The AZ story of Melbourne's suburbs - Herald Sun

Williamstown foreshore as the sun rises over Melbourne. Picture: Nicole Garmston Source: News Limited

From Toorak toff to Broady bogan - your postcode identifies you in the same way as your appearance, income and social circle.

Aside from your suburb's proximity to cafes and transport options, have you ever wondered where its name comes from?

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British colonial rule influenced the names of many Melbourne suburbs, as did our indigenous heritage.

Politicians, heads of state, early settlers and successful businessmen also played a major part.

In several cases there's more than one story to a suburb's name.

Among the several hundred suburbs in greater Melbourne some names are more literal - Box Hill reflects the number of yellow box trees in the area, while gold prospectors named Cockatoo after the birds in the nearby creek

Suburbs with Aboriginal origins include Nunawading which means "battlefield" or "ceremonial ground" and Eumemmerring - to "express pleasure or agreement".

Early records refer to Koo Wee Rup as "The Great Swamp" and Mont Albert is named after Queen Victoria's consort, Prince Albert.

Scroll down and have your say on this list below

Below is an A-Z list of Melbourne suburbs and their origins. Check it out - you might be surprised by what you find.

*Suburbs without information about origin of name have been left out.

Abbotsford

Abbotsford was named after a shallow water crossing used by the Abbot of Melrose Abbey in Scotland. It is also thought to derive from the Aboriginal words "Carran-Carranulk", meaning prickly myrtle.

Aberfeldie

James Robertson bought Crown land in the area in 1845 and called his home by the Scottish name Aberfeldie, which later became the name of the suburb.

Airport

Named after its proximity to Melbourne Airport.

Airport West

See Airport.

Albert Park

Took its name from the adjacent park after Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's consort in 1862.

Beaconsfield Parade in Albert Park. Source: News Limited

Albion

Albion was established in the 1850s and was the ancient poetic name for Britain. The suburb cemented its name with the establishment of Albion Quarrying Co. in 1888.

Alphington

Named by NSW solicitor-general Sir William Manning after his birthplace in Devonshire, England.

Altona

Pastoralist and early settler Robert Wrede named Altona after a village on the River Elbe in Germany.

Altona Meadows

Refer to Altona.

Altona North

Refer to Altona.

Julia Gillard's former home is in Altona. Source: News Limited

Amstel

This former locality in Waverley was named after the farming property of merchant and Dutch consul Daniel Ploos van Amstel.

Ardeer

Takes its name from Ardeer in Scotland, where Nobel's Explosive Co. of Glasgow had its works. The Australian subsidiary of the Glasgow firm, Nobel (Australasia), took over the Australian Explosives and Chemicals Co. in 1925 and renamed the site.

Armadale

Armadale comes from "Armadale House". This was the residence of politician and real estate agent James Munro. He named "Armadale House" after the Scottish village where he went to school.

A typical property in Armadale. Source: Supplied

Arthurs Seat

Acting Lieutenant John Murray named the suburb in 1802 after its resemblance to Edinburgh Hill in Scotland.

Ascot Vale

Ascot Vale is believed to have been named after the English racecourse Ascot due to its association with the racing industry.

Ashburton

Ashburton is thought to be named after the ship Lord Ashburton which arrived in Australia from Great Britain in 1850. Another view is that the suburb is an offshoot of Ashburton Terrace in Cork, Ireland, the birthplace of local politician and ex-councillor Dillon.

Ashwood

Ashwood was named after its border suburbs - Ashburton and Burwood.

Aspendale

In 1891, James Robert Crookes opened Aspendale racecourse and named it after a champion mare, Aspen. An adjacent railway station that served the racecourse was called Aspendale Park, but shortened to Aspendale in 1905.

Aspendale Gardens

Refer to Aspendale.

Attwood

Named after James Gordon Attwood who owned a property in the area from 1929 to 1964.

Auburn

Formerly a residential area of Hawthorn, the district was known as "Red Gum Flat" before the building of two local residences, the Reverend Henry Liddiard's Auburn Lodge and John Collings' Auburn House.

Avondale Heights

This suburb by the Maribyrnong River became one of Melbourne's newest residential areas in the late 1950s. It took its name from the old Avondale property which was subdivided in the 1920s.

Avonsleigh

Avonsleigh was originally known as East Emerald, but was renamed in 1911 after a guesthouse that was built to the east of Emerald in about 1900.

Badger Creek

This area south of Healesville is reportedly named after a horse called Badger that became bogged in the local creek.

Balaclava

Named after a Crimean War battle in 1854. Several streets in the area including Inkerman, Sebastopol and Raglan are also named after battles and towns.

The popular Wall Two 80 cafe in Balaclava. Source: News Limited

Balnarring

The Meyrick brothers used the name, taken from Aboriginal words meaning "gum tree" and "little", for their pastoral station established in 1840. In the late 1860s, a general store and hotel opened at the junction of three major peninsula tracks and the village became Balnarring. There are also reports of a European origin of the name including "Ballymerang", "Irish Bally" and "Land belonging to".

Balnarring Beach

Refer to Balnarring.

Balwyn

Balwyn was named after the 1858 vineyard and rural retreat of The Age editor Andrew Murray. The retreat was located on Balwyn Road and according to Mr Murray, the name was Gaelic for "wine-house".

Balwyn North

Refer to Balwyn.

Bangholme

Bangholme (variously spelt Bigning, Baungan, Barnham, Bangano) took its name from a waterhole on Joseph Hawdon's early pastoral run. Its origins are based on an Aboriginal word thought to mean hut.

Banyule City

This inner north-eastern municipality was created in 1994 by merging the City of Heidelberg with sections of Eltham and Diamond Valley shires. Thought to be an Aboriginal word for hill, the name was originally given to an 1848 homestead built by early settler Joseph Hawdon.

Baxter

Baxter was originally called "Baxter's Flat" after its owner, pastoralist Captain Benjamin Baxter, was appointed Clerk to the Bench of Magistrates and Postmaster in January 1838.

Bayswater

Bayswater was originally known as Scoresby North. In 1879 the district was renamed Bayswater after bookmaker and publisher J.J. Miller's nearby property at The Basin, so-called because of his birthplace in England.

Bayswater North

Refer to Bayswater.

Beaconsfield

Reportedly named after the Earl of Beaconsfield and former United Kingdom prime minister Benjamin Disraeli.

Beaconsfield Upper

Refer to Beaconsfield.

Beaumaris

Originally called Spring Grove after the natural springs the Boonwurrung people tapped along the base of the coastal sandstone cliffs. The name Beaumaris appears to have first been used in 1888 when the Beaumaris Park Estate was offered for sale. The name was based on a Welsh coastal resort where Edward I built Beau Marais Castle.

Beenak

The rural locality of Beenak is thought to take its name from an Aboriginal word for "hand-basket".

When most people think of Belgrave they think of Puffing Billy. Source: HeraldSun

Belgrave

Belgrave, the name of an English town in Leicestershire, was named after the property of a local councillor, E.W. Benson.

Belgrave Heights

Refer to Belgrave.

Belgrave South

Refer to Belgrave.

Bell

Created in 1889 when a railway station was opened in Bell Street, Bell was named after either John Pascoe Fawkner's Coburg estate, or 1870s landowner Francis Bell. Use of the name declined from the 1920s with the growth of Preston.

Bellevue

A locality in North Balwyn, Bellevue's local street names (including Bellevue, Jolie Vue, Mountain Vue, Hillview, Highview, Viewpoint) reflect the area's views to Melbourne and Mount Macedon.

Bennettswood

The name is derived from early settler brothers George and Edward Bennett, who occupied land on Gardiners Creek from 1845 and purchased small holdings from 1850.

Bentleigh

Named in honour of the late Sir Thomas Bent, former premier of Victoria and prominent landowner.

Bentleigh East

Refer to Bentleigh.

Berwick

Berwick was established on part of early European settler Captain Terence O'Connor Gardiner's original Cardinia Creek run, which he is thought to have named after his hometown of Berwick-upon-Tweed in northern England.

Beveridge

Named after Peter Beveridge, who created a cattle station in the area in 1840. The area was originally called Mercer's Vale.

Big Pats Creek

Named after Partick O'Hannigan, an Irish miner who found gold there in 1860.

Bittern

Bittern is named after the Australian bittern (official name Botaurus poiciloptilus) that inhabited nearby marshland.

Locals cool off at the beach on a hot summer's day in Black Rock. Source: HeraldSun

Black Rock

Black Rock is named after "Black Rock House", built in 1856 by Charles Hotson Ebden who had made a fortune from real estate in Melbourne.

Blackburn

There is much debate about the origin of Blackburn. Some reports suggest it was named after G. Blackburn, a property owner in the area, while others say a man named Blackburn owned sawpits near the creek. There are also claims the name came from a suburb northeast of Liverpool in England or after ex-convict architect and civil engineer James Blackburn (1803-1854) who was a Melbourne City Council surveyor and designer of Melbourne's Yan Yean water supply system.

Blackburn North

Refer to Blackburn.

Blackburn South

Refer to Blackburn.

Boneo

The Meyrick brothers, who were early settlers in the area, are credited with establishing the name. It is also known as Boniong, Boniyong and Bonio.

Boronia

Local councillor A.E. Chandler was asked to name the district in 1915. He chose Boronia, after the flower cultivated at the family nursery nearby at The Basin.

Box Hill

This name was selected at a meeting of residents in 1861. Box Hill was chosen because of the large number of yellow box trees growing among local forest.

Box Hill North

Refer to Box Hill.

Box Hill South

Refer to Box Hill.

Braeside

Braeside was named in 1909 by Arthur Syme (son of The Age proprietor David Syme) who established a horse stud and training establishment of the same name.

Brandon Park

The name comes from a grazing property bought by Sir George Steward (1865-1920) about the time he became secretary to the Governor-general in 1902.

Braybrook

From Bray in Berkshire, England.

