essentially where Doveton is today. The area was still called Grassmere by locals until it was changed to Doveton in the 1950s. Captain and Mrs Doveton (see Doveton) also called their property Grassmere. Grasmere (sic) is the name of a village in Cumbria, England and comes from the Old English gres ‘grass’ and mere ‘lake’. I have written about Grassmere,
here. (Do) (O) (U)
Guys Hill
Named after a former storekeeper. It was initially known as Inebriates’ Hill after a home for male inebriates in the area. It was then known as Commins Hill after an early settler and then finally Guys Hill. (E) (W)
Hallam
Hallam is a relatively new name for this area, dating only form 1905. Before that, the district was known as Eumemmerring, then Hallam’s Road, named after William and Mary Hallam who moved to the area in 1856. The Hallam Valley School, No.4407, in Centre Road, was opened in 1929 to accommodate the children of a Closer Settlement Board subdivision. See also Eumemmerring. (St) (V)
Hampton Park
Rate-payers in the area, which is now called Hampton Park, were listed variously as living in Eumemmerring, Dandenong or Lyndhurst. The area was locally known as Garner’s Paddock, after the owners, the Garner family of Dandenong. Hampton Park was subdivided in 1917-1918 and this subdivision was named the Hampton Park estate by the developer Edward Victor Jones. (G) (RB)
Harkaway
There are several theories as to the origin of the name. There was a famous English racehorse by the name in the 1830s. Another theory is that the word is a relic of the call to the dogs as the shepherds urged them to shift sheep from the densely wooded hills. Zion’s Hill was a name suggested by some settlers in the early 1860s but it lacked popular appeal. (E)
HarewoodThe property owned by William and Annabella Lyall, on the South Gippsland Highway at Koo Wee Rup. William Lyall claims he introduced hares into Victoria in c. 1858. In 1937, his daughter, Margaret Timms, wrote a letter to
The Argus and noted that
-
my father, the late William Lyall released hares on his property at Western Port in the year 1858. Mr Lyall was also a member of the Victorian Acclimatisation Society. The station property was named Harewood from that date. (
The Argus, June 19, 1937, see
here)
Harris IslandSee Quail Island.
HastingsOriginally called Kings Creek after early land owner, Martha King (1790 -1860), read about her,
here. There are two sources suggested for the name of Hastings. One is that is was named after Hastings, a coastal town in the south-east of England and the location of the Battle of Hastings in 1066. It has also been suggested that it was named after the Marquis of Hastings, Francis Rawdon Hastings (1754 - 1826) who served with the British Army in the American Revolutionary Wars and was later Governor General of Bengal. (B) (J)
Heath HillDescriptive name, heath covered hill. The Heath Hill Railway Station opened June 29, 1922 and closed in August 1941. The Heath Hill State school, No. 3225, began life as Protector's Flat school in April 1895 at Lang Lang East. It was moved to Heath Hill in 1914 and its name changed to Heath Hill at the same time. The School name was changed again in 1951 when it became Yannathan South School. It closed around the 1980s. See also Yannathan. (B) (V)
HoltFederal electorate which covers part of the Casey Cardinia region. Named after Harold Holt (1908 - 1967) Prime Minister of Australia. Mr Holt disappeared off Cheviot Beach, near Portsea, on December 17, 1967. You can read about Harold Holt,
here, in the Australian Dictionary of Biography.
I
onaNamed after the Hebridean island off the Scottish coast. The isle of Iona was where Christianity was introduced into Scotland by Columba and his followers. The area was originally known as Bunyip South and officially became Iona in August 1905, after the name of the Post Office was changed to Iona. The Iona Riding of the Shire of Berwick was established in 1901. The Iona State School, No.3201, which is actually at Vervale, was known as Koo Wee Rup North when it opened in 1894, then Bunyip South and changed to Iona in October 1905. (I) (RB) (V) (W)
Iona name change
Island Road
Island Road is named because it becomes an island when the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp floods. Island Road School, No.3952, was opened in 1919 as Dalmore East. The name changed in 1935. (B) (V)
I.Y.U Station
I.Y U Station (sometimes called J.Y.U) was owned by Dr William Kerr Jamieson and established on the Toomuc Creek in 1838. David Mickle, local historian, quotes a reference to the I.Y.U Station from the Koo Wee Rup Sun of 8/11/1928, in a report about the destruction of the I.Y.U. homestead notes that ‘The name I.Y.U was the nearest approach to the pronunciation of the name by the Aborigines to the creek running through the estate’ (Mi) (W)
Jam JerrupFrom the Aboriginal words jham meaning ‘separated’ and jerrup meaning ‘friends.’ Also called Stockyard Point. An 1885 map at the State Library of Victoria calls the area Passage Point. View the map
here. There is an interesting article in the
Dandenong Journal of June 11, 1952, about the name Jam Jerrup, see
here. (G) (Ha)
Junction VillageResidential area south of Cranbourne. Unsure of origin but based at the junction of the South Gippsland Highway and Ballarto Road. (M)
