Narre Warren East wants to change its name

Narre Warren East is just over the border from the City of Casey in the Shire of Yarra Ranges. It was previously part of the Shire of Fern Tree Gully / Sherbrooke (1). Narre Warren East is located off Wellington Road in the Berwick Road and Mountain Flat, Edebohls and Haysey Roads vicinity. In the late 1950s, Helen Coulson, in her book Story of the Dandenongs (2) wrote the following about Narre Warren East -

Narre Warren East, known originally as Muddy Creek, is a rural hamlet boasting only a school, hall, sports ground and store. The Muddy Creek, a stream of crystal clear water which traverses the area, derived its name from the fact that in the early days horses crossing the stream in winter were often covered in mud up to their bellies, Few changes - except in ownership - have occurred in the district since 1839, when cattle from the Monbulk run roamed the poor-type scrubby country, in the vicinity of Mountain Flat Road. In the early days one or two well defined tracks run through the district, the best known of these being the old road to the Emerald Diggings, which crossed the Eumemmerring, Muddy and Cardinia Creeks en route to Emerald, following roughly the route of present Old Emerald (Westland) Road.

Some 55 years ago Muddy Creek boasted a post office, which was located at the home of E. Cunningham. It remained in service for only two or three years and letters were then delivered by the contractor carrying mail from Narre Warren to Macclesfield. The district once possessed a church (3), which was erected about 1907 and remained in use for 20 years. The small Church of England congregation was served by the clergyman stationed at Emerald and today the arbitrary manner in which the district was deprived of its church still rankles with some old-timers. Almost overnight the building was sold for £35 and spirited away to Springvale. About 1921 (4) the Muddy Creek (now Narre Warren East) School was erected on a site adjoining the church. [School had previously operated in the Church Hall]

The Narre Warren East hall was erected in 1926 (5) and compulsorily acquired by the Council at the request of the committee in 1951.

A picnic ground of two acres, adjoining the Muddy Creek, was purchased by the Council in 1924 and named Kerr Park in honour of R.H. Kerr (6). In 1947 A.R. A'Beckett (7) gave to the Narre Warren East Progress Association a lease in perpetuity of some 7 acres of Kalora Park for use as a sports ground, in a fulfilment of a promise made to that body by his father, W.G. A'Beckett. In 1949, under threat of compulsory acquisition, A.R. A'Beckett sold this land and the adjoining three acres to the Fern Tree Gully Shire Council, which was anxious to secure tenure for all time by outright ownership, and the area is known as A'Beckett Park in honour of this pioneer family (8).

As Mrs Coulson has written, Narre Warren East began life as Muddy Creek. In 1946 the name of the town was again an issue for discussion. A meeting of residents was held was held on October 11, 1946. They apparently felt that there were too many Narre Warrens and they were too far from Narre Warren proper - the town at the Railway Station.

Meeting to change the name of Narre Warren East

Dandenong Journal October 2, 1946 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/214795742

The meeting decided that Melville, Pendrill or Lyndisfarme were better alternatives to Narre Warren East. I cannot find any connection between these names and the local area. None of them are listed in Mrs Coulson's extensive index as either surnames or property names. The names were submitted to the Post Office for approval, according to this article from the Dandenong Journal, below. Either the names were not approved or the residents went cold on the idea, because it is still called Narre Warren East today.

New names for Narre Warren East

Dandenong Journal October 23, 1946  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article214796145

Footnotes

(1) In 1963 the Shire of Fern Tree Gully split and the Shire of Knox was formed on  November 16 (it became a City on July 4, 1969)  The remains of the Shire of Fern Tree Gully were renamed Shire of Sherbrooke and this was announced in the Victorian Government Gazette of  December 23, 1964.  

(2) Coulson, Helen Story of the Dandenongs, 1838-1958 (Cheshire 1959), p. 246-247

(3) The Church was called St Mungos.

(4) The State School No. 3719, opened in February 1912, in the Anglican Church Hall. It initially operated half time with Menzies Creek, No. 2457, but they both became full-time in 1914. In February 1921, a new school building was erected. Source: Vision & Realisation

(5) The Hall was opened on November 30, 1928, by Sir George Knox, M.L.A.