Brighton

Brighton was developed privately in 1842 as a result of a special survey by Henry Dendy. The name is thought to mean "place of sorrow", after an apparent attack on Boonwurrung clans people by the Ganai tribe, which resulted in many deaths.

Brighton Beach in summer. Source: News Limited

Brighton East

Refer to Brighton.

Brimbank City

An early Brimbank settler, Mary Dodd, is said to have named the location by describing her house as being on the brim of the bank of the Maribyrnong River.

Broadmeadows

A government survey laid out plans for a town along the Moonee Ponds Creek valley in 1850. The area was named Broadmeadows after the local landscape. After the relocation of shire offices and the suburban transformation of the area, the old town was renamed Westmeadows in 1964.

Brunswick

Brunswick may have taken its name from the estate of Thomas Wilkinson and Edward Stone Parker in the east of the suburb. Or Mr Wilkinson could have named the suburb after Princess Caroline of Brunswick, the estranged wife of King George IV. Alternatively, Brunswick could be named after Captain George Brunswick Smyth of the 50th Regiment. He was in charge of the mounted military police in Port Phillip in 1839.

Brunswick East

Refer to Brunswick.

Brunswick West

Refer to Brunswick.

Bulla

The first official mention of Bulla was in 1837 when Governor Bourke visited the area, meeting the Brodie brothers who had settled by Deep Creek, a tributary of the Maribyrnong River. In 1854, seven years after the village was surveyed, its name was officially shortened to Bulla. "Bulla bulla" was an Aboriginal term meaning either "two" or "good".

Bulleen

In 1841 Sydney solicitor Frederic Unwin bought 5120 acres including the area of Bulleen - which was named after the nearby Bolin Bolin billabong. The Aboriginal translation is "lyrebird".

Competitors slogged it out at last year’s Victorian All Schools Cross Country Championships at Bundoora Park. Source: HeraldSun

Bundoora

Bundoora was first known as Springfield, the name of Irish immigrant William Forde Cleeland's nearby property. The area was also known as Prospect Hill and Janefield, which was derived from the field where James Miller Brock's wife was buried in 1851. The name "Bundoora" is thought to come from an Aboriginal word meaning "the plain where kangaroos live".

Bunyip

The area was originally known as "Buneep Buneep" or "Bunyip Bunyip", an Aboriginal name for a mythical swamp-dwelling creature.

Bunyip North

Refer to Bunyip.

Burnley

Burnley was named early settler and local councillor William Bust Burnley.

Burwood

In 1879 the Nunawading Shire Council renamed Ballyshanassy, named in 1858 after prominent politician Sir John O'Shanassy, to Burwood. Burwood was named after businessman and politician Sir James Palmer's residence Burwood House (now Invergowrie) in Hawthorn.

Burwood East

Refer to Burwood.

Buttlejorrk

The Parish of Buttlejorrk, between Melton and Sunbury, was named in 1839 by surveyor William Darke using an adaptation of Aboriginal words.

Caldermeade

Local landowner Archibald McMillan named Caldermeade after "Calder' in Scotland. He used the Gaelic words "calder" (wood by a stream) and mead (meadow).

Cambarville

Timber mill owners A Cameron and FJ Barton named Cambarville. They established the mill to salvage timber from trees destroyed in the 1939 bushfires.

Camberwell

Named after early settler George Eastaway's Camberwell Inn (which he named after the London district of Camberwell).

Campbellfield

Campbellfield takes its name from Charles and James David Lyon Campbell who settled in the area in the 1840s.

Named after Viscount Canterbury in 1869, Canterbury continues to live up to its rich history with house prices in the area among Melbourne’s dearest. Source: HeraldSun

Canterbury

Named in honour of Sir John Henry Manners-Sutton, Governor of Victoria (1866-1873), who became Viscount Canterbury in 1869 after the death of his elder brother.

Cape Schanck

Lieutenant James Grant named Cape Schanck after Captain John Schanck, who explored the Victorian coastline in 1801.

Cardinia

An early squatting run taken up by Terence O'Connor near Cranbourne in 1838 was named Cardinia. It is thought that the name was derived from an Aboriginal word "Kardinia", meaning "looking towards the sun", or "sunrise".

Carlton

Reports suggest it was named after Carlton Gardens in London or Carlton House, the residence of the Prince of Wales.

Carlton North

Refer to Carlton.

St Ali North cafe in Carlton North. Source: News Limited

Carnegie

Carnegie was originally known as Rosstown after William Murray Ross bought 1000 acres in the area between 1850 and 1870. In 1908 the area was renamed Carnegie, believed to be in the hope that the American millionaire philanthropist Andrew Carnegie would donate money for a local library.

Carrum

The name Carrum was originally used by Europeans to describe the swampy land and coastal ridges on Port Phillip Bay between Mordialloc and Frankston. The word is thought to be an adaptation of "Karrum Karrum", an Aboriginal term for boomerang.

Carrum Downs

Carrum Downs was built on the former Carrum Swamp, which adjoins Carrum. Carrum Downs now shares boundaries with Frankston North, Langwarrin, Skye, Bangholme, Patterson Lakes and Seaford.

Caulfield

Mystery surrounds the origin of the name. Although the area is thought to have been named after John Caulfield, a Melbourne pioneer who helped establish the School of Fine Arts and Mechanics Institute (now the Melbourne Athenaeum) in Collins Street in 1839, he had no direct connection to the Caulfield district. Caulfield may be named after the Earl of Charlemont (family name Caulfield) who owned land in nearby Elsternwick.

Dog rescue walk at Caulfield Park. Source: News Limited

Caulfield East

Refer to Caulfield.

Caulfield North

Refer to Caulfield.

Caulfield South

Refer to Caulfield.

Chadstone

Chadstone is thought to be named after Chadstone farm. Chadstone farm is named after Chad's stone church near Malvern Hill in England.

Chatham

Chatham is named after a town in England.

Chelsea

Chelsea was named after a London borough. The name was first used in 1907 for a new railway station on the Frankston line.

Chelsea Heights

Refer to Chelsea.

Cheltenham

Cheltenham comes from the Cheltenham Inn, which was established by local landowner Charles Whorral in 1853. He named the inn after his home town in England.

Chirnside Park

Chirnside Park was originally known as West Lilydale until it was subdivided in 1962. It was renamed after George Chirnside, who purchased local property Mooroolbark Park in 1921.

Christmas Hills

Named after a shepherd called David Christmas.

Monash University students play quidditch, a game popuarlised by the Harry Potter books, at the Clayton campus. Source: HeraldSun

Clayton

Clayton is named after Melbourne solicitor John Hughes Clayton who lived on a rural block on the south-eastern corner of Clayton and Centre roads between 1865 and 1877.

Clayton South

Refer to Clayton.

Clematis

Clematis, settled in 1864, was known as Paradise Valley before it was renamed after the climbing plant.

Clifton Hill

Early land speculator JH Knipe named Clifton Hill after Clifton, England.

Clyde

Named after "Clyde Creek" or the "River Clyde" in Scotland.

Clyde North

Refer to Clyde.

Coatesville

Coatesville was named in 1955 after Councillor Leslie Robert Coates, a member of Moorabbin Council and former Australian Labor Party MLA.

Coburg

Originally called Pentridge, the suburb was renamed Coburg in 1870 in honour of the Duke of Edinburgh who was also Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha. It was also renamed to remove the stigma associated with Pentridge Prison.

Coburg North

Refer to Coburg.

Cockatoo

Gold prospectors named the area in the 1850s after the Cockatoos in the nearby creek.

Coldstream

Coldstream was named after a local 1850s estate of Kerr and Black. Coldstream is a British town.

Collingwood

Melbourne's earliest suburbs Collingwood and Fitzroy were first known as Newtown. In 1842, Newtown was renamed Collingwood, possibly after the Collingwood Hotel, which was named after the British admiral who succeeded Nelson at Trafalgar.

A cute cottage in Collingwood. Source: Supplied

Coolaroo

The name is believed to derive from an Aboriginal word for brown snake.

Coonans Hill

Coonans Hills was named after local labourer Michael Coonan and his wife Ellen, who came from Tipperary.

Cottles Bridge

Cottles Bridge is named after a crossing over the Diamond Creek which gave access to the rural hinterland of Arthurs Creek.

Craigieburn

A group of Scots who settled in the area in the 1840s are thought to have named the suburb after a town in the former Scottish country of Dumfries. Craigie is Gaelic for "rocky".

Cranbourne

Cranbourne is named after the son of the Marquess of Salisbury, or an English town. Before European settlement, the Boonwurrung people knew the Cranbourne area as "Mar-ne-bek" meaning excellent country.

Cranbourne East

Refer to Cranbourne.

Cranbourne North

Refer to Cranbourne.

Cranbourne South

Refer to Cranbourne.

Cranbourne West

Refer to Cranbourne.

Cremorne

The name Cremorne dates back to the establishment of the Cremorne Gardens in 1853. The suburb's name became official with the opening of Cremorne Station in 1859.

Crib Point

Fishermen's huts or "cribs" located on the shore were possibly the source of Crib Point's name. It also means "sheltered harbour".

Croxton

This locality in Northcote took its name from the Croxton Park racecourse and hotel, in turn named after the Croxton racecourse in England.

Croydon family Geoff and Fiona Smith enjoy some time out at home with their son Riley. Source: HeraldSun

Croydon

The area that is now Croydon was initially called "White Flats". When the railway from Melbourne was established in 1882, the local station was called Warrandyte. The shire of Lilydale and the Railway Commissioner called for a more suitable name as Warrandyte was 7km away. As the railway line bisected Gregory Lacey's property, he suggested that the new name be Croydon after his wife's home town in England.

Croydon Hills

Refer to Croydon.

Croydon North

Refer to Croydon.

Croydon South

Refer to Croydon.

Dalmore

Named after McGregor's Dalmore Estate.