KallistaFrom the Greek word meaning ‘beautiful’. The town was originally called South Sassafras. As the town grew there was agitation for a new name and a prize was offered for a suitable name. Kallista was suggested by a Miss Eastaugh and officially came into being on April 1, 1925, when a satin ribbon, stretched across the main road, was cut at a small ceremony. (B) (C)
KilcundaFrom the Aboriginal for an exclamation. (B)
KoalaA railway siding, used for sand, between Lang Lang and Nyora. Named for the native mammal. The siding was originally called Bank Box, established as early as 1914. Australian Glass Manufacturers established a plant there in the early 1950s and it was renamed A.G.M Siding. Read about the A.G.M plant in the
Dandenong Journal, March 7, 1951
here. (L)
Koo Wee RupAboriginal for ‘blackfish swimming’. The railway station at Koo Wee Rup was named Yallock when it opened in 1890 and it was renamed Koo Wee Rup in 1892. There have been five primary schools called Koo Wee Rup and ironically the original Koo Wee Rup State School, No.2629, was actually called Yallock, until 1903 when it was changed to Koo Wee Rup. The Cora Lynn State School, No. 3502, was known as Koo Wee Rup Central when it opened in January 1907 and changed its named to Cora Lynn in September of that year. The Modella State School, No.3456, was known as Koo Wee Rup East when it opened in January 1904. The Koo Wee Rup North State School, No.3198, at Five Mile, was initially called Koo Wee Rup South when it opened in July 1894. Finally, the Iona State School, No. 3201, was originally known as Koo Wee Rup North. See also Five Mile. (B) (Bo)(V)
LabertouchePeter Paul Labertouche (1829 - 1907) was the Secretary to the Commissioner of Roads and Bridges from 1858 and later Secretary for Railways. Another suggested origin is that the town was named after Henry Labouchere, first and last Baron Taunton. Labouchere (1798-1869) was a Member of the House of Commons and held various government posts. (B) (Lo)
Lang LangThe first store and hotel were built c.1867 by William Lyall and located on part of the Tobin Yallock (or Torbinurruck) squatting run on the junction of McDonald’s Track and the Grantville Road (as the South Gippsland Highway was then called). This store and hotel became the nucleus of the town of Lang Lang, as it was officially known, though the locals called it Tobin Yallock. Tobin Yallock would eventually have a church, a Post Office, Mechanics’ Institute and other stores. Its decline began with the coming of the railway when the station, originally called Carrington [see separate entry], was built east of Tobin Yallock. By about 1894 most of the businesses and public buildings had transferred to the new Lang Lang based around the railway station. There are two published meanings of Lang Lang. Blake says that the term Lang Lang comes from the Aboriginal word for ‘group of trees’. However, the VACL website states that Lang Lang is Aboriginal for ‘stones or stony’. See also Carrington, Nyora and Tobin Yallock. (B) (Bo) (G) (L) (VACL)
LangwarrinLangwarrin was the original name of Pearcedale. When the Mornington and Stony Point railway lines opened in the late 1880s, the railway station near the Military Camp (now a Flora and Fauna Reserve) was named Langwarrin. A new town developed east of the railway station and was locally called New Langwarrin. The name comes from the squatting run called Lang Waring or Long Waring, leased by William Willoby from 1843. Blake says the name Long Waring comes from ‘long waiting’ as it took Willoby a long time to obtain his run. There have been three schools called Langwarrin. The Langwarrin Railway Station School, No.3023, was opened in 1890 on the corner of McClelland Road and Golf Links Road. The name changed to Mornington Junction in 1906 and finally to Baxter in 1919. It moved to the six cross-roads at Baxter in 1954. Langwarrin, No.3531, commenced in 1907, moved to Warrandyte Road in 1913 and was known as Langwarrin North until 1955, when the North was dropped. Finally, Langwarrin School, No.2961, opened in 1889 in what is modern day Pearcedale, closed in 1892, re-opened 1902 and in 1908 changed its name to Pearcedale. (B) (Sc) (V)
La TrobeFederal electorate which covers part of the Casey Cardinia region. Named after Charles Joseph La Trobe (1801 - 1875), Governor of the Port Phillip District / Victoria from 1839 until 1854. You can read about La Trobe,
here, in the Australian Dictionary of Biography.
LisbaunLisbaun State School, No.4196, was located on the St Germains property in McCormack’s Road in Clyde North. It operated from 1924 until 1937. Lisbaun is the name of a town in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. (B) (Ca) (V)
LochNamed after Henry Brougham Loch (1827 - 1900), Governor of Victoria 1884 -1889. You can read about Loch,
here, in the Australian Dictionary of Biography. (Adb) (B)
LongwarryFrom the Aboriginal for ‘divided waterhole’. The name came from an early pastoral lease, called Longwarre. The area was earlier known as Fraser’s Siding after the siding created by Donald Fraser, a timber mill operator. (Bu) (Lo)
Lyall's Inlet, Western Port BayNamed after William Lyall (1821-1888) owner of the nearby Harewood property. You can read about Lyall,
here, in the Australian Dictionary of Biography.
