Station names on Melbourne's Frankston line

After a long wait, this blog post is here.

All Frankston line stations and their names. How did they get them? What names did they originally use? Why am I asking questions?

All those (except that third one) should hopefully be answered in this blog post.

Glenhuntly

Glenhuntly is named after Glen Huntly Road, which in turn is named after the emigrant ship 'Glen Huntly', which held many ill passengers that required docking at the first quarantine station in the state. 

Glenhuntly has had a couple of names throughout the years, it first opened as 'Glen Huntly Road', before being renamed to 'Glen Huntly' in 1882, and confusingly to its current name in 1937. What makes the current name confusing is that the suburb and road are both two words.

Ormond

Ormond station is named after Francis Ormond, a philanthropist from Scotland with a strong interest in education. Point Ormond is named after his father.

Prior to 1897, the station was originally known as 'North Road', named after the road the station is located on.

McKinnon

McKinnon is actually named after the road that runs over the railway to the south of the station. McKinnon was the name of a settler.

From 1884-1885 (I know, a very long amount of time), McKinnon was originally known as 'McKinnon Road', making the names origin a bit more obvious.

Bentleigh

Bentleigh is named after Victorian Premier Thomas Bent, a man who was rather infamous for his corruption, which notably included providing funds to areas where he owned land. Despite Bent having a multitude of shady dealings, there is still a statue of him in Brighton, because it would not Australia without celebrating and honouring people with rather questionable morals (Lachlan Macquarie is another example). The 'leigh' part of Bentleigh is an Old English term intended to mean 'a woodland clearing'.

Bentleigh was originally known as 'East Brighton' prior to 1907. I will explain the name of Brighton when we get to the Sandringham line.

Patterson

1954 Argus Article detailing the creation of new stations. Patterson would open in 1961.

Patterson station was named after nearby Patterson road, with the station being located north of the road.

Moorabbin

Moorabbin is believed to be a corruption of the Boon Wurrung word  'Mooroobin'. The word might mean 'Mother's milk' although this might not be the case.

Prior to 1907 the station was originally named 'South Brighton', which is strange considering that Moorabbin has existed before the station opened, so I am not entirely why South Brighton was a name that was in use.

Highett

The station and suburb are named after Highett Road, with the name for the road believed to have either come from John Highett, or his brother, William Highett (Banker and Politican). 

Prior to 1885, the station was known as 'Highett Road', but was eventually shortened.

Southland

Southland station is one of three stations named after a shopping centre. This shopping centre is located to the east of the station. The name Southland likely refers to the centre being located in the southern suburbs of Melbourne, and fits in with Eastland (Ringwood) and Northland (Preston).

Southland station has been proposed for a surprisingly long amount of time, with the station first being proposed in the 1880s. Obviously, the station would not have been called Southland, although it is not certain what the station would actually be called. Pennydale? Bay Road? Cheltenham North? Not sure. If you have better research skills than I do and know the answer, please let me know.

Cheltenham

Cheltenham is named after the Cheltenham Inn, located in a section known as the Two Acre Village, located north of Centre Dandenong Road, and east of Chesterville Road and the Nepean Highway. The Inn itself took its name from Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, England, which was where the owner originated from.

Mentone

Named after the French (formerly Italian) town of Menton, which is a resort town that William Gladstone apparently frequented. Menton (Mentone in Italian) appears to have come from the word Mento, but I am not too sure, let me know.

When the station opened in 1881, the station was known as 'Balacombe Road', this was changed to 'Balacombe' in 1882, and then changed again to 'Mentone' in 1884. The original names came from Balacombe road, located north of the station.

Parkdale

Named after William Parker, a landowner in the Parkdale area. Various places of interest are named after him, such as Parkers Road, Parkers Pavillion, and Parkers Cafe.

Mordialloc

Mordialloc is believed to have been a corruption of the term 'Mordy Yallock', which is an Aboriginal (most like Boon Wurrung) word for 'near little sea'

Aspendale

Aspendale is named after the Aspendale Park Racecourse, located east of the railway station. The racecourse itself was named after a horse called Aspen, who proved to be a success for her owner, James Cooke. The racecourse remained in existence for horse races until 1931, where it was a race track for automobiles until the 1940s.

Prior to 1905, the station was known as 'Aspendale Park', obviously being named after the racecourse.

Edithvale

Edithvale station is named after Edithvale Road, which in turn is named after Edithvale farm, which was owned by John and Edith Greaves.

Chelsea

Chelsea is named after Chelsea in London, birthplace of Bertha Black's mother (Black was a farmer in the area). Chelsea seems to be an Old English word meaning 'Chalk Port'.

Bonbeach

Bonbeach was a name that was decided upon from a public meeting. The name refernces both Bondi Road and the nearby beach in the area.

Bonbeach has had several names suggest for it prior to opening. One of these was 'Bondi' which was rejected because of issues involving the postal service. The postmaster general suggested the name 'Bonheath', which references a man who was intergral to the stations construction. Other names suggested included 'Bayside' and 'Baybeach'.

Carrum

The suburb of Carrum is named after Carrum Carrum Swamp. The name Carrum seems to have been derived from an Aboriginal word for boomerang.

Seaford

Seaford might just have one of my favorite name origins out of any of Melbourne's stations. A Councillor suggested the name in a meeting that was held around 1913 suggesting to drop the l in the name 'Sleaford', a town in England. The suggestion was adopted.

Kananook

Kananook is named after the nearby Kananook Creek, located west of the station.  

In the 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan, the station was originally known as 'Wells Road', with a station called Kananook being located between Carrum and Seaford.

Frankston

Frankston was likely named after Thomas Harte Franks, a general involved in the Second Anglo-Sikh war.

Conclusion

That is all for this week! Hopefully the Stony Point Line does not take as long as this post!

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