Dandenong

Dandenong is thought to be derived from the Woiwurrung word "Tanjenong" of the Wurundjeri people. It was the name for a creek that flowed from the nearby ranges into a wide shallow valley which merged with the swamps that fringed Port Phillip Bay.

Dandenong North

Refer to Dandenong.

Dandenong South

Refer to Dandenong.

Greater Dandenong Mayor Jim Memeti in Menzies St, Dandenong with shopper Jenny Brown. Source: News Limited

Darebin City

The name derives from an Aboriginal word thought to mean "swallows".

Deepdene

An area of land, called Deepdene Estate, was first advertised for sale in November 1883. Deepdene was the name Thomas Hope's celebrated estate near London. In 1889 architect David Askew built his home facing Whitehorse Road and named it Deepdene House.

Deer Park

Deer Park derives its name from deer kept in the area by the Melbourne Hunt Club until the late 1890s.

Dennis

Dennis was originally known as Mulway's Swamp. Its name changed when the Dennis railway station, named after a Northcote City Councillor, was opened in 1924.

Derrimut

Derrimut was named by the leader of the Yalukit-Willam clan in the 19th century. The Yalukit-Willam clan, which means "river camp" or "river dwellers" were the first people of Hobsons Bay.

Devon Meadows

Devon Meadows is named after Benjamin Cox's Devon estate. His estate was named after the English county.

Diamond Creek

There's two theories behind the origin of Diamond Creek. The first is the area being named after a bull named Diamond that drowned in the tributary of the Yarra River. The second is early surveyors seeing crystalline stones glistening in the clear water.

The lovely Diamond Creek. Source: News Limited

Diamond Valley

Named after the lowlands to the west of Diamond Creek.

Diggers Rest

The name reflects the area being a resting place for diggers arriving and leaving Melbourne, and the central goldfields.

Dingley Village

Dingley Village comes from Dingley Grange, the name of a house Thomas Attenborough built in the area in the late 1850s. He probably called Dingley Grange after Dingley Hall in his native Northumberlandshire, England.

Dixons Creek

Named after local resident John Dixon.

Docklands

Docklands is named after the former swamp in the area that was used as a dock with a large network of wharves and rail infrastructure from the 1880s. By the 1990s the dock was mostly abandoned, but the area started to be renewed when Docklands Stadium was built in 1996.

Doncaster

The suburb's name comes from innkeeper John Robert Wilson, who owned the Doncaster Arms Hotel, which drew its name from Doncaster in Yorkshire.

Doncaster East

Refer to Doncaster.

Donnybrook

Donnybrook is named after a district of Dublin that was known for holding a fair that attracted drunkenness and violence. Donnybrook is derived from the Celtic language Domhnach Broc meaning The Church of St Broc.

Donvale

The name Donvale is said to be a blend of Doncaster and Springvale - the names of the roads on its western boundary.

Doreen

Doreen was originally known as "Hazel Glen" after the property of Patrick and Agnes Reid who settled in 1844. To avoid confusion with Reid's property, in 1895 the name was changed to Doreen.

Doveton

Named after John Doveton, the nephew of goldfields commissioner and magistrate Francis C. Doveton.

Dromana

Originally known as Hobson's Flat after a local squatter, Dromana is of Irish origin and is thought to have been named in the mid 1800s with the influx of gold prospectors. It's probably

named after Dromana in County Waterford, Ireland.

Named after historic homes, Eaglemont continues its reputation for eye-catching architecture with local resident Peter Crone being nominated for the Victorian Architecture Medal for designing this local property. Source: HeraldSun

Eaglemont

Eaglemont is named after historic properties in the area named Leighton and Hartlands. Hartlands included the most elevated region - Mount Eagle - which was subdivided in 1853 to become the Mount Eagle property. In the 1880s land boom Mount Eagle and the elevated area of Leighton was bought by a syndicate and subdivided into Eaglemont Estate.

East Melbourne

East Melbourne is named after its location to the CBD. Robert Hoddle surveyed East Melbourne in 1839 and 1840. Most of the area remained a government reserve during the mid 1840s. Early settlers included the families of William Lonsdale, the police magistrate and Lieutenant-Governor La Trobe.

Eden Park

Eden Park was first settled by Ewen and Janet Robertson who built Breadalbane, an impressive homestead on 1000 acres. The land was subdivided into Eden Park Estate during the 1890s' after Mr Robertson's death.

Edithvale

Edithvale was known as Aspendale until 1920 when the Frankston line railway station opened. It was named after Edithvale Road, which derived its name from Edithvale Farm, a property established in the 1850s and owned by John and Edith Greves.

Elsternwick

Victorian pioneer Charles Ebden is said to have built a house by a creek here, naming it Elster (the German word for magpie). "Wick", meaning harbour or village, was added in 1856 when government surveyors marked a village roughly centred on the corner of Glen Huntly Road and Nepean Highway. Another report suggests it was named after an English village of the same name, which is now the East Riding of Yorkshire. This village is known as Elstronwick, but in 19th century maps and gazetteers it was spelt Elsternwick.

Abbey Fox, Mookey Grinberg, Caulfield MP David Southwick and Graham Deacon on Glenhuntly Rd in Elsternwick. Source: News Limited

Eltham

Eltham is believed to be named after the area's bad soil. Indigenous custodians of the region were the Wurundjeri-Willam clan (Woi wurrung-speaking people), who coexisted with early white settlers in the region they called "Nillumbik", which means shallow earth. The first European to explore the Eltham region was Joseph Tice Gellibrand, who named the Plenty River in 1836. A village site, reserved in 1840, was officially gazetted as Eltham in January 1851.

Eltham North

Refer to Eltham

Elwood

Elwood was named by Lieutenant-Governor Charles La Trobe after Thomas Ellwood, an influential English Quaker.

Emerald

Once known as Main Range, Emerald took its name from Emerald Creek, which, in turn, was believed to have been named after an early prospector in the region, Jack Emerald, who discovered gold and was murdered there.

Emerald Hill

The name was attributed to Port Phillip Herald journalist Edmund Finn, who in October 1845 advertised the venue of a temperance society picnic as an "eminence ... green as the freshest shamrock ... encircled by shining lagoons, the sparkling sea, and growths of scrub and ti-tree".

Endeavour Hills

Previously known as Doveton North, in 1971 it was gazetted as Endeavour Hills and named after the ship Captain Cook used on his exploration of the eastern Australian coast in 1770. Many streets in the area were also named after his crew.

Epping

Named in 1853 after Epping Forest, Essex, England.

Essendon

It is presumed that the name of Essendon was derived from the town of Essendon in Hertfordshire, England.

Essendon Fields

Refer to Essendon.

Essendon North

Refer to Essendon.

Essendon West

Refer to Essendon.

Eumemmerring

Eumemmerring was named after a creek at Dandenong from an Aboriginal word expressing pleasure or agreement.

Exford

Exford was the name of Simon Staughton's 19th-century pastoral station in the nearby Brisbane Ranges. The Exe was also a name used by some early white settlers for the Werribee River.

Scott Kurowski soaks up some sun at the Fairfield Boat House. Source: HeraldSun

Fairfield

It dates back to the mid 1860s. The locality's name originated in Derbyshire, England. C.H. James owned and subdivided the land previously known as Fairfield Park.

Fawkner

Named after John Pascoe Fawkner, one of the early settlers in Port Phillip who between 1840 and 1855 farmed property and was a member of the first Legislative Council of Victoria.

Fernshaw

Also called The Watts, it was named by a surveyor based on the prominent features of the river banks, the ferns.

Ferntree Gully

An early name for the locality was Lightwood Gully, but it is thought a painting of the local landscape called Fern Tree Gully in the Dandenong Ranges by Austrian landscape artist Eugene von Guérard may have been responsible for the settlement's permanent name, which was changed to Ferntree Gully in the 1980s.

Ferny Creek

Ferny Creek, originally known as One Tree Hill, was later called the Scoresby Village Settlement despite its distance from the township of Scoresby.

Fitzroy

Originated from the FitzRoy ward of the Melbourne City Council, named after the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Charles FitzRoy.

Fitzroy North

Refer to Fitzroy.

Flagstaff Hill

Originally called Burial Hill, this rise at the western end of the city grid was renamed when the flagstaff was erected in September 1840 for signalling shipping activities in Hobsons Bay.

Flemington

There is much debate about the origin of the name. One theory was that it was named as a compliment to Bob Fleming, a retail butcher who settled in that locality at an early date. A second is it was named after John Wood Fleming, a native of Melbourne. A third theory was that Flemington was the place named by Watson - of early pastoralists Watson and Hunter - in honour of his wife, whose father was manager of a Flemington estate in Scotland.

Flinders

The Parish of Flinders on the Mornington Peninsula was named after explorer Matthew Flinders, who briefly visited the area in 1802.

Footscray is home to Melbourne’s wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market. Source: Supplied

Footscray

Named after the Kentish village of Foots Cray in England.

Forest Hill

Forest Hill is said to derive from the name of the cottage owned by early settler Captain Bunbury and is descriptive of the district's original bushland setting.

Frankston

There is no conclusive evidence of the origin of the name, but the town may have been named after Major General Sir Thomas Harte Franks, a contemporary British army officer or after Francis (Frank) Liardet, a prominent early settler, or after Charles Franks, an early Melbourne settler. Another report suggests it was named after Frank Stone's Hotel, a small pub by Mornington Hastings Road.

Frankston North

Refer to Frankston.

Frankston South

Refer to Frankston.

Gardenvale

Name is descriptive of the district, which was devoted to market gardening and horticulture.

Garfield

Originally known by the name of the nearby Cannibal Creek, in the 1880s it was suggested it be renamed Swamp Vale, but residents objected and the name Garfield was chosen after the American President General James Abram Garfield, who was assassinated in 1881.

Garfield North

Refer to Garfield.

Gembrook

A mining company gave Gembrook its name because of the precious stones found in the creek.

Gilderoy

Named after an English highwayman and cattle thief whose real name was Patrick MacGregor.