LynbrookArea originally part of Lyndhurst. Lynbrook was named a suburb by the State Government Pace and Names Committee in February 2001. (A)
LyndhurstBald Hill was an early name for Lyndhurst. Bald Hill School, No.732, started in 1863 and closed in 1869. It reopened as Lyndhurst in 1873. Lyndhurst was named after John Singleton Copley, Lord Lyndhurst (1772-1863). Lord Lyndhurst was the Lord Chancellor of England on three occasions between 1827-1846. Lyndhurst means ‘wooded hill growing with lime trees’, from Old English lind ‘lime tree’ and hyrst 'wooded hill’. See also Skye. (B) (G) (O) (V)
LysterfieldNamed after William Saurin Lyster (1828 - 1880) one of the early European selectors. Lyster donated land for the Lysterfield School, No.1866, in 1874. Lysterfield was originally regarded as part of Narre Warren and was then known by the descriptive name of The Flat. It was named in honour of Lyster in the mid-1870s. You can read about Lyster,
here, in the Australian Dictionary of Biography.(C) (V)
MacclesfieldThe locality was said to be named by a miner called Stringer, after the town of Macclesfield in Cheshire, England. Macclesfield comes from a combination of the Old English personal name of Maccel and feld - open country, thus open country or field belonging to a man called Maccel. (C) (O)
MaryknollFather Pooley, a Catholic Priest, established Maryknoll as a rural community based on the principles of religion, family life and co-operative enterprise. The first families moved to the 213 hectare (528 acre) site, at what was then Tynong North, in 1950.The settlement was known as St Mary’s until 1955 when the name was changed to Maryknoll to avoid confusion with other towns called St Mary’s. Maryknoll means Mary’s hill or knoll. (W)
McDonalds TrackIn 1860, a track was developed between Tobin Yallock (Lang Lang) and Moe, over Mount Worth, with the aim of providing a stock route through to Sale. It is named after Victorian Government Assistant Surveyor, George Thomas McDonald (c. 1836 - 1915) who surveyed the track between 1860 and 1862. I have written about McDonalds Track,
here. (L)
McGregors Road
Named for local land owner, Duncan MacGregor (1835-1916). Mr MacGregor purchased 3,871 acres of the Great Swamp run in March 1875 and called his property
Dalmore. You will note that McGregors Road is spelt with with a Mc not an Mac. (Adb) (G)
McMillanFormer name of a Federal electorate which covers part of the Casey Cardinia region. Named after Angus McMillan (1810 - 1865) explorer and pastoralist in the Gippsland region. The Electorate is now called Monash.
Menzies CreekNamed after John Menzies, an early gold prospector who remained in the area long after other miners had left. The area was known as Aura by Robert H. Kerr, a local Councillor, during 1917- 1923. Aura is Irish for ‘beautiful’ and was the name of the Kerr property. (B) (C)
ModellaThere are various theories as to the meaning of Modella. Blake says it is from the Aboriginal word for ‘strike you’. The name Modella was taken from Modella Park, a farm owned by James Douglas. One interpretation is that the name is a corruption of ‘model’ because Modella Park was a ‘model’ farm, and another theory is that is comes from the name of a famous racehorse of the time. The Modella School, No.3456, and the area itself, were initially known as Koo Wee Rup East. The School name changed in February 1905. (B) (Ut) (V)
Monash and Monash FreewayMonash is the Federal Electorate formerly called McMillan. Named after Sir John Monash (1865- 1931) Engineer, General and Chairman of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria. He oversaw the erection of the Yallourn Power station. You can read about Monash,
here, in the Australian Dictionary of Biography. (Adb)
MonbulkThere are two interpretations on the meaning of Monbulk. One is that it comes from the Aboriginal word monbolloc ‘hiding place in the hills’ or ‘sanctuary’. The other is that it comes from the word for ‘lake’. The Monbulk School, No.3265, was known as Dandenong Forest Village Settlement when it opened in 1897 but changed its name to Monbulk the next year. (C) (V) (VACL)
MonomeithFrom the Aboriginal word for ‘pleasant or agreeable’. The town was named after the estate owned by John Mickle (1814-1885), which had originally been part of the Yallock run owned by Mickle and his partners John Bakewell (1807-1888) and William Lyall (1821-1888). The original name of the Monomeith Railway Station (opened February 1890) was Glasscock’s, named after George Glasscock who had purchased part of the Monomeith estate after Mickle’s death. (B) (Bo)
MoolaMoola was a town surveyed on the ‘Puffing Billy’ line between Wright and Cockatoo in 1913. It was never developed and was rescinded in 1952. Moola comes from the Aboriginal word for ‘shade’. I have written a short history of the town,
here. (B) (Fid)
Moody's Inlet, Western Port BayNamed after Christopher Moody (1833-1920) Koo Wee Rup land-owner and Cranbourne Shire Councillor. I have written about about Christopher Moody,
here.
Mornington and County of MorningtonNamed after Richard Colley Wellesley, Marquess Wellesley, second Earl of Mornington. Wellesley (1760 - 1842) was the Governor General of Bengal and later Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. The town was originally called Schnapper Point.(B) (J)
Mount AraratMount Ararat is the resting place of Noah’s Ark in the Bible. Three runs were registered on the Ararat Creek in 1844, a total of over 9,300 hectares (23,000 acres) The Mt Ararat No.1 was first leased by John Dore and Michael Hennessy; Mt Ararat No. 2 by John Watson, Edward Byham Wight and Richard Philpott; Mt Ararat Creek run by William Walsh. (B) (W)
Mount BurnettNamed after James Charles Burnett (1815 - 1854) who was a Surveyor under the Surveyor General, Sir Major Thomas Mitchell (1792 - 1855) You can read about James Charles Burnett,
here, in the Australian Dictionary of Biography. (B)
Mount CannibalSee Cannibal Creek. I have also written about the Mount Cannibal name
here.
