Frankston is a suburb in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, south-east of Melbourne's
Central Business District
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
, located within the
City of Frankston local government area
A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...
. Frankston recorded a population of 37,331 at the
2021 census.
[
Due to its geographic location north of the ]Mornington Peninsula
The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geogra ...
, it is often referred to as "the gateway to the Mornington Peninsula".
European settlement of Frankston began around the same time as the foundation of Melbourne
The city of Melbourne was founded in 1835. The exact circumstances of ''the foundation of Melbourne'', and the question of who should take credit, have long been matters of dispute.
Exploration
A series of colonisers, mostly operating from Syd ...
in 1835—initially as an unofficial fishing village
A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 m ...
serving the early Melbourne township. Prior to its settlement, the Frankston area was primarily inhabited by the Mayone-bulluk clan from the Bunurong
The Boonwurrung people are an Aboriginal people of the Kulin nation, who are the traditional owners of the land from the Werribee River to Wilsons Promontory in the Australian state of Victoria. Their territory includes part of what is now the c ...
tribe of the Kulin nation
The Kulin nation is an alliance of five Aboriginal nations in south central Victoria, Australia. Their collective territory extends around Port Phillip and Western Port, up into the Great Dividing Range and the Loddon and Goulburn River valley ...
. The official village of Frankston was established in 1854, with its first land sales taking place on 29 May. It has subsequently given its name to the broader Frankston local government area since 1893, and serves as both its activity and administrative centre
An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located.
In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...
.
Situated on the eastern shoreline of Port Phillip
Port Phillip (Kulin languages, Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped bay#Types, enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, ...
, Frankston has been a popular seaside destination of Melbourne since the 1880s. Frankston Beach is still one of the most frequented in Victoria, and is recognised as one of the cleanest in Australia. It was also home to one of the largest exhibitions
An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery
An art gallery is a roo ...
of sand sculpting in the Southern Hemisphere.
Localities in the suburb (within its postcode 3199) include: Frankston Central Business District (CBD), Frankston East, Frankston Heights, Karingal
Karingal is a local area within the suburb of Frankston located in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia. It is in the local government area of the City of Frankston (app. 45 km South East from the Melbourne CBD)
History
European settleme ...
, Long Island, Mount Erin and Olivers Hill
Olivers Hill is a locality located in the City of Frankston, Victoria in Australia. It is the first major rise in terrain along the eastern coastline of Port Phillip, between Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula. It was named after local Fr ...
. The independent suburb of Frankston South also shares the same postcode as Frankston. At the 2016 census the suburb of Frankston recorded a population of 36,097. The demonym
A demonym (; ) or gentilic () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, ...
for someone from Frankston is a Frankstonian.
Toponymy
The toponymic origins of Frankston are subject to conjecture, and of which there are four popular theories. One of the earliest of these theories (published in the '' Victorian Historical Magazine'' in March 1916) is that it was named after one of its early European
European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
settler
A settler is a person who has human migration, migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area.
A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a ...
s, Frank Liardet, who also became one of its first official land owner
Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...
s. The Liardets were prominent pioneers of early Melbourne and arrived aboard the ''William Metcalfe'' from England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
in 1839. Liardet's father, Wilbraham, founded what is now the Melbourne inner suburb of Port Melbourne
Port Melbourne is an inner-city List of Melbourne suburbs, suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cities of ...
and the family established and managed hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...
s around Melbourne as well as the first mail
The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...
service of the early township.
Frank Liardet settled in the Frankston area in 1847,[Ballam Park](_blank)
Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria
Heritage Victoria is a Victorian State Government agency responsible for administering the ''Heritage Act 1995'' and supporting the work of the Heritage Council of Victoria.
Heritage Victoria was formed from the earlier Historic Buildings Prese ...
. Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure. Government of Victoria
The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive ...
. Retrieved 14 September 2015 after taking out a 300-acre depasturing license for land that is now the Frankston locality of Karingal
Karingal is a local area within the suburb of Frankston located in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia. It is in the local government area of the City of Frankston (app. 45 km South East from the Melbourne CBD)
History
European settleme ...
.[Staff Writer (17 November 1843).]
Government Gazette
. ''The Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
''. Fairfax Media
Fairfax Media was a media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased ''The Sydney Morning Herald' ...