Gladstone Park

This area was either named by the Gladstone Family of Great Britain, who received the property by Royal Grant from Queen Victoria, or after a 19th century grazing property in the area owned by Thomas Gladstone.

Glenferrie

Originally known as Upper Hawthorn, its name is attributed to a property known as Glen Ferrie built in 1840 by solicitor Peter Ferrie on the south side of Gardiners Creek.

Glen Huntly

Takes its name from Glen Huntly Road, which was named after a ship quarantined in the bay at Red Bluff. The Glen Huntly arrived in Hobsons Bay in April 1840 carrying typhus fever sufferers. A few of the passengers died after the ship's arrival and were buried on the bluff.

Grant takes his dog Millie and children William and Beatrice for a walk outside his home in Glen Iris. Source: HeraldSun

Glen Iris

Named after the residence of solicitor J.C. Turner, one of the earliest settlers in the district.

Glen Waverley

This district of former orchards and market gardens was known as Black Flat until 1905.

Glenroy

The district was named in 1840 after the property of early settler Duncan Cameron, born in Glenroy, Inverness, Scotland.

Gowanbrae

The newest suburb in Moreland City, Gowanbrae has developed since the late 1990s to the east of Moonee Ponds Creek between Gladstone Park and Glenroy.

Gowerville

Gowerville was the former name of an area of South Preston, probably named after early land purchaser Abel Gower.

Greensborough

Named after Edward Bernard Green, who was the local mail contractor for the district and also purchased 643 acres of land. It was previously known as Keelbundoora after the parish in which it is located.

Greythorn

A district of new homes that developed from the 1950s in the North Balwyn area, Greythorn is an old district name. Formerly called Whitethorn, reputedly because of the white hawthorn blossoms of the hedges that once lined the rustic road, the name may have been altered to avoid confusion with Whitehorse Road.

Gruyere

Gruyere was first surveyed in 1858. The locality's Swiss name was suggested by winegrower Paul de Castella. Cahilltown (after early settler Richard Cahill) is an official alternative placename.

Guys Hill

There is debate about the origin of the name. Some reports suggest it developed from a building situated opposite the present Guys Hill Store that was used as a home for the destitute, homeless, drunk and disorderly, and known as "Guys House". Others believe it was named after Herbert Guy, who occupied the store in the area between 1933 and 1943.

Hadfield

Hadfield was named after a Broadmeadows city councillor.

Hallam

Until 1923 Hallam was known as Hallam's Road after William Hallam, who owned the first local store.

Bathing boxes at Melbourne's Hampton Beach in the 1920s. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

Hampton

Took its name from Hampton Street, which, in turn, derived from an English royal residence and honoured an early settler, D.B. Hampton, who arrived in the Port Phillip District in 1842.

Hampton East

Refer to Hampton.

Hampton Park

The developers named Hampton Park after it was subdivided in 1917. The area had been known to locals as Garner's Paddock.

Harkaway

The name is reputed to derive from either a famous English racehorse of the 1830s or a farmer's call to his cattle dog.

Harrisfield

Named in 1926 after local shire councillor Edgar Harris.

Hartwell

Took its name from James Irwin's residence, Hartwell House (1853).

Hastings

Previously known as King's Creek, the name Hastings was first used around 1860 and is thought to have been derived either from a town in Sussex, England, after Warren Hastings, a Governor-General of India, or in honour of the Marquis of Hastings.

Hawksburn

Named after Hawksburn House, whose owners in the 1850s thought the nearby creek resembled a Scottish burn.

Hawthorn

The name "Hawthorn" was, for a time, written with a final "e". It is reportedly named after Lieutenant Hawthorne of the Frigate Phantom or the Frigate Electra, which visited the port between 1852 and 1854. Hawthorn had been a municipality since 1860 and a city since 1890.

Hawthorn East

Refer to Hawthorn.

Healesville

Named in honour of Richard Heales, Premier of Victoria (1860-1861).

Heatherton

Heatherton was sometimes known as Kingstown or Kingston, reputedly after the King brothers, early squatters in the district.

Heathmont

Heathmont's name is thought to have originated from the extensive growths of heath on the hilly land.

Constable Jessica Moran and Senior Constable Robbie Mascia chat to Hamad Sleiman, manager of Heidelberg’s Cafe Burgundy. Source: HeraldSun

Heidelberg

Named by land agent Continental Brown, who promoted the district's supposed resemblance to its German namesake.

Heidelberg Heights

Refer to Heidelberg.

Heidelberg West

Refer to Heidelberg.

Highett

Took its name from Highett's Road, which was so called because William Highett, M. L. C (1857-1880) owned land in that locality.

Hillside

Named after a local farmer, David Hill. Formerly called Quigley's Siding.

Hobsons Bay

The city's name derives from its location on Hobsons Bay, the northern extremity of Port Phillip Bay. Captain William Hobson, Commander of HMS Rattlesnake, surveyed Port Phillip Bay and in 1837 Sir Richard Bourke ordered that its northern tip be named after him.

Hoddles Creek

Named after Victoria's first Surveyor-General, Robert Hoddle.

Hoppers Crossing

The name derives from a Princes Highway road crossing, in turn named after Hoppers Hill, an early topographical feature.

Hotham

Hotham was until 1887 the name for North Melbourne. It was named after Sir Charles Hotham, Governor of Victoria 1854-55.

Hughesdale

Reportedly named after Hughesdale railway station, which opened in 1925, and honoured Oakleigh mayor James Hughes, who had been instrumental in obtaining the station for the area.

Hume City

The city is named after the explorer Hamilton Hume, who, with William Hovell, travelled from Yass in New South Wales to the Victorian coast in 1824-25. The Hume Highway, named after Hume, covers part of the explorers' route and passes through the City of Hume.

Humevale

Humevale was the name chosen by second-generation settlers for the township north of Whittlesea that was originally known as Scrubby Creek.

Huntingdale

Huntingdale was known as East Oakleigh until 1952 when the name Huntingdale was officially adopted. The area's Melbourne Hunt Club was the original source of the name.

Hurstbridge

Named after early settler Henry Hurst (shot dead by bushranger Robert Burke in 1866) and the timber bridge he built over the creek.

Iona

First known as Bunyip South, Iona was created by draining the Koo Wee Rup Swamp. It was later named after a Scottish island.

Irishtown

This area in northeast Preston was named by its Irish-born Methodist purchaser Samuel Jeffrey around 1850, but was subsumed within Preston by the end of the decade.

Yarra Flats Park, Ivanhoe East. Source: HeraldSun

Ivanhoe

The name (from the novel by Sir Walter Scott) was given to a farm established in the 1840s by Archibald Thom.

Ivanhoe East

Refer to Ivanhoe.

Jacana

Named after a tropical waterbird.

Jolimont

Charles Joseph La Trobe arrived in Melbourne in 1839 and named his estate Jolimont ("pretty hill") after his wife's Swiss home.

Jordanville

Named after the first president of the Shire of Mulgrave.

Kalkallo

Kalkallo replaced an earlier settlement at Kinlochewe. Named Donnybrook by surveyor Robert Mason in 1853 when the post office was transferred from Kinlochewe, a name change in 1874 distinguished Kalkallo from the smaller settlement of Donnybrook. Formerly called Galk-galk.

Kallista

Formerly known as South Sassafras, the name Kallista (from the Greek word for beauty) was reputedly suggested by a Miss Eastough in the 1920s.

Kalorama

Kalorama took its name in the 1930s from the Greek word "kalos", meaning beautiful.

Kangaroo Ground

Traditional name was Moor-rull, which means basaltic earth. Its virtues, well known to Aboriginal people, were soon discovered by European settlers. A network of families, mostly Scottish, prospered on the land from 1839.

Keilor

Keilor was gazetted as a township in 1850. A settler named Watson, who arrived in the late 1830s, is said to have given the district the name of his father's cattle-breeding property or a rivulet in Forfarshire, Scotland. Other sources suggest "keilor" was an Aboriginal word for "brackish water".

Keilor Downs

Refer to Keilor.

Keilor East

Refer to Keilor.

Keilor Lodge

Refer to Keilor.

Keilor North

Refer to Keilor.

Keilor Park

Refer to Keilor.

Kensington children check out the Venny Adventure Playground. Source: Leader

Kensington

Named after Kensington, London, England.

Keon Park

Keon Park took its name from politician Standish Michael Keon (1913-87), State member for Richmond and later federal MP for Yarra.

Kerrimuir

Named after a Scottish town, the area was subdivided for housing in the 1950s.

Kew

Some reports suggest the name was given to an estate owned by N.A. Fenwick. Others believe the district's name derived from the site of Kew Gardens in England.

Kew East

Refer to Kew.

Keysborough

Keysborough is named after the Keys family who arrived as squatters in 1844 to become the district's largest landowners and influential participants in Dandenong's early local government.

Kilsyth

Named after a town in Stirling, Scotland.

Kilsyth South

Refer to Kilsyth.

Kingsbury

Named after Private Bruce Kingsbury, killed in action in New Guinea in 1942.

Kingsville

Originally included in the municipality of Footscray in 1859, Kingsville, one of two estates developed in the 1890s by the Werribee Park's Chirnside family, was surrendered in 1871 for a 50-year period to Werribee Shire. When the builder Anders Hansen erected hundreds of homes on estates west of Geelong Rd, the name Kingsville was extended informally to this area.

Knox City

The name derives from Sir George Knox, a local resident and councillor of the shire in the 1920s and member of the Legislative Assembly from 1927 to 1960.

Koo Wee Rup

Early records refer to Koo Wee Rup as "The Great Swamp". The name is derived from the native Aboriginal words of "Kowe", meaning water, and "Nerup", meaning blackfish, or combined to create the phrase "blackfish swimming". The area was used by the Boon wurrung people as a major food source, particularly in summer.

Koonung Heights

Named after the nearby Koonung Creek.