Mount Carney
An early name for Mount Misery, named after early settler Mr Carney who lived at the base of the hill (E)
Mount Misery
Mount Misery was originally known as Mount Carney after an early settler, Mr Carney, who lived at the base of the hill. It was named Mount Misery ‘owing to the light nature of the soil, growing sparse herbage for grazing purposes’ (E)
Nangana
From Aboriginal ‘to compare or examine’. Nangana is also a Parish in the County of Evelyn. The Nangana Cemetery, just north of Emerald, was gazetted in February 1883. In April 1912, the Shire of Fern Tree Gully received correspondence from the Health Department notifying them that the name of the Cemetery had changed to Emerald Cemetery (even though it was still known colloquially as Nangana or Macclesfield or sometimes Avonsleigh Cemetery) (B)
Name change of Nangana Cemetery.
Nar Nar GoonFrom the Aboriginal word for ‘native bear’ or koala. A correspondent to the
Pakenham Gazette in December 1965, states that when he first arrived in Nar Nar Goon in about 1906 ‘the legend was that the natives said the place was ‘No No Good.’ This is not confirmed with any other sources. (B)
Narre WarrenThere are three interpretations of the origin of Narre Warren. One definition is that it is a corruption of the Aboriginal words for ‘little hills’. Another definition is that it is a corruption of the Aboriginal words for ‘no good’ from the belief that the creek water was brackish and ‘no good’ for drinking. The VACL website suggests that it comes from the word meaning ‘red ochre’. Narre Warren originally referred to the township of Narre Warren North, which was surveyed around 1860. This was later known as Old Narre Warren to distinguish it from New Narre Warren which developed around the Railway Station. The name was used in the area as early as 1837 when the Native Police Force was established at Nerre Nerre Warren, this area later became an Aboriginal Protectorate to protect the Aborigines from the white settlers. It is now the Dandenong Police Paddocks Reserve. Narree Worran is a Parish name in the County of Mornington. (B) (C) (E) (Th) (VACL)
NewhavenNamed after a seaport in Sussex, England, which was named in 1587 and means ‘newly built harbour’. Newhaven on Cowes was originally called Woody Point (B) (O)
Nobelius Railway StationA station on the Puffing Billy line. Carl Nobelius (1851 - 1921) established a very successful nursery at Emerald around 1892 and exported fruit trees all over the world. The nursery was called Gembrook Nurseries, due to its location in the Parish of Gembrook. The station was opened in 1926, though there had been an earlier siding to cater for the Nursery business. (C) (Fid)
NyoraFrom the Aboriginal word for ‘wild cherry tree’. The area was originally known as Lang Lang East until the Great Southern Railway line went through from Dandenong to Port Albert, and the railway station built in the area was called Nyora. This line was opened as far as Lang Lang in February 1890 and it was opened to Nyora and Loch in November 1890. However, the actual township site had been proclaimed on December 23, 1886 and it was surveyed in 1887 by John Lardner an assistant survey on the Lands Department. (B)
Officer and OfficedaleNamed after the Officer family, early European settlers. The railway station was originally called Officer’s Wood Siding, due to the timber being cleared from the land and railed to Melbourne as firewood. Officer School, No.2742, was initially called Officers Siding, when it opened in 1886. The Officedale State School, No.4242, which operated intermittently from 1925 until 1951, was on the corner of Cardinia and Lecky Roads. It became part of Pakenham Consolidated School. (Fr) (V)
PakenhamIn the Wake of the Pack Tracks suggests Pakenham is named after Major General Sir Edward Michael Pakenham (1778 - 1815) who served with the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsula War and was killed in 1815 at the Battle of New Orleans.
Les Blake in
Place Names of Victoria however suggests that Pakenham was named for ‘General Pakenham who served in the Crimean War’. This is Lieutenant-Colonel Edward William Pakenham (1819 -1854) who was killed at Inkerman during the Crimean War. The Lieutenant-Colonel was the son of Sir Hercules Pakenham who was the brother of Major General Sir Edward Michael Pakenham.
A. W. Reed,
Place Names of Australia, suggests that it was named for Catherine Pakenham, who was the wife of the Duke of Wellington. Catherine (1773 - 1831) married the Duke of Wellington in 1806. They had two sons, Arthur born in 1807 and Charles in 1808.
From Bullock Tracks to Bitumen: a brief history of the Shire of Berwick says it was named for ‘Rev Pakenham, a Dublin minister’. This is most likely the Very Reverend Henry Pakenham, who was Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin from 1843-1863.
