Station names on Melbourne's Sandringham Line

We are at the home stretch, the last line in Melbourne that I have to figure out the names for, the Sandringham line. Known for its three stations called Brighton, read on further if you want to know where names like Windsor and Hampton come from (you might be surprised the reason why Hampton was adopted, or you probably won't if we are being honest).


Prahran

Prahran's name is quite the interesting case. It appears to come from an Aboriginal word, although there appears to be some conflict about what the specific word was. Vic Places says it came from the Woi-wurrung word 'purraran', a word meaning 'almost surrounded by water', while an ABC article states that the word originated from 'paarran', which was an alternate term for the Yarra river. 
 
1861 letter to the editor in the Herald calling from an upgrade to Greville Street (now Prahran) railway station.

 

The previous names for Prahran, according to Vicsig, are 'Greville Street' and 'Commercial Road', both of which named after roads near the station. Greville Street was definitely used as a station name, but the latter is a big question mark, especially considering that the station is not exactly close to Commercial Road. If you have any other information, please, let me know!

Windsor

Windsor and its name origins are linked to Windsor Castle, in the county of Windsor and Maidenhead, located in Berkshire, England. Windsor appears to mean 'riverbank with a windlass'.

Prior to 1867, the station was known as 'Chapel Street' named after the street located east of the station.

Balaclava

Balaclava comes from a famous battleground in the 19th Century Crimean War. That very same battleground also inspired the name of the mask.

Ripponlea

Ripponlea is named after Rippon Lea estate, a historic mansion and garden located off of Hotham Street in Elsternwick. The name was chosen by the owner, Frederick Sargood, who named it after his mother's maiden name.

Elsternwick

Elsternwick is the merging of two different languages, with 'elster' being German for Magpie, and 'wick' being an English term for village. Elster was also the name of a house in the area.

Gardenvale

Gardenvale appears to come from a housing estate called 'Garden Vale', located near the Nepean Highway. The origin of the name beyond that is unknown however. The station is located in Brighton, not Gardenvale.

North Brighton

Brighton as a name appears to come from an early settler who named Henry Dendy's land Brighton.  The name is english in origin, and appears to be a shortened version of the name 'Brighthelmeston'. North Brighton is of course the station that is north of the other stations called Brighton.

'Bay Street' and 'Brighton' were both prior names given to North Brighton, with Bay Street being the road to the south of the station. 

Middle Brighton

Middle Brighton is located between the two other Brighton stations.

Middle Brighton had the prior name of 'Church Street', which is a road that crosses the railway line near the station.

Brighton Beach

And the final Brighton station is the one closest to the beach, interesting how they did not go with South Brighton.

Like Williamstown Beach, this station also had the name of just 'Beach', from 1861 to 1867.

Hampton

Hampton has two different origins

1. Named after Dyas Hampton, a market gardener.

2. Because land buyers really liked the name because it sounded quite royal.

Prior to 1889, the station was known as 'Retreat', being named after a hotel at Pic-Nic Point.

Sandringham

The name comes from Sandringham House, the home of the then Prince of Wales.

Conclusion

That is it for this series, all stations covered!

Thank you for reading! Posts will be less frequent now!

Station index here.

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