Opening of the Narre Warren East Hall

Dandenong Journal November 29, 1928  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article200678402

(6) R.H. Kerr - Robert Hart Kerr. His father, Hamill Kerr arrived in the area around 1869, his property was called Aura and was adjacent to Kerr's Lane (source: Coulson Story of the Dandenongs) Robert Kerr was a Councillor of the Fern Tree Gully Council for over 30 years and was also a Councilor at Dandenong Shire. He died October 1944, read his obituary in The Argus of October 27, 1944, here.

(7) A.R. A'Beckett - Arthur Richard  Walstab A'Beckett (1914 - 2004) was the son of  William Gilbert A'Beckett (1864 -1941) and his wife Gertrude Walstab (1880 - 1962). William Gilbert A'Beckett was the son of William Arthur Callandar A'Beckett, M.L.C., J.P. (1833-1901). 

(8) Coulson, op. cit pp 246-247

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Who was Pakenham named after?

I have seen four possible suggestions for the source of the name Pakenham.

In 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.

Major General Sir Edward Michael Pakenham (1778-1815)

Image: National Parks Service https://www.nps.gov/people/edward-pakenham.htm

Les Blake, in his book, Place names of Victoria (Rigby 1977) 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 Inkermann 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.

Lieutenant-Colonel Edward William Pakenham (1819-1854)

Image: Hampshire Country Council

https://artuk.org/visit/collection/hampshire-county-councils-fine-art-collection-638

The third suggestion is from Place Names of Australia by A.W. Reed (Reed 1973) Mr Reed suggests that the town 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.

Catherine Pakenham, the Duchess of Wellington (1773-1831)

Catherine ('Kitty') Pakenham, Duchess of Wellington by Sir Thomas Lawrence 1814 

Wellington Collection, Stratfield Saye House 

http://www.wellingtonestates.co.uk/stratfield-saye-house

From Bullock Tracks to Bitumen: a brief history of the Shire of Berwick (Historical Society of Berwick, 1962) has this to say about the origin of the name – when Captain Clark was surveying the area, his cousin, a Naval officer named Pakenham, visited him. The two men agreed that the place should be named Pakenham, after their grandfather, Rev. Pakenham a Dublin minister. This is the Very Reverend Henry Pakenham (1787 - 1863)  who was Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin from 1843-1863.

Very Reverend Henry Pakenham (1878-1863)

Henry Pakenham's image on St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.

http://discovery.dho.ie/home.php

Henry Pakenham's obituary in the Sydney paper The Empire March 16, 1864

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60577702

The Duchess of Wellington  and the Very Reverend Henry Pakenham were siblings of Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and Sir Hercules Pakenham. Their father was the second Baron Longford and their nephew was Lieutenant-Colonel Edward William Pakenham.  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.

Here's a partial family tree to help explain the relationships

Edward Michael Pakenham - 2nd Baron Longford, suceeded to the Title in 1776, a Peerage of Ireland. He had the following children, that are of interest to us 

• Catherine, Duchess of Wellington (1773-1831)
• Major General Sir Edward Michael (1778-1815)
• Sir Hercules (1781-1850) - the father of Lieutenant Colonel Edward William (1819-1854)
• Very Reverend Henry (1787-1863)

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 Cranbourne Street names, here.

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Grassmere becomes Doveton

The suburb of Doveton was established in the mid 1950s by the Housing Commission to provide housing for the employees of the 'Big Three' Industrial companies, International Harvester Company (established 1952), H.J Heinz (1955) and General Motors Holden (1956).

The area was originally known as Dandenong or Eumemmerring or more especially Grassmere after Thomas Herbert Power's estate. It was called Grassmere well into the 1950s, and renamed Doveton after John and Margaret Doveton in 1953 or 1954 who had given their name to Doveton Avenue (where their house was located). The use of the name in Doveton Avenue preceded the use of the name as a suburb as we can see from this wedding report, below, from the Dandenong Journal of  April 22, 1951. The photo  shows Miss Ethel Florence Hilyear of Doveton Avenue, Grassemere and her groom, Mr David Newport.

Dandenong Journal April 22, 1951

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article222354279

Another article in the Dandenong Journal of October 24, 1951 (see below) talks about General Motors Holden feeling that Eumemmerring as an address is 'unwieldly', although apparenttly International Harvester thought it was a 'thundering nice name'. The Journal asked if anyone knew the origin of the name and a further article in the Journal said the name was Irish. Not sure about that - most sources seem to say that it is of Aboriginal origin and means 'we are pleased to agree with you' or on a related theme, a word expressing pleasure or agreement.