Ball boys Brandon Bassin and Michael Gruber muck about at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club. Picture: Hamish Blair Source: HeraldSun

Kooyong

Believed to mean camp or resting place. The name is said to come from Kooyong Koot.

Kurunjang

"Kurunjang" means "red ground" and is derived from the Aboriginal tribe "Kurun-jang-baluk".

Laburnum

Named after a yellow flowering shrub.

Lalor

Named after Peter Lalor, the leader of the miners' rebellion at the Eureka Stockade.

Lang Lang

Lang Lang comes from an Aboriginal term for a group of trees and was first known as Carrington. Also believed to mean "stones" or "stony".

Lang Lang East

Refer to Lang Lang.

Langwarrin

Langwarrin was populated by corn farmers and orchardists by the 1880s. The town was surveyed in 1886 when Langwarrin Military Reserve was established.

Langwarrin South

Refer to Langwarrin.

Launching Place

Originally the terminus for flat-bottomed timber boats taking supplies to the Wood's Point gold diggings, Launching Place was once called Ewart's after the landlord of the Home Hotel.

Laverton

Laverton may have been named after Langmore's old Laverton Estate, which took its name from one of three gentlemen who went to England to purchase a property. Alternatively, the suburb's origin could date back to Langhorne's Laverton pastoral station at nearby Altona.

Laverton North

Refer to Laverton.

Sophia and Madeleine kick a soccer ball near the Lilydale Lake. Source: Leader

Lilydale

The town was reputedly named by John Hardy, who surveyed it, from a sentimental song of the period called Lilly Dale. An alternative suggestion is that it was named after Lilly de Castella, the wife of one of the early pioneers.

Little River

Little River began as the site of a travellers' inn at a crossing on the Little River in 1840. A township called Rothwell was laid out in 1849 but locals preferred Little River.

Longwarry

From the Longwarry run or pastoral station in that locality.

Longwarry North

Refer to Longwarry.

Lower Plenty

Lower Plenty marks the crossing point over the Plenty River close to the Yarra River. Some Crown land was sold there as early as 1838 and in the 1850s a small township emerged where a tollgate intercepted the bridge over the Plenty.

Lyndhurst

Named after John Singleton Copley, Lord Lyndhurst, Lord Chancellor of England.

Macclesfield

The area was named after a town in England, possibly by a miner named Stringer.

Macleod

Named after Malcolm Alexander Macleod, a World War I veteran

Maidstone

Named after a borough in Kent, England.

Malvern

Named by Sir James Lorimer of the Gardiner Shire Council. Judge Skinner had an estate there, which was named after Malvern in Worcestershire, England. Another report suggests it was named after John Gardiner, who pioneered an overland cattle route from New South Wales to the Port Phillip District in 1836 and established a station on the banks of Kooyongkoot, as Gardiners Creek was then called. The name was changed to Malvern in 1878.

Malvern East

Refer to Malvern.

Mambourin

Name of a Wathawurrung clan head.

Maribyrnong

Bounded by the Maribyrnong River, from which it takes its name.

Maryknoll

Maryknoll was the brainchild of Father Pooley, a Catholic priest who dreamt of moving city people to a rural Catholic community where they would live on self-sufficient blocks supplemented by the resources raised by co-operative industries.

Lola is off for a paddle with her family on McCrae beach. Source: Leader

McCrae

Andrew McCrae leased the Arthur's Seat pastoral station from 1844 to 1853 and with his artist wife, Georgiana, built the homestead that still stands in Charles St, McCrae.

McKinnon

The suburb is named after the train station, which took its name from McKinnon's Rd (McKinnon being the name of an early settler).

Melbourne

Melbourne began on the wrong side of the law. In May 1835, a syndicate led by John Batman explored Port Phillip Bay, looking for suitable sites for a settlement. Batman claimed to have signed a "treaty" with Aboriginal leaders, giving him ownership of almost 250,000 hectares of land. Three months later, another syndicate of farmers, led by John Pascoe Fawkner, entered the Yarra River aboard the Enterprize, establishing the first permanent settlement.

New South Wales Governor Richard Bourke declared Batman's treaty illegal and the settlers to be trespassers. But within two years, more than 350 people and 55,000 sheep had landed, and the squatters were establishing large wool-growing properties in the district. Bourke was forced to accept the rapidly growing township, which he named in honour of the Prime Minister of England, William Lamb, known as Lord Melbourne. Melbourne is also said to mean "middle brook" or "the settlement".

Melton

Named by George William Rusden after Melton Mowbray, a hunting district in Leicestershire.

Melton South

Refer to Melton.

Melton West

Refer to Melton.

Mentone

Named after a French resort near Nice by a syndicate led by Sir Matthew Davies and his brother Joseph, who bought the land for subdivision during the 1880s. Some of the land was previously called Dover Slopes and the railway station was known as Balcombe until 1884.

Menzies Creek

Known for a time as Aura (after a local property), Menzies Creek was a gold digging area. The locality took its name from James Menzies, an early settler.

Mernda

Initially called Morang. The settlement had its heyday during construction of the Yan Yean Reservoir (1853-1857). To capitalise on tourism the name was changed to South Yan Yean, then later Mernda (perhaps from the Aboriginal word "merndi" meaning "earth").

Merriang

Merriang took its name from the parish surveyed in 1839.

Merricks

Alfred Meyrick and his cousin Henry took up the Coolart and Balnarring cattle stations on the shores of Western Port in 1840. In 1841 a surveyor misspelled their name when indicating the position of Callert Merricks Cattle Station.

Merricks Beach

Refer to Merricks.

Merricks North

Refer to Merricks.

Cooling off at Middle Park beach. Source: HeraldSun

Middle Park

The area was named after the railway station, which was midway along the southwest boundary of Albert Park.

Mill Park

Mill Park takes its name from the property of George and Francis Coulstock, who built and operated a flour mill on the Plenty River in the 1840s.

Millgrove

The suburb took its name from the local railway station, which, in turn, was named after a saw milling business.

Mitcham

The name Mitcham was used after the mid 1880s. Its derivation is attributed to two origins: the first, that the district was named after Mitcham Grove, established by William Slater and the second, that it derived from the local property Mitcham Heights, named after Mitcham in Surrey, England. The district has also been called Air Hill and Emery's Hill. All names acknowledge Mitcham's elevation in relation to the surrounding area.

Monbulk

Monbulk takes its name from an Aboriginal word thought to indicate granite outcrops in the hills.

Monomeith

This locality is named after John Mickle's estate. Said to mean "agree, amity, appreciate and approve", as well as "pleasant, good and pure".

Montague

Named for the street traversing the area between City Rd and the Yarra River.

Mont Albert

Local high point named after Queen Victoria's consort, Prince Albert. Mont Albert grew from a railway station (1890) on the Lilydale line.

Mont Albert North

Refer to Mont Albert.

Montmorency

Similarities in topography between the eastern flanks of the Lower Plenty River between Greensborough and Eltham and a picturesque area beyond the outskirts of Paris suggested the name Montmorency for a farm when Crown land was sold in the 1850s. The suburb then took on this name.

Montrose

Montrose was originally known as Double Pitts. Before 1892 the area was referred to as South Mooroolbark. Local landowner James Walker, whose son had a store in Colchester Rd, Kilsyth, named Rose Mont, called the settlement Montrose in the early 1890s.

Moonee Ponds

Traditionally named Moonee Moonee Ponds, the name is said to come from Wurundjeri willam man, a member of the Billibellary people who died serving the native police corps in Wimmera in 1845. It is thought that the name was derived from an Aboriginal word for lizard.

Walking the dog at Karkarook park in Moorabbin. Picture: Chris Eastman Source: Leader

Moorabbin

The Boon wurrung reputedly called this district "Mooroobin", a name that Richard and John King adapted to Moorabbin for the cattle run they established in the mid 1840s. It is said to mean "woman's milk".

Moorooduc

Surveyor Permein bestowed the name, meaning flat swamp, on the parish when he surveyed it in 1854. Said to mean "dark" or "night".

Mooroolbark

The Parish of Mooroolbark was surveyed in 1855, with the township originally called Brushy Creek. Mooroolbark is Aboriginal for "red clay".

Mordialloc

Adopted by an early squatter as the name for his run covering the district now known as Keysborough and Braeside, the name was derived from a Boon wurrung term, moody or mordy yallock meaning "near little sea".

Moreland

Magistrate Farquhar McCrae purchased the western half in 1839, naming it after his grandfather's Jamaican estate.

Mornington

Mornington was originally known as Schnapper Point, but was renamed in 1864 after the Earl of Mornington, later Governor-General of India.

Mount Dandenong

Mount Dandenong was linked as early as 1847 with the area that is now Mooroolbark by a tramway used for transporting sheep. It was opened up for settlement in 1892 as part of the Village Settlement scheme.

Mount Donna Buang

Known to early European settlers as Mount Ackerley or Mount Acland, after the soldier Colonel Acland Anderson. Mount Donna Buang is a form of its Aboriginal name, meaning "the body of the mountain".

Mount Eliza

Mount Eliza was named after John Batman's wife by the crew of HMS Rattlesnake in 1837.

A competitor at the Oxfam trailwalk passes the Mt Evelyn checkpoint. Source: HeraldSun

Mount Evelyn

Mount Evelyn was named after Evelyn Heales, daughter of Richard Heales, Victorian Premier (1860-1861).

Mount Martha

In 1837, Mount Martha was named after Captain Lonsdale's wife by officers of HMS Rattlesnake.

Mount Waverley

An enthusiast for Walter Scott's novel Waverley adopted the name for an aborted township subdivision in 1854. Small farmers in the 1860s and subsequent generations of orchardists preserved the name, "Mount" being added in 1905 to distinguish it from the renamed Glen Waverley area.

Mulgrave

The name most likely honoured Lord Mulgrave, privy councillor from 1851 and as 2nd Marquess of Normanby, Victorian Governor from 1879 until 1884.