. p. 4. Retrieved 30 September 2015 During this time, Liardet built the first wooden house in the Frankston area—which would later become part of his Ballam Park estate after the formal land sales
Rural land sales in real estate refers to the sale of undeveloped land, usually as a parcel or tract of several acres (in the U.S.) of a ranch.
Definitions
The term ''rural'' can be defined as "the comprehensive, nonspecific word referring to ...
of 1854. Prior to settling in the area, Liardet had also worked on the cattle run of the first Postmaster
A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...
of the Port Phillip District
The Port Phillip District was an administrative division of the Colony of New South Wales from 9 September 1836 until 1 July 1851, when it was separated from New South Wales and became the Colony of Victoria.
In September 1836, NSW Colonial Sec ...
, Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Benjamin Baxter, which was located over what are now the City of Frankston suburbs of Langwarrin
Langwarrin is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Frankston local government area. Langwarrin recorded a population of 23,588 at the .
Langwarrin is bound ...
and Langwarrin South
Langwarrin South is an official bounded locality in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 47 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Frankston local government area. Langwarrin South recorded a popul ...
.[Staff Writer (4 June 1985).]
A Chapter of Baxter's History
". ''Hastings Sun''. Westernport Publishing Company. pp. 8–9. (republished by the Baxter Residents and Traders Progress Action Committee). Retrieved 14 September 2015 By the time Liardet had taken out his depasturing license for the Frankston area in 1847 an unofficial fishing village
A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 m ...
was also developing around its foreshore
The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species of ...
.
Considering Frank Liardet's early presence in the Frankston area, and his connections to the early mail services of Melbourne, it is plausible that "Frank's Town" became nomenclature
Nomenclature (, ) is a system of names or terms, or the rules for forming these terms in a particular field of arts or sciences. The principles of naming vary from the relatively informal naming conventions, conventions of everyday speech to the i ...
for describing the area and its unofficial village. As a consequence it is possible that the name of "Frankston" was further adapted from it when officially naming the village for its formal land sales in 1854.
However, in a letter to the editor of '' The Argus'' newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
(published on 30 May 1916) a member of the Liardet family said that this was in fact not true.[Liardet, C. Evelyn (30 May 1916).]
Naming of Frankston
. '' The Argus'' (1846–1957). p. 9. Retrieved 29 January 2014 In the letter was excerpts of correspondence between the Liardet family and the Victorian state Department of Lands and Survey which refuted the theory. Instead, it puts forward the theory that Frankston was named after the Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
-born settler Charles Franks; who was the first European to be killed by Indigenous Australian
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
s in Melbourne.
Charles Franks arrived in Melbourne aboard the ''Champion'' from Van Diemen's Land
Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sepa ...
in 1836 and made a squatter's claim to land on the western side of Port Phillip
Port Phillip (Kulin languages, Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped bay#Types, enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, ...
near Mount Cottrel (northeast of what is now the Melbourne outer-western suburb of Wyndham Vale
Wyndham Vale is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham local government area. Wyndham Vale recorded a population of 20,518 at the .
The suburb of Ma ...
). Franks' land neighboured that of the early Melbourne explorer
Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians.
Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...
and surveyor
Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...
John Helder Wedge
John Helder Wedge (1793 – 22 November 1872) was a surveyor, explorer and politician in Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania, Australia).G. H. Stancombe'Wedge, John Helder (1793 - 1872), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition
Wedge was ...
, which was managed by his nephew Charles Wedge
Charles Wedge (1810–1895) was a surveyor and explorer of the North-West regions of Western Australia.
Wedge was born in Cambridgeshire, England; he was the eldest son of Edward Davy Wedge and a nephew of John Helder Wedge. In 1824, he emigra ...
—prior to him gaining a pre-emptive right to land license of his own for the Frankston area. The correspondence with the Department of Lands and Survey states that, at the time of surveying the area for the land sales of 1854, the name "Frankston" was probably suggested to honour the Wedge's deceased former neighbour.
Another theory—that has become folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
—is that Frankston was named after a pub
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
named "Frank Stone's Hotel".[ Charlwood, Don (8 February 1930).]