Dandenong Journal, October 24, 1951.

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article222355372

Dandenong Journal November 21, 1951

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article222355877

Dandenong Journal April 29, 1953

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article215818852

According to an article in paper (see above) the name of Doveton was agreed to by the Shire of Berwick in April 1953 after  a request from the Hallam Progress Association. This decision preceded the establishment of the Housing Commission project at what was then called Dandenong East.

The Age September 27, 1954.

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205396052

The Doveton Housing Commission Estate was announced in September 1954.

Dandenong Journal October 13, 1954

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article218513061

It seems that the formal adoption of the name Doveton for the Housing Commission Estate was in October 1954, according to the report in the Dandenong Journal, above. The area had been known as Dandenong East. It does appear that the year 1954 was the year the name Grassmere was finally abandoned for the area east of Doveton.  The modern day suburb of Eumemmerring was gazetted on May 20, 1981. As a matter of interest Doveton is a variation of the name Dufton which means ‘Farmstead where doves are kept’ in dovecotes.

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Fountain Gate Housing Estate

The Fountain Gate housing estate, in Narre Warren, was developed by Isador Magid in the mid 1960s. He employed Robin Boyd to create the Estate on Radburn principles, which involved separating pedestrians and vehicles by providing short cul-de-sac entries and internal spines of open space. Prominent architects were also employed to design Protoype houses. The Fountain Estate is bounded by Tinks Road, Sweet Gum Avenue, Prospect Hill Road and Dawn Avenue and is listed in the City of Casey Heritage Scheme as being of local significance and possibly State significance and an innovative and imaginative housing development. Some individual houses also have Heritage listing. 

Fountain Gate Estate 1972

House and land prices at the Fountain Gate Estate from an advertisement in The Age June 17, 1976.

Fountain Gate Estate 1978. The Fountain Gate Shopping Centre wasn't opened until March 1980. The City of Berwick Civic Centre was opened in December 1978.

A copy of the original Estate plan which came with the contract of sale.

This is not very legible but it is a letter dated November 14, 1966 from Alexander Magit & Associates to the Shire of Berwick  advising us of the  approval of your Council for the erection of the motif in the form of  a fountain in accordance with the designs prepared by Mr Robin Boyd, Architect.

According to a long serving City of Casey/City of Berwick employee, this Robin Boyd fountain at the entrance to the Estate  was only turned on once when the estate was opened ( early 1970’s ) and the water went onto the highway which caused traffic problems, this may have been because the prevailing wind at the time. As you can imagine because of it’s proximity to the highway this would be a problem, which became worse when the highway was widened, it was never turned on again.

Artist's impression of the Fountain Gate Estate from 

The Age June 3, 1967.  

The fountain, which is still there, was designed by Romberg & Boyd. 

Detail of the Fountain from The Age June 3, 1967.

Photograph of the fountain from The Age June 3, 1967

There was some discussion in the early 1990s about the Fountain Gate name and whether it should become the name of  a suburb. The Fountain Gate Shopping Centre tended to dominate the area and people began to use Fountain Gate to describe the area, rather than the correct name of Narre Warren. In the end it was never adopted as a suburb name and both the Fountain Gate Housing Estate and the Shopping Centre are in Narre Warren.

This article from the Sunday Age of  February 16, 1992 mentions the controversy of the use of the name Fountain Gate as opposed to Narre Warren.  Also of interest is the price of a house $106,000. 

However, the fact that Fountain Gate was never officially adopted as a place name didn't prevent developers using the name in a proposed future housing estate, south of the Highway. This brochure isn't dated but I presume it is from the 1980s.

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Street names of Cranbourne

This is a map of the original Cranbourne township allotments which includes the original owners. The streets names represent two different sources of names - some are named after local land owners and some are named after Government officials. I have made an ‘educated guess’ as to the source of the street names which I believe are derived from Government officials but as the first Cranbourne township lots were surveyed in 1856 and the first land sales took place in March 1857 and this period coincides with the time that these officials were influential then I believe that they are the most likely source for the names.