Murrumbeena

The name of this eastern portion of the former City of Caulfield is an adaptation of the Aboriginal word Mirambeena. Supposedly named after a member of the native police.

Nar Nar Goon

Means native bear, sloth or koala.

Nar Nar Goon North

Refer to Nar Nar Goon.

Narre Warren

The area was originally called Narre Warren, but when a settlement of the same name developed around a railway station a few kilometres to the south, the former locality became Old Narre Warren or Narre Warren North. The name appears to be of Aboriginal derivation, suggesting either "hilly country" or "no good water".

Narre Warren East

Refer to Narre Warren.

Narre Warren North

Refer to Narre Warren.

Narre Warren South

Refer to Narre Warren.

Newport

Newport was once known as Greenwich. It was the terminus of the Geelong-Melbourne railway, which opened in 1857. The name commemorates the establishment of a new port on the Saltwater River.

Niddrie

The origin of the name is unclear. The Earl of Hopetoun, Governor of Victoria from 1889 to 95, came from Niddry Castle in Scotland, though an earlier bluestone house in East Keilor had been called Niddrie after an Edinburgh suburb.

Nillumbik Shire

The Parish of Nillumbik was named in the late 1830s. The name was derived from an Aboriginal word "nyilumbik" meaning bad, stupid or red earth. Nillumbik was also an early name for the Diamond Creek area.

Noble Park

Began in 1909 as a subdivision by Allan Buckley. Having used the land to demonstrate explosives developed by Alfred Nobel, Buckley called the estate Nobel Park but it was soon transformed into Noble Park after his son, Noble.

Noble Park North

Refer to Noble Park.

Popular North Melbourne cafe Auction Rooms. Source: Leader

North Melbourne

Separated from the City of Melbourne in 1859 and initially called Hotham, its name was changed to North Melbourne in 1877. During the 1880s land boom it became the most densely populated part of the city. Although the town hall is still an Errol St landmark, in 1905 North Melbourne was taken back into the City of Melbourne as the Hopetoun ward, named after a former Governor of Victoria and Australia's first Governor-General, Lord Hopetoun.

North Warrandyte

Refer to Warrandyte.

Northcote

Named by Surveyor-General Sir Andrew Clarke after British parliamentarian Sir Henry Stafford Northcote, the second son of the Earl of Iddesleigh.

Notting Hill

Named after its London equivalent.

Nunawading

Nunawading derives its name from a local Aboriginal word translated variously as "meeting place", "battlefield" and "ceremonial ground". The name first described the local parish in 1854, two years after the area was first surveyed and in 1857 the Nunawading District Road Board was established. In 1872 the board was replaced by the Shire of Nunawading, but the central area was officially known as Tunstall after the famous English pottery region, until the City of Nunawading was created in 1945.

Nyora

Named by surveyor John Lardner. Means "the native cherry".

Oak Park

Oak Park was originally part of John Pascoe Fawkner's estate.

Celebrating Melbourne Cup Day at the Oakleigh Bowling Club. Source: HeraldSun

Oakleigh

A large number of she-oak trees grew on the site of the town when settlement began and these were cues for an early settler to name the suburb Oakleigh, after a park near his hometown in Hertfordshire in England.

Oakleigh East

Refer to Oakleigh.

Oakleigh South

Refer to Oakleigh.

Officer

Early pastoral settlers in this area east of Beaconsfield included the Officer family from Deniliquin, NSW, whose land ran north into the forested hills. From the late 1870s their timber was transported on the new railway and the local station became known as Officer's Wood Siding. This was shortened to Officer's and eventually the district became known as Officer.

Officer South

Refer to Officer.

Olinda

The present township owes its name to Olinda Creek, in turn named after Alice Olinda Hodgkinson, daughter of surveyor-general of Victoria (1857-1858), Clement Hodgkinson.

Olivers Hill

Named after the Olivers, a prominent family of local fishermen.

Ormond

Named after Captain Ormond from the ship John Bull, which brought immigrants to Port Phillip in 1840.

Osborne

Named after Queen Victoria's summer residence. Some of the streets are also named after the Queen's children.

Pakenham

The area once known as Longford may be named after an English general who fought in the Peninsular War or possibly a Dublin churchman.

Pakenham South

Refer to Pakenham.

Pakenham Upper

Refer to Pakenham.

Panton Hill

Also known as Panton's Hill and Pantonville, it was named after Joseph Anderson Panton, who was the Assistant Commissioner in Bendigo in 1852. He was also the Goldfields Commissioner for Woods Point, Heidelberg and Upper Yarra districts around 1862.

Park Orchards

This residential suburb was created in 1925 when timber merchants Australis Sharp and John Taylor launched the Park Orchards Country Club estate.

North Melbourne players hit the track with training at Princes Park. Source: HeraldSun

Parkville

Took its name from Royal Park, which occupies most of the suburb's area. Royal Park was set aside in 1859, after 15 years of deliberation. Development around it began 10 years later.

Parwan

Means "magpie".

Pascoe Vale

This suburb was purchased, settled and named "Pascoeville" by John Pascoe Fawkner after Pascoville Farm, where he lived from 1842.

Pascoe Vale South

Refer to Pascoe Vale.

The Patch

The region was named after early lumberjacks left an opening in the forest.

Patterson Lakes

Patterson Lakes was derived from the Patterson River, which was constructed in the 1880s as the main drainage of Carrum Swamp. It's understood that the river was named after J.B. Patterson, then Minister of Public Works, who recommended the drainage works.

Pearcedale

Named after Nathaniel Pearce, one of the first settlers on the Langwarrin estate in 1895, the township officially began in 1907.

Pentridge

Henry Foot surveyed the Pentridge village reserve 8km north of Melbourne, adjoining Merri Creek and Sydney Road, and named it after the birthplace of his wife in Dorset, England. It was renamed Coburg in 1870, to avoid the stigma of the Pentridge Prison located there in 1850.

Pinewood

Developed by the A.V. Jennings company from 1958 on a former grazing farm, the name came from the drive leading to the farmhouse, which was lined with pine trees.

Plenty

Joseph Tice Gellibrand, member of the Port Phillip Association, named the Plenty River, a tributary of the Yarra River in 1836, because of the promising land nearby.

Point Cook

Point Cook was named after Lieutenant John Murray Cooke of HMS Rattlesnake, which visited Port Phillip Bay in 1837.

Point Gellibrand

Point Gellibrand in Williamstown was named after lawyer and Port Phillip Association member Joseph Tice Gellibrand.

Point Leo

The surveyor of Western Port in 1841 named this outcrop on the coast of Bobbanaring Point in honour of a Boonwurrung figure.

The Salford Lads Club cafe in Port Melbourne. Source: HeraldSun

Port Melbourne

First known as Liardet's Beach after Wilbraham Frederick Evelyn Liardet settled there in 1839 and built the first jetty and established postal and ferry services to Melbourne. Lieutenant-Governor La Trobe later named it Sandridge to reflect the ridge of sand dunes along the foreshore. After the first land sales in 1850, Sandridge grew in importance as a port and was the terminus for Australia's first passenger railway, which opened on September 12, 1854. After some agitation, it broke away from the Melbourne City Council to become a municipal district in 1860. It became a borough in 1863, changed its name to Port Melbourne in 1884 and became a town in 1893 and a city on May 14, 1919.

Portsea

James Sandle Ford, who arrived in the area in 1842-43, is said to have named Portsea after his native town of Portsmouth in England.

Powelltown

One of Australia's greatest sawmilling towns between the economic depressions of the 1890s and the 1930s, Powelltown was named after a new process of wood preservation, the Powell method.

Prahran

George Langhorne, who ran a missionary for Aborigines from 1836, called this area "Pur-ra-ran", using local indigenous words believed to mean "land partially surrounded by water". Surveyor-General Robert Hoddle later changed the name to "Prahran" on an 1840 map of the Port Phillip district.

Preston

The name Preston came into use in the 1850s largely because of the influence of the Wood family, who operated the first post office from their general store. They and their friends from the English village of Brighton "all marched out of town with their banner and flags to a gentlemen's park at Preston" during their annual church "treat' back in England. They decided to name their post office after the Sussex village because of their happy memories.

Princes Hill

Both Princes Park and Princes Hill took their name from Queen Victoria's consort, Prince Albert.

Foxeys Hangout winery and cafe at Red Hill. Picture: Mornington Peninsula Tourism. Source: Supplied

Red Hill

In the 1850s timber-cutters working the Red Hill district supplied the growing Melbourne market. Soon after, selectors established orchards and small mixed farms.

Red Hill South

Refer to Red Hill.

Research

Situated on the road to the Caledonia goldfields, the area had a minor "rush" in 1855 when prospectors searched for gold. This "re-search" became the town's name six years later.

Reservoir

The suburb took its name from the reservoir built in 1864 on the pipeline that carried water from Yan Yean to Melbourne. Reservoir became a suburb in the 1920s.

Richmond

Named after the Earl of Richmond who became the first Tudor king. It was also the name of his palace and the hill in Richmond upon Thames on which it was built.

Ringwood

The Parish of Ringwood, surveyed and named in 1857, is believed to have been named after Ringwood at the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire, England. According to some sources, an earlier name for the district was Ballyduffy.

Ringwood East

Refer to Ringwood.

Ringwood North

Refer to Ringwood.

Ripponlea

Ripponlea was named after merchant and parliamentarian Frederick Sargood's mansion, which he called Rippon Lea after his mother, Emma Rippon.

Riversdale

The suburb was named with the opening of a railway station at Riversdale Rd (formerly Moloney's Rd) in 1889. The road, which led to the valley of the Yarra River, was named by parliamentarian and Hawthorn resident Matthew O'Grady.

Rockbank

Rockbank was named to reflect nearby rocky slopes. Rockbank pastoral estate, established by William Yuille, was eventually passed to W.J.T. Clarke and became the largest estate in the Melton district.