Early History of Frankston
(first article in a series). '' The Frankston & Somerville Standard''. p. 6. Retrieved 29 January 2014 In 1929 the author Don Charlwood
Donald Ernest Cameron Charlwood AM (6 September 1915 – 18 June 2012) was an Australian author. He also worked as a farm hand, an air traffic controller and, most notably, as an RAAF navigator in Bomber Command during the Second World War.
Wh ...
, a student of Frankston High School
, motto_translation = Best Always
, established =
, type = Government-funded co-educational secondary day school
, students = 1,750
, location = , Melbourne, Victoria
, country = Australia
, coordinates =
, pushpin_map = Australia Mel ...
at the time, compiled a history of Frankston using both local records and oral sources supporting the theory (published in '' The Frankston & Somerville Standard'' newspaper on 8 February 1930).
The pub to which Charlwood refers was originally named the Cannanuke Inn and was the first permanent building in the Frankston area. It was built by the pre-emptive Frankston settler James Davey in the 1840s. The Victorian Heritage Database states that it was located on the present site of the Frankston Mechanics' Institute; at 1 Plowman Place in the Frankston Central Business District (CBD).[Former Cannanuke Inn site](_blank)
Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria
Heritage Victoria is a Victorian State Government agency responsible for administering the ''Heritage Act 1995'' and supporting the work of the Heritage Council of Victoria.
Heritage Victoria was formed from the earlier Historic Buildings Prese ...
. Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure. Government of Victoria
The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive ...
. Retrieved 28 September 2015 According to Charlwood, it was purchased by a "Mr. Stone" in the early-1850s who, after the birth of his son, "Frank", renamed it "Frank Stone's Hotel" and around which the village developed and also had its name adapted from for its formal land sales in 1854.
As there appear to be no licensing records for the Cannanuke Inn, it is difficult to determine if this is in fact true. However, Charlwood does mention that Stone had purchased the Cannanuke Inn from "a man named Standring". Licensing records state that Benjamin Standring was the owner of the Frankston Hotel from 1857 to 1860. Also, according to the terms of his pre-emptive right to land licence, Davey did not have the right to sell or sub-let the Cannanuke Inn. It is therefore unlikely that Stone purchased or leased the Cannanuke Inn from Davey or Standring before the formal land sales for Frankston in 1854—and after which the name "Frankston" was already in use.[Map of the Village of Frankston at Kananook Creek, Mount Eliza, Port Phillip Bay](_blank)
(1 May 1854). Office of the Surveyor General of Victoria The Surveyor General of Victoria is the person nominally responsible for government surveying in Victoria, Australia
Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populat ...
. Government of Victoria
The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive ...
[Advertising — Victoria](_blank)
(19 May 1854). '' The Argus'' (1846–1957). p. 5. Retrieved 29 September 2015[Staff Writer (26 April 1854).]
Domestic Intelligence
. '' The Argus'' (1846–1957). p. 5. Retrieved 29 September 2015
A more recent theory, put forward by the author and historian Michael Jones in his local history book ''Frankston: Resort to City'' (published in 1989), is that Frankston was named after the heroic British army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
general
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
Sir Thomas Harte Franks
Sir Thomas Harte Franks (1808–1862), was a British military officer. He fought in the Second Anglo-Sikh War and in the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
Early life
Franks was the second son of William Franks of Carrig Castle, near Mallow, County Cor ...
. The theory is strengthened by the fact that a number of places near Frankston also have names that are derived or adapted from those of British army generals and statesmen (such as Cranbourne, Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
, Lyndhurst, Mornington and Pakenham). Jones states that the Surveyor General of Victoria The Surveyor General of Victoria is the person nominally responsible for government surveying in Victoria, Australia
Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populat ...
from 1853 to 1858, Sir Andrew Clarke, named all of these places.
History
Pre-history
Indigenous history
Prior to the foundation of Melbourne
The city of Melbourne was founded in 1835. The exact circumstances of ''the foundation of Melbourne'', and the question of who should take credit, have long been matters of dispute.