Map of the 1850 subdivisions in the Cranbourne township

click here to view or download a larger version http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/94154 

See below for the full version  of this plan

Bakewell Street and Lyall Street
John Bakewell and William Lyall were part of the influential partnership of Mickle, Bakewell and Lyall who arrived in the area in 1851. John Mickle (1814 to 1885) and John Bakewell (1807 to 1888) were business partners in Melbourne from 1847 and they were soon joined by William Lyall (1821 to 1888) whose sister Margaret was the wife of John Mickle.  In 1851 they acquired the Yallock Run (based on the Yallock Creek, south of Koo-Wee-Rup). In 1852 they acquired the Tooradin run and in 1854 they acquired the Great Swamp run and at one stage they occupied nearly all the land from Cranbourne to Lang Lang.

After Government land sales in 1856 the trio subdivided their jointly owned land. Bakewell’s portion included Tooradin, Tobin Yallock, the Bluff and Warrook on the Yallock Creek. Mickle received the Upper Yallock blocks which he renamed Monomeith. Lyall received the Yallock pre-emptive right and the remaining land. William and Annabella Lyall built Harewood house in the 1850s and the property remained in the Lyall family until 1967. John Bakewell died in England in 1888.

Barkly Street
Sir Henry Barkly (1815 to 1898) was Governor of Victoria from 1856 to 1863. The western end of Barkly Street is now called Brunt Street and the eastern end is Lecky Street. It is separated by the Cranbourne Secondary College site.

Brunt Street
Brunt is named for the Brunt family. William Brunt and his wife, Mary Jane (nee Espie), lived at Spring Villa, where the Settlement Hotel is now located. William was a Cranbourne Shire Councillor from 1904 to 1923. Brunt Road in  Officer is named after William's cousin, Ralph Brunt. Ralph and his wife Mary Jane (nee Funston)  had land from 1871 on the  Cardinia Creek and later had part of the Gin Gin Bean run, near Officer.

Cameron Street
In March 1851, Alexander Cameron (1815 to 1881) took up the lease of the Mayune Run and a few years later at the Government land sales he purchased 592 acres, the Mayfield Pre-emptive Right, on the corner of what is now Cameron Street and the South Gippsland Highway (where the Life style retirement Village is now located). The Cranbourne Road Board was proclaimed in June 1860 and Cameron was elected in 1863 and served until 1867. He was married to Margaret (nee Donaldson, 1822-1895) and they had seven children.

Childers Street
Hugh Culling Eardley Childers (1827 to 1896) and his wife, Emily (nee Walker) arrived in Australia in 1850. His first Government appointment was an Inspector of Denominational Schools in 1851. He was a member of the Legislative Council and appointed Auditor General. He was the first vice chancellor of the University of Melbourne and helped found the Melbourne Public Library (both established in 1856). He returned to England a few years later where he became a member of the House of Commons and was also a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Society.

Clarendon Street
George William Frederick Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon (1800 to 1870) was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1847 to 1852 and the British Foreign Secretary on three occasions from 1853 to 1870. He negotiated a favourable outcome for Britain at the end of the Crimean War in 1856 at the Congress of Paris Peace talks. The Crimean War, which was a war between Britain, France, Turkey and Sardinia against Russia took place largely on the Crimean Peninsula in Russia. The war was commemorated in many towns in Australia by street names such as Alma, Inkerman and Balaclava which were places of battle etc during the war.

Codrington Street
Sir William John Codrington (1804 to 1884) was Commander in Chief of the British Forces in the Crimean War from 1853 to 1856. Alternatively, but I feel less likely, Codrington Street could be named for the British Admiral, Sir Edward Codrington (1770 to 1851) who was Captain of the HMS Orion at the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) and also served in other Wars.

Lecky Street
Lecky Street is named after local land owner, James Lecky (1802 to 1884). He purchased Gin Gin Bean on the Cardinia Creek in 1846. Lecky was a Cranbourne Road Board and Shire Council Member from 1860 to 1881 and Shire President on many occasions. He and his wife Elizabeth (nee Woods, 1803 to 1891) and their six children arrived in Victoria in 1841.

Lyons Street
Admiral Sir Edmund Lyons (1790 to 1858), Ist Baronet Lyons, commanded the Black Sea fleet during the Crimean War.