Catherine and Henry were siblings of Sir Edward and Sir Hercules. Their father was the second Baron Longford. Blake also suggests that the area was once called Longford. Pakenham was originally based around the Princes Highway and Toomuc Creek and the town that developed around the Railway Station from 1877 was known as Pakenham East. It was still referred to as Pakenham East until the early 1970s. I believe (and some people disagree with me) the most likely candidate is Lieutenant-Colonel Edward William Pakenham who was killed during the Crimean War as Victoria and Melbourne have other place names with a Crimean connection including the towns of St Arnaud and Sebastapol and the suburb of Balaclava. St Kilda has streets with a Crimean War connection - Inkerman Road, Crimea Street, Redan Street, Alma Road and Odessa Street. Clarendon Street, Codrington Street and Lyons Street in Cranbourne are also connected to Crimean War personalities. See my blog post on the origin of the name of Pakenham,
here. (B) (Fr) (Re) (W)
PearcedaleThe town was known as Langwarrin or Langwarrin Estate or Old Langwarrin until December 1905. A meeting of rate payers was held in November 1905 and it was voted to rename the town Pearcedale to avoid confusion with the new settlement based near the Langwarrin Railway Station. Pearcedale was named after Nathanial Pearce, an early European settler. Nathaniel and his wife Mary Grace (nee Hawke) are first listed in the Shire of Cranbourne Rate Books in 1894, when they purchased an orchard on 26 acres (about 10 hectares) at Langwarrin Estate. Mary Grace, was a midwife and helped deliver many babies in the area and she also had eight babies of her own. Nathaniel died February 9, 1918 at the age of 55 and Mary Grace died July 24, 1949 aged 88. They are both buried at the Frankston Cemetery. See also Langwarrin. (G) (Pe)
Phillip IslandFormerly called Snapper Island, then Grant Island (after Lieutenant James Grant). Captain Nicholas Baudin called it Ile des Anglais. Named for Captain Arthur Phillip (1738 - 1814) who came out with the First Fleet and was first Governor of New South Wales. You can read about Captain Phillip,
here, in the Australian Dictionary of Biography. (B)
Pioneer BayPresumably named to honour early Pioneers.
PoowongFrom Aboriginal for carrion or putrefaction. (B)
Princes HighwayThe Road was originally known as the Gippsland Road, but was changed in 1920, after the visit of Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII, then the Duke of Windsor. The Prince was born June 1894 and died May 1972; he is the uncle of Queen Elizabeth). The Princes Freeway took its name from the Highway. (Re)
Protector’s Plain and Protector’s FlatProtector’s Plain was the name of State School No. 2899 which opened on the Westernport Road in 1888. The school community was re-located onto the current site in Lang Lang, with a new building and the new name of Lang Lang, in June 1891. Protector’s Flats was named after a camp used in the late 1830s and early 1840s by William Thomas, a Protector of Aborigines. Andrew Hudson held this land in the 1860s and 1870s and called his property Protector Park. See also Lang Lang. (G) (L)
Puffing BillyThe railway line between Ferntree Gully and Gembrook. Puffing Billy is an affectionate name for the ‘little trains’ that operated on the narrow-gauge line. Peter Cuffley says it was used as early as 1903 but became dominant in the 1950s when the campaign began to re-open the line after it was officially closed in 1954. (Cu) (Fid)
Quail Island, Western Port BayName taken from the birds on the island. Originally called Harris Island, which was named during Lieutenant James Grant’s trip to Western Port Bay, in the Lady Nelson, in March 1801. Surgeon John Harris was a Magistrate and member of the New South Wales Corps. (Co) (T)
QueensferryNamed after Queen Victoria. (B)
RhyllNamed after Rhyl on the north coast of Wales, and means ‘place by the hill’ (B) (O)
RipplebrookDescriptive name. The stream the name refers to is the Musk creek which flows past the Ripplebrook School house. Formerly called Longwarry South. (Bu)
RowvilleNamed in 1903 after the Row family of Stamford Park, early European settlers. Frederick Row was a partner with the wool-brokers, Goldsborough, Row and Company, and is said to have been the first man to bring sparrows to Australia. The area was previously part of Lysterfield. (C)
Rutherford Inlet, Western Port BayNamed for Thomas Rutherford. Rutherford took out the licence for the Bourbinandera run, of 1800 hectares (4480 acres) in 1842. (G)
RythdaleA Soldier Settlement area, south of Pakenham, based around Soldier’s Road and Hobson’s Road. The School, No.4231, was known as McGregor’s Estate when it opened in 1924 and changed its name to Rythdale in September 1926. The School closed in September 1951 and the children went to Pakenham Consolidated School. Duncan McGregor was the owner of the 1,618 hectare (4,000 acre) estate Dalmore, part of which formed the Soldier Settlement subdivision. Blake says that Rythdale is a ‘coined word’. It was, however, the name of James Cuming’s 1,600 acre estate, which he purchased in 1904. The property is listed variously in newspaper reports as being on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp or Pakenham. Read more about the name of Rythdale
here (B) (Ca) (V) (W)
San RemoFormerly Griffiths Point, which was named after Van Diemen’s Land merchant John Griffiths, who sent wattle bark strippers to the area in 1835. From 1889 called San Remo after the Italian resort town. (B)
Sawtells Inlet, Western Port BayNamed after Melbourne merchant, Edwin Sawtell (c. 1798 - 1892) in 1840. (B)
