HISTORY OF SUBURB NAMES
ESSENDON
Essendon was named after the village of Essendon, Hertfordshire in England. The two Essendons were sister cities for many years.
MOONEE PONDS
There are many different theories of the origins of the name Moonee Ponds. According to the Argus newspaper on 1st September 1934, Moonee Ponds was first known as Moonee Moonee Ponds which meant plenty of small flats. The same paper quoted a Marl I Meagher as saying the name derived from John Long Moonee, a British soldier who was a Crown grantee of allotments now incorporated in and around Moonee Valley. It also claimed that Moonee Moonee was a Aborigine attached to the mounted police. The 1918 Victoria railways list of stations and names supports this derivation.
Another source says the Moonee Ponds area of Essendon almost certainly derived it name from a corruption of the name of Captain Mooney, who was a large land holder in the area.
It is considered most likely that the name was derived from the Aboriginal name for the Moonee Ponds creek rather than the name of any of the early European settlers. A form of the name first appeared in the surveyor Robert Hoddle's Field Book in 1837 when he referred to the "Mone Mone Chain of Ponds". This reference is very early in the Settlement of the Port Phillip area. Subsequent maps of the period show the name of the creek as "Moonee Moonee Chain of Ponds". The use of double word construction "Moonee Moonee" in the name is also typical of Aboriginal names as adopted by the European colonists. (Source: Lenore Frost of Essendon Historical Society).
ASCOT VALE
The district was named after Ascot, the famous English racecourse, because of the districts proximity to the Flemington race course and its links to the racing industry. The name was first used in about 1859-60.
ABERFELDIE
Aberfeldie was the name given to a property owned by Scotsman James Robertson, on the corner of Aberfeldie St and Park Crs. Mr Robertson named the property after a place in Scotland and when it was sold in 1888 it became the name of the suburb.
NIDDRIE
Niddrie got its name from Henry Stevenson who built his property Niddrie between 1869 and 1871. The homestead was named after Niddrie, a suburb of Edinburgh. The name may also be from an unsuccessful Polish prospector Kol Nidre, who settled there in the 1850’s. There are some who think that Niddrie is an expanded version of nidre; nevertheless the most likely source of the name would be Niddrie, Edinburgh.
KENSINGTON
Kensington was named after Kensington in London
NEWMARKET
Newmarket most likely got its name from the saleyards and abattoirs which were built in 1861.
WEST BRUNWICK
West Brunwick was proclaimed in 1857, it was named after Princess Caroline of Brunwick, the wife of King George.
TRAVANCORE
A horse breeder dealing in horses for the British Army who was stationed in Travancore, India, purchased the property from Hugh Glass and hence the naming of the area as Travancore.
Hugh Glass was a large property owner in the district who built his Flemington house on what is now known as Travancore. The home was later occupied by the Madden family of whom Sir John Madden, Chief Justice of Victoria for many years, was a member. Henry Madden changed the name of the property to Travancore after the district in India with which he was closely associated in his business of exporting horses.
OAKPARK
Oakpark was named after a house built by John Pascoe Fawker.
FLEMINGTON
Flemington's name has two possible origins. The more likely is from James Watson who early in 1839 came to the new colony of Port Phillip as a pastoral agent for English and Scottish investors, as well as investing for himself. He purchased land in Flemington and Heidelberg. His wife was Elisabeth Rose, whose father was manager of the Flemington estate in Scotland. (Watson also named his Heidelberg land Rose-Anna, inspired by his wife's name, and the area later became the suburb of Rosanna.) The other possible origin for the name is thought to be Robert Fleming, who established a butchery on the site later taken by the racecourse. A butchery beside the Saltwater (Maribyrnong) River would have been in keeping with the river's later use for noxious outfalls.
MAIDSTONE
Maidstone was presumably named after the English Borough in Kent
PASCOE VALE
The name comes from John Pascoe Fawkner, one of Melbourne's founders who established a farm there called Pascoeville.
SUNSHINE
Sunshine was originally known as the Braybrook Road District and was proclaimed the Shire of Braybrook in 1871. It was renamed Sunshine in 1907. It was about this time that Sunshine began to develop as an industrial area with the removal of the Harvester Works from Ballarat to Braybrook Junction in 1906. One of the early pioneers of Sunshine was Hugh Victor McKay owned the Sunshine Harvester factory and helped provide housing for the workers, along with water, power and roads when he moved Harvester.
GLENROY
The name may have come from Glenroy Inverness Scotland.
KEILOR
Historical records show that one of the early settlers named Watson gave the name Keilor to the area. He came from Forfarshire, Scotland, where his father farmed an extensive property at a place called Keilor. The area hence became known by the name 'Keilor' from 1840 onwards.
STRATHMORE
Prior to residential development the area that is now Strathmore was generally known as North Essendon. Strathmore railway station was originally called "North Essendon". In 1936 the construction of the Presbyterian Church in Upland Road was completed and this church was initially known as "Upland Road Presbyterian Church" as there was already a North Essendon Presbyterian Church in Keilor Road. There was also a North Essendon Primary School in the area which would have created problems for the naming of the new primary school when it was built.
The name of "Strathmore" was first suggested by the Rev. John Sinclair who was the minister for both the "Essendon North" and the "Upland Road" Presbyterian Churches. The name was considered appropriate for two reasons. Firstly Thomas Napier came from an area in Scotland close to the valley of Strathmore. Secondly the then Queen Elizabeth, (the Consort of King George VI, and the recently deceased queen mother) was the daughter of the then Earl and Countess of Strathmore. The Seat of the Earl of Strathmore is Glamis Castle. The castle is also located close to the area in Scotland known as Strathmore Valley.
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AVONDALE HEIGHTS
The actual name of Avondale Heights was derived from the old name used for the area between Clarendon Street, Military Road and Brown Street, which was for many years known as Avondale Estate. The postal area of what is now known as Avondale Heights was previously Maribyrnong West. Some years ago the Council took action to re-name the area. It was agreed that the name of the area now known as Avondale Heights should be called Avondale after the fore-mentioned sub-divisional estate. However, the postal authorities drew attention to the fact that there was a similar town in Queensland by the same name as "Avondale" and in consequence of this, "Heights" was added to the original proposal by the Council.
TULLAMARINE
According to the advisor of the first government surveyor Robert Hoddle, the name is thought to derive from Tullamareena, a small boy of the Wurundjeri people.
REFERENCES
Essendon Historical Society Newsletter, Issue No. 163, April -May 2002, p 3
Blake, L. J., Place Names of Victoria, Adelaide, Rigby, 1976
Moonee Valley Gazette, 12th February, 2001, p 4
Aldous, Grant, The Stop-over that Stayed,1979
Appleton, Richard, Cambridge dictionary of Australian places, Cambridge University Press, 1992
Keilor Historical Society Newsletter, Feb- March, 1999
www.arts.monash.edu.au/ncas/multimedia/gazetteer/alpha.html#m Open Learning Australian Places Gazetteer
home.vicnet.net.au/%7Estrthmre/names.htm Strathmore History Website