Russell Street
Lord John Russell (1792 to 1878) was Home Secretary under Lord Melbourne when he was the British Prime Minister on various occasions between 1834 and 1841. Russell was also the British Prime Minister from 1846 to 1852 and from 1865 to 1866. Lord Melbourne is the source of the name Melbourne and Russell Street in the city is also named after Lord Russell.

Sladen Street
Sir Charles Sladen (1816 to 1884) was a member of the Legislative Council and Treasurer of Victoria and Premier for 67 days in 1868.

Stawell Street
Sir William Foster Stawell (1815 to 1889) was appointed Victorian Attorney General in 1851 and became Chief Justice of Victoria in 1857.

Map of the 1850 subdivisions in the Cranbourne township

click here to view or download a larger version http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/94154 

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Local History blogs and Casey Cardinia Eponyms

This blog has been nominated for a "Ancestor Approved" by Linda Barraclough of Old Gippstown Museum and Kapana Press, the publisher of the Gippsland Heritage Journal. The "Ancestor Approved" blog idea was started by Leslie Anne Ballou of the Ancestors Live here blog. The idea is that if you are nominated then you nominate a further ten blogs and write ten things that you have found out about your ancestors that surprised, humbled or enlightened you. However as this is a Local History Blog, not a Family History blog, then I thought I would tell you instead about all the place names in Casey Cardinia which are eponyms or named after people.

One of the first blogs I came across, which really inspired me was the Sandusky History blog created by the the Sandusky Library Archives Research Centre in Ohio (pictured left in 1905) Find it at http://sanduskyhistory.blogspot.com/ – you will recognise the template as it is a popular choice for historic blogs – and I was, and still am, really impressed by the content. 

Here is a list of Casey Cardinia Eponyms - Places named after People, who are after all, just someone's Ancestors or relatives - 

Bayles - Frederick Bayles (1884-1915) was 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. Bayles was the name of the Railway Station closest to the Yallock Settlement, and soon gave it's name to the town which developed around the Station. 

Beaconsfield - Benjamin Disraeli, the Earl of Beaconsfield, was the British Prime Minister in 1868 and from1874-1880. Beaconsfield was previously called Little Berwick. 

Cannons Creek - The Cannon family were early European settlers. They owned land around current day Glenalva Parade in Cannons Creek. 

Carrington - 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. Charles Robert Carrington, the third Baron Carrington, was Governor of New South Wales from 1885-1890. Carrington was later created the Marquess of Lincolnshire. 

Casey - The 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. 

Catani - Carlo Catani was a Public Works Department Engineer and in charge of the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp Drainage Scheme from 1893.

Cranbourne - 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. 

Doveton - Captain John Doveton and his wife, Mrs Margaret Doveton, who were first cousins, were early settlers in the area. Doveton was developed by the Victorian Housing Commission in the mid 1950s. 

Garfield - The town was originally called Cannibal Creek and renamed Garfield in honour of the assassinated American President, James Garfield, who was shot July 2 1881 and died September 19, 1881. 

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 Hills. 

Hallam - William and Mary Hallam moved to the area in 1856. Hallam is a relatively new name for this area, dating only form 1905. Before that, the district was known as Eumemmerring. 

Lyndhurst - Lyndhurst was named after John Singleton Copley, Lord Lyndhurst (1772-1863) who was the Lord Chancellor of England on three occasions between 1827-1846. 

Lysterfield - Named after William Saurin Lyster, one of the early European selectors. It was named in honour of Lyster in the mid 1870s. 

Maryknoll - Father Pooley, a Catholic Priest, established Maryknoll as a rural community based on the principles of religion, family life and co-operative enterprise. The settlement was known as St Marys from 1950 until 1955 when the name was changed to Maryknoll. Mary is the mother of Jesus. 

Menzies Creek - John Menzies, was an early gold prospector, who remained in the area long after other miners had left. 

Mt Burnett - James Charles Burnett was the Surveyor under Major Mitchell. 

Officer - The Officer family, early settlers, owned a ‘square mile’ of land off Browns Road. 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.