ScoresbyNamed after the Reverend William. S. Scoresby (1789 - 1857).He was a Marine Surveyor who charted the coast of Greenland, was an authority on terrestrial magnetism and a Fellow of the Royal Society. He visited Australia in 1856 for a series of lectures. He died in Torquay in England on March 21,1857, the same year the Parish of Scoresby was surveyed. There is a short obituary in
The Argus, June 8, 1857, see
here. (C)
SelbySelby had been regarded as part of Menzies Creek, until a new railway station was established on the Puffing Bully line in 1900. The Railway Commissioners named the station after George W. Selby, local Councillor and Chairman of the Gembrook Railway Trust. (C)
SherbrookeNamed after the Canadian birthplace of one of the early settlers, R.W. Graham, a ‘leading spirit in the early settlement, who may be justly described as the father of Sherbrooke.’ (C)
SherwoodThe Robin Hood hotel was built at Sherwood about 1870 and the Sherwood State School, No.1993, operated from 1878 until 1882, on the southeast corner of Fisheries Road and Tooradin-Baxter Road. Sherwood is the name of a Parish in the County of Mornington and was also the original name of the Tooradin Railway Station. Sherwood Forest is the home of the legendary Robin Hood. See also Ballarto Road. (Bo) (G) (V)
SkyeSkye changed its name to Lyndhurst South in 1894 after a murder brought unwelcome attention to the area. It changed back to Skye in 1964. Many of the early settlers had come from the Isle of Skye, an island off the north-west coast of Scotland. See also Lyndhurst (B) (G) (Mo)
SomervilleNamed for Sir William Meredyth Somerville (1802-1873), Chief Secretary of Ireland, 1847-1852. (J)
Tenby PointNamed after Tenby in Wales in 1840 by James Cuthbert, an early settler. (Bi)
The GurdiesNamed after the Hurdy Gurdy run, first leased by John Thom in 1838 (B) (BK)
The PatchIsaac Simmons, a timber worker, cut down a patch of trees in the 1880s. When settlers returned to the bush ten years later, they found a ‘patch’ of grass growing on the site, which became a camping spot until they were able to clear their own land. (C)
Thompson's Road, Shire of CranbourneThompson's Road runs from Patterson Lakes, through Carrum Downs, Cranbourne and Clyde nearly to the Cardinia Creek, so essentially all the way west to east across the old Shire of Cranbourne. It was named for Patrick Thompson, early land owner and member of the Cranbourne Road Board from 1860 - 1863. I have written about him,
here. (A) (G)
Tobin YallockFor a history of Tobin Yallock, see Lang Lang entry. There are various possible meanings for Tobin Yallock. Blake says that Tobin Yallock (sometimes written as Torbinurruck) comes from the Aboriginal toorberneen ‘stars’ and yallock ‘water’. Butler says that Tobin Yallock is Aboriginal for ‘bird’s wing’. VACL website defines Yallock as meaning ‘creek, stream or river’. (B) (Bu) (VACL)
TonimbukFrom the Aboriginal word for ‘to scorch or burn’. VACL website defines it as ‘burn or cook’. Tonimbuk State School, No. 3363, opened on July 1, 1900, it closed in January 1906, re-opened September 1910 and closed in 1947. (B) (V) (VACL)
Toomuc CreekFrom the Aboriginal word timuk‘ preparing animal hides for bag or cloak’. Toomuc Valley School, No.3034, was called Pakenham North when it opened in 1890. It operated intermittently and in 1914 changed its name to Toomuc Valley and closed in 1951 and became part of Pakenham Consolidated School. (B) (V)
TooradinFrom the Aboriginal word too-roo-dun ‘swamp monster’ or ‘bunyip’. The Tooradin (initially spelt Toorodan) run was taken up Frederick and Charles Manton in 1840. (B) (G)
Troup’s Creek and Troup’s FlatJohn Troup (c. 1827 - 1899) owned a property in Narre Warren North and was elected to the Berwick District Road Board in 1862. The creeks were man-made and part of an effort to drain the low-lying flats. (Ste)
TynongFrom the Aboriginal word for ‘plenty of fish’ Tynong State School, No. 2854, opened in the Mechanic's Institute in August 1887. It closed in 1892 and then re-opened in the Tynong Hall in May 1905. In 1908 the School moved onto its own site into a building relocated from Cardinia School, No. 2139. This building was replaced in 1915 and the School was closed in April 1951 and the students went to Pakenham Consolidated School. This was also the fate of the Tynong North School which opened in June 1930 and closed in December 1951 (B) (V)
VentnorNamed after Ventnor, on the Isle of Wight. The
Oxford Dictionary of British Place Names says it means ‘Farm of Vintner’ probably a manorial name from a family called le Vyntener. (B) (O)
VervaleVervale probably means ‘green valley’. A General Store and Post Office, later to be known as the Vervale Store, was established in 1907 by John Kirwan, on the south of the Main Drain, and west side of Thirteen Mile Road. His address was listed variously as ‘via Garfield’ or Iona. In September 1917, The Post Master Generals Department approved the change of name of the Post Office from Kirwan's to Vervale. The name was then adopted for the surrounding area which had previously had various other names. It was sometimes referred to as Kirwans; however, the Shire of Berwick Rate Books listed ratepayers in the area with the address of either Cora Lynn or Iona. From the 1917 Rate books the name changed to Vervale, which was first written as Vere Vale. I have written about this in more detail here
https://kooweerupswamphistory.blogspot.com/2013/03/vervale.html (B) (RB)
Warneet
From the Aboriginal word for ‘river’. The first land sales at Warneet were held in the 1930s. The area was originally known as Crouch’s Beach. See also Crouch’s Beach. (B) (Ba)
Warneet was also the original named for the Topiram Railway Station on the Koo wee Rup to Strzelecki Railway line. It was known as Warneet during construction, but named Topiram when opened for traffic.(Ra).