Rosanna

The name Rosanna was given to a 960-acre property purchased from the government in 1840 by stock-and-station dealer James Watson. He acquired it as a speculation and almost immediately subdivided the land as the Rosanna estate.

Monique, Natasha and Brandon Acton enjoy a day out at Rosebud beach. Source: Leader

Rosebud

The fishing village was named after a coastal trader called Rosebud went down off its coast in 1855.

Rosebud West

Refer to Rosebud.

Rowville

Rowville was part of Narre Warren until 1903 when it was named in honour of the Row family, who built Stamford Park homestead in the 1880s.

Roxburgh Park

The suburb, formerly known as Ruthvenfield, was named in the 1980s after Thomas Brunton's property Roxburgh, which he named after his house in Scotland.

Ruthven

This locality was named after local resident and World War I Victoria Cross winner William Ruthven.

Rye

Surveyed and gazetted as a town in 1861, Rye was named after one of the coastal towns in Sussex, England.

Sandringham

Sandringham was formerly known as Gipsy Village, a name given by Josiah Morris Holloway in 1851. In the late 1880s C.H. James bought a large area of land near Gipsy Village and called it Sandringham after the residence of Edward, Prince of Wales (later to become King Edward VII).

Sassafras

Named after sassafras trees in the area, which were discovered by English chemist Ambrose Eyles. The area has been known as Sassafras since 1917.

Getting ready for the Scoresby Steamfest with a crude oil pump set from the 1950s. Source: HeraldSun

Scoresby

The parish of Scoresby was surveyed and named in 1857, one year after the death of Arctic navigator William Scoresby, who visited the colony in 1856.

Seaford

Local residents agreed the area should be named after the sea. Councillor Sydney Plowman suggested the "L" in his hometown of Sleaford in Lincolnshire should be dropped, and so the suburb was named Seaford.

Seddon

Named after Richard Seddon, the New Zealand Prime Minister who died on his way home from a trip to Australia.

Selby

Named after George W. Selby, a local land owner and shire president.

Seville

Created in 1885, Seville was initially called "a township in the parish of Wandin Yalloak". A year later it was named Redlands, but as there was already a town with this name, it was renamed Seville in May 1886 after the daughter of resident William Henry Smith.

Seville East

Refer to Seville.

Sherbrooke

Sherbrooke was named after the Canadian birthplace of early settler R.W. Graham. The Shire of Sherbrooke formed after a split with the more urbanised section of the old Shire of Ferntree Gully (formed in May 1889). Sherbrooke became an official local government entity in 1964 and was partly absorbed into the new Yarra Ranges Shire in 1994.

Shoreham

Shoreham was named in the 1880s after the coastal resort in Sussex, England.

Silvan

This small township was known until 1913 as South Wandin.

Skye

Named after the Isle of Skye, the birthplace of some early settlers including the Bethune, Beaton and the Murdoch families, this area was renamed Lyndhurst South in 1894 after publicity about a local murder but resumed its earlier name in 1964.

Smiths Gully

Smiths Gully is the remnant of the town of Market Square, which flourished briefly and was the first mining village established after the gold discoveries in the so-called Caledonia fields in August 1854.

Somers

In 1930 J.S. Feehan, owner of Coolart estate, gave some land for a permanent campsite to the Lord Somers camps, which in 1934 gave their name to the town. Held annually, these camps were initiated in 1929 by Lord Somers, Governor of Victoria, to bring together young men from different walks of life.

Somerton

Named after a place in Somersetshire, England.

Somerville

Named after Sir William Meredyth Somerville, MP for Drogheda (1837-1852) and for Canterbury (1854-1865). Somerville was also the name of his seat in County Meath, Ireland.

Catch of the day: Soshi Jo caught a baby Hammerhead shark while fishing in a canal at Sorrento. Source: HeraldSun

Sorrento

Victoria's first official British settlement was established near Sorrento in 1803 by David Collins, who was sent with marines, convicts and free settlers to prevent French interest in the Port Phillip district. A member of the Legislative Assembly, Charles Gavan Duffy, purchased the land and entrepreneur George Coppin provided a paddle steamer to bring visitors down the bay and across between Queenscliff and the Sorrento Pier, built in 1870.

South Kingsville

Refer to Kingsville.

South Melbourne

Named Emerald Hill until city status was attained in 1883, South Melbourne became a municipality separate from the City of Melbourne in 1855. The Yarra riverbank area (now Southbank) was added in February 1857.

South Morang

The suburb's name possibly derives from an Aboriginal word meaning "cloudy" or "sky".

South Yarra

So named because of its position south of the Yarra River. When the municipal district of Prahran was proclaimed in 1855, it included the residents of South Yarra on the east side of Punt Rd, while those on the west were included in the City of Melbourne. Besides forming a municipal boundary, the road itself became something of a barrier from the 1940s.

Spotswood

Previously called Spottiswood, the suburb is said to have been named after Captain George Spottiswood.

Springvale

It was 1827 when William Hovell met with some of the local Boon wurrung people in the area. It is said to take its name from the hotel opened on Dandenong Rd - the No Good Damper Inn - in about 1852. Springvale became a city in 1961 as the district grew as part of the post-World War II industrial and population expansion.

Springvale South

Refer to Springvale.

St Albans

Alfred Padley is believed to have given St Albans its name after a town in Hertfordshire in England.

St Andrews

Formerly Caledonia, then Queenstown, St Andrews emerged in 1854 as the largest township on the Caledonia goldfields.

St Andrews Beach

Refer to St Andrews

St Helena

St Helena's white settlement began when Major Anthony Beale and his wife Katherine purchased 195 hectares of Crown land in 1840, naming their cottage after the island of Saint Helena where they had met.

St Kilda’s open air cinema. Source: Supplied

St Kilda

St Kilda was proclaimed a municipal district in 1855, a borough in 1863 and a city in 1890. The Aboriginal name for the locality was Euro Goroke, referring to a local stone used to sharpen weapons. Initially called Fareham in 1842, the locality was officially named St Kilda by Lieutenant Governor Charles La Trobe after the small vessel Lady of St Kilda, which in turn was named after an island off Scotland.

St Kilda East

Refer to St Kilda.

St Kilda West

Refer to St Kilda.

Steels Creek

First surveyed by Robert Hoddle's assistant, T.H. Nutt, in 1839 as part of his survey of the Yarra River, Steels Creek was most likely named after an early pioneer, Michael Steel.

Strathmore

Thomas Napier, who came from the valley of Strathmore in Scotland, purchased a substantial estate to the north of Essendon in the 1840s. When the local progress association requested a change of name for the area in the 1940s, Strathmore was chosen.

Strathmore Heights

Refer to Strathmore.

Sunbury

One of the earliest European settlements in Victoria, Sunbury dates back to 1836 when John Aitken, George Evans and Samuel and William Jackson arrived from Van Diemen's Land. The Jacksons settled on the banks of a stream (now Jacksons Creek) and named the district after Sunbury on Thames near London. It has also been suggested that the local Aboriginal name for the creek was "Sunburra".

Sunshine

Sunshine was first established as the settlement of Braybrook Junction during the 1880s land boom. The town's revival after the 1890s depression was the result of the 1904 purchase of the Braybrook Implement Works by industrialist Hugh Victor McKay of the Ballarat Sunshine Harvester Works. Appreciating that relocation to Braybrook Junction would provide room to expand his factory, shelter from metropolitan labour legislation and convenient rail access both to his inland market and to the port to service his export trade, McKay relocated his business in 1906. Renamed Sunshine the following year, the town's reputation as a model working-class community grew as McKay subdivided surrounding land, provided amenities and acted as patron to the town's burgeoning social institutions.

Sunshine North

Refer to Sunshine.

Sunshine West

Refer to Sunshine.

Surrey Hills

Christened by real estate agents, the suburb shared in Melbourne's intense land boom after the railway opened in 1883.

Sydenham

Named by surveyor Coane. Originally called Keilor Road, it was renamed Sydenham in 1887.

Syndal

The name comes from a High Street Rd farm acquired for judge Sir Redmond Barry's children.

The Reflections Estate at Tarneit. Source: Supplied

Tarneit

Tarneit and the neighbouring Truganina derived their names from Aboriginal words applied to parishes surveyed in 1839 to 1840.

Taylors Lakes

The suburb's name reportedly comes from William Taylor, a 19th-century land owner who created a gully on the Keilor-Melton Road to provide water for his household and garden.

Tecoma

Tecoma was formerly known as part of Upper Fern Tree Gully. Officially named Tecoma after the new railway station in 1924, the name is derived from an exotic flowering creeper.

Templestowe

The village of Templestowe was surveyed in 1852. Two theories have been offered to explain the derivation of its name. One suggests it derived from Sir Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe. The second is that it originated from a small English settlement called Temple's Stowe.

Templestowe Lower

Refer to Templestowe.

The Basin

Botanist Ferdinand von Mueller is credited with naming the location, where he sometimes camped on creek flats surrounded by hills.

The Patch

Located in the higher Dandenong Ranges, the region was called after early lumberjacks left an opening in the forest. Pointed out as "the patch", the name became official around 1893.

Thomastown

Thomastown was first settled by tenant farmers including Patrick Mahoney who gave his name to the road that marks its southern boundary. The suburb was named after John and Mary Thomas, who started a market garden south of Main St in 1848.

Thornbury

Much of the land in the area was purchased by Job Smith and named after his English birthplace. Another theory suggests a paddock in Northcote that was subdivided during the land boom in 1887 was called Thornbury Park by C.H. James.

Tonimbuk

Thought to derive from an Aboriginal word meaning "to scorch" or "burn".

Toolangi

Toolangi is believed to come from an Aboriginal word for "stringybark tree".

Toolern Vale

Toolern Vale's first European resident was John Hunter Patterson, who lived in the Green Hills pastoral station in 1837. The local post office opening in 1871 and was known as Toolern until 1904.