Pakenham - There are four possible Pakenhams who may be the source of the name. One source suggests Pakenham is named after Major General Sir Edward Michael Pakenham (b.1788) who served with the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsula War and was killed in 1815 at the Battle of New Orleans. Another source says that Pakenham was named for “General Pakenham who served in the Crimean War”. This is probably Lieutenant-Colonel Edward William Pakenham (1819-1854) who was killed at Inkermann 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. There are two other suggested sources for the name. Firstly that it was named for Catherine Pakenham, who was the wife of the Duke of Wellington. Secondly that it was named for “Rev Pakenham of Dublin”. This is most likely the Very Reverend Henry Pakenham, who was Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin from 1843-1864. Catherine and Henry were siblings of Sir Edward and Sir Hercules. Their father was the second Baron Longford. 

Pearcedale - The town was known as Langwarrin or Langwarrin Estate or Old Langwarrin until December 1905 when a meeting of rate payers voted to rename the town Pearcedale after Nathanial Pearce, an early settler.

I have created a full list of place names from the Casey Cardinia region, with their meanings - you can access the list here.  

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Place names and their meanings from the Casey Cardinia Region.

On our website, you will now find a list of Place names and their meanings from the Casey Cardinia Region. Most Place names fall into five categories. Many place names come from Aboriginal words. Some of these are Bunyip, Cardinia, Lang Lang, Narre Warren and Eumemmerring. In the early days of settlement, many places were named to honour "important" Government officials, either Australian or British. Beaconsfield, Lyndhurst and Gippsland fall into this second category. The third common source of names comes from the names of local European settlers, examples of these include Bayles, Cannons Creek, Catani, Doveton, Hallam, Officer and Pearcedale. Fourthly, some towns were named by the European settlers after British or Irish towns or places that featured in their lives before they migrated to Australia or because landscape features reminded them of home. Examples of these reminiscent names are Belgrave, Clyde, Iona and Skye. The final group of names are descriptive such as Blind Bight, Bald Hill (an early name for Lyndhurst), Five Ways, Heath Hill, and Mount Misery. To access the list of place names from the Casey Cardinia Region either click on this link http://www.cclc.vic.gov.au/placenames on our website homepage go to Local History then Topics.

If you have an interest in place names then it is worth chasing up Place names of Victoria by Les Blake (published by Rigby in 1976). It is out of print, but may be available in second hand books shops or through Public Libraries. Another fantastic source for Victorian place names is the following site by Eric Bird called Place names on the coast of Victoria at http://www.bcs.asn.au/vic_coast.pdf
Eric has researched all the coastal place names from the South Australian border to the New South Wales border including Port Phillip Bay and Western Port Bay.

The 1845 map, above, shows some of the early place names in the region, such as Baungan Waterhole, from which Bangholme took its name, Dandenong and Eumemmerring. It is taken from Call back yesterday : Eumemmerring Parish by Jean Uhl.

The photograph, below, shows the Sportman's Rest cottage on the foreshore at Tooradin, circa 1900. Tooradin, on Western Port Bay, is one of the many place names described by Eric Bird on his web site.

The people in this photograph have been named as  (left to right) Ateyo girls, Edith Walker, Frederick Atyeo snr, Mr Lemme, Bob Basan, Vic Lemme, Larry Basan. The circa 1900 photograph of Sawtell's Inlet was reproduced in the book Tooradin: a history of a Sportsman's Paradise and the first 100 years of State School No. 1503 by David Mickle, published 1975. This book formed the basis of Tooradin: 125 years of coastal history.

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Lost and Almost Forgotten towns of Colonial Victoria.

Many people tracing their Family history, come across a town which cannot be located on a modern map. This may be because the town no longer exists or that it has changed its name. To help locate these "missing" towns you could consult Lost and almost forgotten towns of Colonial Victoria : a comprehensive analysis of Census results for Victoria, 1841-1901 by Angus B.Watson. Mr Watson has listed all the towns and villages , as defined by the Government Statist, for all Victorian censuses between 1841 and 1901. Perhaps your ancestor attended Tobin Yallock State School or Cannibal Creek State School or a family document lists Irishtown as an address. These won't be found on a modern map but this book will tell you that Tobin Yallock later became Lang Lang and Cannibal Creek State School was re-named Garfield and that the Emerald Gold field diggings were listed on the 1871 Census as Irishtown. The book also lists the population of the towns, so it is interesting to read that Berwick grew from a population of 60 people in 1861 with 14 dwellings to 452 in 1901 with 98 dwellings. This book is available for loan at our Pakenham and Cranbourne branches.

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