Watson Inlet, Western PortNamed after John Watson, whose property
Freehall, was near to the Inlet. John Watson was the owner of considerable property in the Parish of Tyabb, a prominent citizen and a member of the Mt. Eliza District Road Board. A Mornington Peninsula Shire Council Ward is named after him. (Personal correspondence from historian, Valda Cole)
Western Port Bay - more correctly known as Western PortNamed by explorer George Bass (1771-1803) on January 5th, 1798, because of ‘its relative situation to every other known harbour on the coast’ (Co)
Wright Railway Station and Wright ForestThe Puffing Billy station, opened 1904, was named after the operators of the near-by guesthouse Avonsleigh House, John and Anna Wright. The station was established in 1904 to accommodate the guests. See also Avonsleigh. (Fid)
YallockFrom the Aboriginal word for ‘creek stream or river’. Yallock was the original name of the Koo Wee Rup Railway Station. There have been two schools called Yallock. The first, No. 2629, opened on the corner of Bayles Road and Bethune’s Road in 1884, changed its name to Koo Wee Rup in 1903 and was moved into the town of Koo Wee Rup in 1911. The second school, No.3420, started in 1902 as the Yallock Village Settlement School and later changed its name to Yallock. The Yallock Village Settlement was based around Finck’s, School, Hall and O'Brien’s Road off Koo Wee Rup-Longwarry Road. The Bayles Railway Station, which opened in 1922, was the station closest to Yallock. (B) (Bo) (V)
YannathanFrom the Aboriginal word to ‘to walk about’. There have been four schools called Yannathan. Yannathan, No.2422, opened in 1883. Yannathan Upper, No.2492, began its life as Lang Lang North in 1883, changed its name to Yannathan Upper in 1906 and closed in 1912. Yannathan South, No.2510, operated between 1882 and 1890. In 1895 Protector’s Flat School, No.3225, opened at Lang Lang East, it was relocated in 1914 to a more central site, and became known as Heath Hill and then changed its name again in 1951 and became Yannathan South. The Yannathan Railway Station opened June 29, 1922 and closed April 1950. (B) (V)
YellingboThe township of Yellingo was gazetted in March 1896 however, Helen Coulson, said the area was originally called Claxton, then Parslow’s Bridge. J. Claxton operated a store, Post Office and a wine saloon near the Woori Yallock creek. When Claxton’s daughter and her husband took over the store, the area became known as Parslow’s or Parslow’s Bridge. Helen Coulson says in her book, published in 1959, that 'in recent times' the area became known as Yellingbo after the last Aboriginal known to have frequented the area, however the evidence suggests that the name was in use for much longer than that. This is another example of the fluidity of town names in the early days of European settlement. Yellingbo means ‘today’ or ‘this day’ (B) (C)
ReferencesA Material held in the Casey Cardinia Libraries Archive
Adb Australian Dictionary of Biography.
http://adb.anu.edu.au/B Blake, Les
Place Names of Victoria (Rigby, 1977)
Ba Banks, Peggy
Crouch’s Beach: from camp to Coastal Village, Warneet (P. Banks, 1993)
Bi Bird, Eric
Place names on the coast of Victoria. Access this
here.
BK Billis, R. V & Kenyon, A.S
Pastoral Pioneers of Port Phillip (Stockland Press, 1974)
Bo Bowden, Keith Macrae
The Great Southern Railway Line: an illustrated history of the building of the line in South Gippsland (Australian Railway Historical Society, 1970
Bow Exchanging one country for another: A history of David and Janet Bowman and family in Port Phillip/Victoria from 1840 (Published for a reunion of their descendants in 1988)
Bu Butler, Graeme
Buln Buln: a history of the Buln Buln Shire (Shire of Buln Buln, 1979)
C Coulson, Helen Story of the Dandenongs 1838-1958 (F.W Cheshire, 1959)
Ca Williams, Eileen & Beard, Jewel Look to the rising sun: a history of Cardinia and District including Rythdale and Pakenham South (Back to Cardinia Committee, 1984)
Cl Campbell, John A. Clyde history: Public Hall and Mechanics’ Institute Jubilee (Clyde Public Hall Committee, 1978)
Cly A Clyde History website
https://www.earlyhistory4clydevic.com/Co Cole, Valda
Western Port Chronology, 1798-1839: exploration to settlement (Shire of Hastings Historical Society, 1984)
Cu Cuffley, Peter
That little train: the Puffing Billy railway, 1900-1953 (Five Mile Press, 1987)
Cut Cutter, June
Churchill Island: a special place (Friends of Churchill Island, 1994)
D From information provided by Des Dineen, held by Koo Wee Rup Swamp Historical Society.