Tooradin

Named after an Aboriginal word for "swamp monster" or "bunyip", the first European settlers in the district were the Manton brothers who held the 16,000-acre run named Toorodan.

Boutique shopping in Toorak. Picture: David Caird Source: News Limited

Toorak

The suburb is named after Toorak House, built for Melbourne merchant James Jackson on 108 acres he purchased in 1849. After Jackson died at sea in 1850, the house was rented to the first governor of Victoria, Sir Charles Hotham, until Government House was completed. The name is also said to mean "reedy grass".

Tooronga

The name given to an early homestead located on Gardiner's Creek in Malvern, Tooronga is believed to be an Aboriginal word for "bulrush".

Tootgarook

Tootgarook's name derives from one of the earliest cattle stations on the Mornington Peninsula, the Tootgarook run, taken up by Edward Hobson in 1838. Tootgarook is said to be an Aboriginal word for the "croaking of frogs".

Tottenham

Named after Tottenham from the working-class suburb in Middlesex, England.

Travancore

Travancore took its name from Travancore House (after the Indian state), formerly owned by Hugh Glass, but renamed by later occupant Sir John Madden, Victorian Chief Justice and exporter of horses to India. When the property was subdivided in the 1920s, a number of streets took Indian or Asian names (Mooltan, Cashmere, Lucknow, Mangalore, Madura).

Tremont

The name Tremont (which means "mountain of trees") was suggested by F.J. Treweek, a local landowner.

Truganina

The township of Truganina was laid out in 1849. The name supposedly honours a Tasmanian Aboriginal woman.

Tullamarine

Tullamarine is thought to derive its name from Tullamareena, the name of a Wurundjeri boy noted by George Langhorne.

Tyabb

Named after an Aboriginal word for "mud holes" or "water holes" and may have been the name used by Boon Wurrung people for the water holes where they camped.

Tynong

Established on the edge of the Koo Wee Rup Swamp, Tynong derives its name from an Aboriginal term meaning "many fish".

Tynong North

Refer to Tynong.

Upfield

The name Upfield reflects the open country in the area before it became more settled.

Upper Ferntree Gully

See Ferntree Gully.

Upwey

Upwey was named by the local Tullidge family who had migrated from Upwey on the River Wey in England. Originally the district was known as Mast Gully.

Hitting the gym in Vermont South. Source: Leader

Vermont

Vermont which is French for "green hill" was possibly suggested by government botanist Ferdinand von Mueller.

Vermont South

Refer to Vermont.

Viewbank

Viewbank takes its name from the 192 acre property established by James Williamson in 1839-1840. It then passed to a Scot, pastoralist Dr Robert Martin, who also acquired the adjacent Banyule property.

Wandin

The name Wandin is a contraction of Wandin Yallock, meaning swift-running stream. This was fruit-growing country from a very early date and land sold quickly from the mid-1860s.

Wandin East

Refer to Wandin.

Wandin North

Refer to Wandin.

Wandin Yallock

The township of Wandin Yalloak in the Yarra Valley was proclaimed in 1874. When Seville was proclaimed in 1885, Wandin Yalloak's name was changed to Redlands, but reverted in 1954 to Wandin Yallock, with the spelling changed from Yalloak to Yallock.

Wantirna

Wantirna was regarded as Bayswater West until its post office opened in 1913. The name Wantirna, meaning gurgling stream, was chosen by the local progress association.

Wantirna South

Refer to Wantirna.

Warburton

Warburton was originally called Yankee Jim's after the nearby creek (named after Jim McAvoy, a Canadian who travelled from the Californian gold rush to try his luck in Victoria in 1859). In 1863 it was renamed after the district police magistrate and gold warden Charles Warburton Carr.

Warneet

Known in the 1920s as Crouch's Beach after Leslie Crouch, who had explored the thick bush to eventually build a holiday home. It was renamed using the Aboriginal word for river in the following decade.

Warrandyte

Although the area was surveyed and named Warrandyte in 1841, it was popularly referred to as Anderson's Creek (after overlander James Anderson) until the early 20th century when a petition prompted in the name change. One version of the origins of the name is that it derived from Aboriginal words warran (throw) and date (the object aimed at), although this claim has been contested.

Warrandyte South

Refer to Warrandyte.

Watsonia

Named after Frank Watson, who subdivided the land for housing in 1924.

Watsonia North

Refer to Watsonia

Wattle Park

Named after a local park. Previously owned by businessman and Mayor of Melbourne Orlando Fenwick and then by Eliza Welch, the 137-acre block was secured by the Hawthorn Tramway Trust in 1917 as a destination for its Riversdale Rd line. The adjacent suburb, developed for housing from the 1920s, came to share the name Wattle Park.

Werribee Park Mansion. Source: News Limited

Werribee

Explorers Hume and Hovell called the local river "Arndell" after Hovell's father-in-law, while Melbourne pioneer John Batman called it the "Exe", but Aboriginal people named it "Weariby", meaning spine or backbone. Government surveyor Darke adapted this name when he officially surveyed the district in 1839-1840.

Werribee South

Refer to Werribee.

Wesburn

The Lands Department subdivided residential and farm lots at the Warburton Village Settlement between Yarra Junction and Warburton in the 1890s. Later called West Warburton, the name was abbreviated to Wesburn in 1925.

Westall

Westall is named after a family who took up farming there in 1877.

West Footscray

Refer to Footscray.

Westgarth

Westgarth was named after local politician and merchant William Westgarth after Northcote was subdivided in the mid 1850s. The first films screened at the Westgarth Picture Theatre in 1921.

West Melbourne

West Melbourne is named after its location to the CBD. It was settled early in the city's history and its subdivided area ended at Adderley St. A local landmark includes Festival Hall built in 1915.

Westmeadows

Located northeast of the Tullamarine Freeway and west of Broadmeadows, Westmeadows lies on the original site of the Broadmeadows township laid out in 1850.

Wheelers Hill

The Mulgrave post office was renamed Wheelers Hill in 1888, commemorating the Wheeler brothers who were early pastoralists.

Whitehorse City

Named after Patrick Trainor's Whitehorse Hotel, which was built in 1853 on the corner of Elgar and Whitehorse roads.

Whittlesea

In 1853 Robert Mason surveyed the Upper Plenty region and marking out a village centre around the sheds of a local sheep station owned by George Sherwin. Mr Mason named the village Whittlesea after a town in Cambridgeshire, England, where he once lived.

Sun rise in Williamstown. Picture: Garmston Nicole Source: News Limited

Williamstown

Governor Richard Bourke inspected the developing settlement at Port Phillip Bay in May 1837, and ordered surveyors to lay out two towns. Melbourne was to be named after Britain's Prime Minister, while Williamstown, with its deep harbour and port facilities, was to be named after the reigning monarch, King William IV.

Williamstown North

Refer to Williamstown.

Willison

This locality was founded in 1921 and named after a former mayor.

Windsor

Named after Windsor in England.

Wollert

Formerly known as "Walert". Early European settlers grazed livestock and dairy cattle following the first land sales of 1838.

Wonga Park

Wonga Park was formerly known as East Warrandyte and then Croydon Eight Hour Village Settlement. Wonga Park comes from an Aboriginal word for native pigeon and has its origins in the 640 acre Wonga Park Cattle Station.

Woodstock

Named by James Hunter Patterson, presumably from the English town of the same name in Oxfordshire.

Woori Yallock

It has various spellings (Wori Yolaok/Worri Yalloak) and its name derives from an Aboriginal term meaning "running creek".

Wyndham Vale

This outer western municipality was created in 1994 to replace the former Shire of Werribee. Wyndham was the original name of the shire, used from 1864 to 1909. Werribee's first publican had fought alongside a fellow officer named Wyndham at the Battle of Waterloo.

Yallambie

Takes its name from Yallambie Park, a property of 600 acres on the Plenty River, established in the 1840s by Quaker pastoralist brothers John and Robert Bakewell.

Yan Yean

Yan Yean comes from the name of an Aboriginal leader who signed a treaty with Melbourne pioneer John Batman in 1835. Batman wrote the name "Yan Yan", which means "bachelor", "unmarried", "boyish" or "young male".

Yannathan

Yannathan was settled in the 1880s and comes from the Aboriginal term meaning "to walk about".

Yarra Glen

Yarra Glen takes its name from the adjacent river. The river "Yarra Yarra" was named by John Helder Wedge in 1835 and means "waterfall". "Ever flowing" and "red gum trees" are also commonly accepted meanings. Yarra Glen was previously called Yarra Flats.

Yarra Junction

Yarra Junction is located on the Warburton Highway, just east of where the Little Yarra River joins the Yarra River. The locality changed its name from Little Yarra Junction in 1908.

Yarra Valley

The Yarra Valley is the name given to the upper reaches surrounding the Yarra River.

Yarrambat

Originally known as Tanck's Corner after Frederick Tanck, one of the first selectors in the district in the 1870s. Known as Hilton from 1920, in 1928 it was renamed Yarrambat, an Aboriginal word for high hills and pleasant views.

The Sun Theatre in Yarraville. Source: News Limited

Yarraville

Yarraville may have been named simply as a description of a place on the Yarra River. In 1859 Biers, Henningham & Co. threw a banquet to launch land sales at their Yarraville estate to show off the views of Melbourne and suburbs from this rural retreat.

Yellingbo

Yellingbo was originally known as "Claxton" (after a storekeeper) and "Parslows Bridge" (after a man who married the daughter of the first storekeeper) before taking the name of the district's last-known Aboriginal inhabitant in the 1940s. The word "Yellingbo" reputedly means "this day" or "today".

Yering

The Ryrie brothers brought cattle down from Monaro in 1837 and settled on the lush pastures at Yering. "Yerrang", meaning "scrubby" or "Yerring", meaning "beard".

**All information can be attributed to the Office of Geographic Names, Land Victoria, Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure, as well as the School of Historical Studies at the University of Melbourne (eMelbourne) and Museum Victoria.

Please note every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the list. However, historical accounts can vary.

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