Da Memoirs of Dalyston and District complied by Alan Carmichael (no publisher listed, 1973)
Do Harding, Maria Doveton: a brief history (Friends of Doveton Library, 1993)
E Early days of Berwick and its surrounding districts (Berwick & District Agricultural and Horticultural Society, 3rd edition, 1979)
Fi Fiddian, Mark Through the Field Glasses: a history of the Pakenham Racing Club (Pakenham Racing Club, 1985)
Fid Fiddian, Mark Potatoes, passengers and prosperity: a history of Puffing Billy’s railway (Fiddian, 1978)
Fr From Bullock tracks to bitumen: a brief history of the Shire of Berwick (Historical Society of Berwick Shire, 1962)
G Gunson, Niel The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire (Shire of Cranbourne, 1968)
Gar Cannibal Creek to Garfield: a history of Garfield Primary school, No. 2724, 1886-1986, published by the Centenary Committee.
Ha Hartnell, Ross Pack-tracks to pastures: a history of the Poowong district (Poowong Centenary Committee, 1974)
He Heritage of the City of Berwick: identifying and caring for important places Report prepared by Context Pty Ltd. (City of Berwick, 1993)
Ho Hooper, Fred Into the dawn of a new day, 1968-1988, Shire of Cranbourne (Shire of Cranbourne, 1988)
Hor Horton, Thomas & Morris, Kenneth The Andersons of Western Port (Bass Valley Historical Society, 1983)
Hu Hughes, Tony Two Rivers Run: the story of Gippsland’s first Pioneer settler, Samuel Anderson (The Author, 2020)
I Smith, Damian St Joseph’s Iona, 1905-2005: 100 years of a Catholic faith community (St Josephs, 2005)
J Jones, Michael Frankston: Resort to City (Allen & Unwin, 1989)
L Coghlan, Barbara Protector’s Plains: history of Lang Lang Primary School No.2899, 1888- 1988 and district (C.B.C Publishing, 1988)
Lo McDermid, Joyce & Clarrie Level Crossing -Fraser Siding: Longwarry 1878-1978 (Longwarry Centenary Committee, 1978)
M Melway Street Directories. Various editions from 6th edition, 1973 onwards. (Melway Publishing Company)
Mi Mickle, David J More Mickle memories of Koo-Wee-Rup, Volume 2 (D.J Mickle, 1987)
Mo Morrison, Dot 100 years in Skye 1850-1950 (Mornington Peninsula Family History Society, 2004)
O Mills, A.D A dictionary of British Place names (Oxford University Press, 2003)
P Parker, Genseric Forest to farming: Gembrook, an early history (JDP Consultancy, 1995)
Pe Pearcedale: moments in history (Pearcedale Public Hall Committee, 2003)
Pet Peters, Nell Corinella as I remember it (Published by the author, 2003)
R Rawson, Joy The history of Devon Meadows Primary School and the community which supports it (Devon Meadows Primary School, 1982)
Ra Ramsay, Merilyn Steam to Strzelecki : the Koo-Wee-Rup to McDonald’s Track Railway. (Australian Railway Historical Society, 1991)
Re Reed, A.W. Place names of Australia (A.H &A.W Reed, 1973)
RB Shire of Berwick and Shire of Cranbourne Rate Books, held by Casey Cardinia Libraries
Sc Scott, Roy The early history of Langwarrin (R.Scott, 1966)
St Stephan, Deborah Hallam 1830-1930 (City of Berwick, 1993)
Ste Stephan, Deborah Place names of Berwick (City of Casey, 1994)
T Wells, John &‘Tooradin celebrate together’ committee Tooradin : 125 years of coastal history, Blind Bight, Cannon’s Creek, Sherwood, Tooradin North, Warneet : 1875-2000 State School No.1503 (‘Tooradin celebrates together 125 years of Education’ committee, 2000) Sections of this book were originally published in Tooradin: a history of a sportsman's paradise and the first 100 years of State School No. 1503 compiled by D.J. Mickle and the Tooradin "Back to" Committee (D.J Mickle, 1975)
Th Thomson, Max Little Hills 1839-1977 (Narre Warren North State School No.1901 Centenary committee, 1977)
U Uhl, Jean Call back yesterday: Eumemmerring Parish (Lowden Publishing, 1972)
Ut Utber, Graham Modella: a brief history, 1904-1968 (G.Utber, 1968)
V Vision and Realisation: a centenary history of State Education in Victoria edited by Les Blake (Education Department of Victoria, 1973)
VACL Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages website. The database of place names is no longer available on line.
W In the wake of the Pack tracks: a history of the Shire of Berwick (Berwick Pakenham Historical Society, 1982)
Wa Watson, Angus B Lost and almost forgotten towns of Colonial Victoria : a comprehensive analysis of Census results for Victoria 1841-1901 (A.B Watson, 2003)
We Weatherhead, Lal The early settlement of North Tynong (L.Weatherhead, 1991)
Wh White, Joseph One hundred years of History: Shire of Phillip Island & Woolamai 1875- 1928, Shire of Bass 1928-1975 (Shires of Bass and Phillip Island, 1974)
Wi Wilson, Charles W. Upper Beaconsfield: an early history (The Author & the Upper Beaconsfield Association, 2013)