Exploration
A series of colonisers, mostly operating from Syd ...
by Europeans
Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common genetic ancestry, common language, or both. Pan and Pfeil (2004) ...
in 1835, the area surrounding Port Phillip
Port Phillip (Kulin languages, Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped bay#Types, enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, ...
was originally populated by Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
of the Kulin nation
The Kulin nation is an alliance of five Aboriginal nations in south central Victoria, Australia. Their collective territory extends around Port Phillip and Western Port, up into the Great Dividing Range and the Loddon and Goulburn River valley ...
for an estimated 31,000 to 40,000 years. Particularly, the Frankston area was inhabited primarily by the Mayone-bulluk clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship
and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...
from the Bunurong
The Boonwurrung people are an Aboriginal people of the Kulin nation, who are the traditional owners of the land from the Werribee River to Wilsons Promontory in the Australian state of Victoria. Their territory includes part of what is now the c ...
tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...
of the Kulin nation.
The tribes of the Kulin nation were a nomad
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...
ic people with no sedentary
Sedentary lifestyle is a lifestyle type, in which one is physically inactive and does little or no physical movement and or exercise. A person living a sedentary lifestyle is often sitting or lying down while engaged in an activity like soci ...
settlements. As a result, there is minimal physical evidence of their past. The Bunurong tribe in particular were mainly hunter-gatherer
A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...
s that maintained an ecologically
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their biophysical environment, physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosy ...
sustainable
Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...
tradition of travelling between areas of seasonally abundant resources
Resource refers to all the materials available in our environment which are technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally sustainable and help us to satisfy our needs and wants. Resources can broadly be classified upon their a ...
. For the Mayone-bulluk clan; Kananook and Sweetwater creeks and the former swamp
A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...
s and wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
s of the Frankston area were rich sources of fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...
and eel
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
as well as summer
Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...
fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
and vegetable
Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...
s.[Frankston Coastal Arts Discovery Trail](_blank)
(2006). City of Frankston. p. 15 An important meeting place for the Bunurong tribe clans of the greater Mornington Peninsula
The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geogra ...
region was the present site of the Frankston Mechanics' Institute, at 1 Plowman Place in the Frankston Central Business District (CBD), which was used for corroboree
A corroboree is a generic word for a meeting of Australian Aboriginal peoples. It may be a sacred ceremony, a festive celebration, or of a warlike character. A word coined by the first British settlers in the Sydney area from a word in the l ...
s and as a trading place.[Frankston Coastal Arts Discovery Trail](_blank)
(2006). City of Frankston. p. 23. Retrieved 8 October 2015
Bunurong territory, of which Frankston is a part, stretches from the Werribee River
The Werribee River is a perennial river of the Port Phillip catchment that is located on the Werribee Plain, expansive lowland plain southwest of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The headwaters of a tributary, the Lerderderg ...
in the western metropolitan area
A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...
of Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
east to Wilsons Promontory
Wilsons Promontory, is a peninsula that forms the southernmost part of the Australian mainland, located in the state of Victoria.
South Point at is the southernmost tip of Wilsons Promontory and hence of mainland Australia. Located at nearb ...
in Gippsland
Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers ...
and was referred to as ''marr-ne-beek'' ("excellent country") amongst the Kulin nation tribes. According to the Indigenous Australian mythology of the Dreamtime
The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal mythology, Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It was originally used by Francis Ja ...
, the Bunurong territory was created by the ancestor spirit
The veneration of the dead, including one's ancestors, is based on love and respect for the deceased. In some cultures, it is related to beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of t ...
''Lohan''. Patrilineally
Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritan ...
, all Bunurong tribe members are considered direct descendants of ''Lohan''. The creator of the Kulin nation-proper was the deity
A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...
eaglehawk
The wedge-tailed eagle (''Aquila audax'') is the largest bird of prey in the continent of Australia. It is also found in southern New Guinea to the north and is distributed as far south as the state of Tasmania. Adults of this species have lon ...
spirit '' Bunjil'', and the protector of its waterway
A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary b ...
s and keeper of the wind
Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hou ...
was the trickster
In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherwi ...
crow
A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifical ...
spirit '' Waa''.
''Bunjil'' and ''Waa'' are the two moiety totems that govern the kinship system
In anthropology, kinship is the web of social relationships that form an important part of the lives of all humans in all societies, although its exact meanings even within this discipline are often debated. Anthropologist Robin Fox says that ...
of the Kulin nation tribes. The Mayone-bulluk clan of the Frankston area was closely linked through marriage
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...
to the Wurundjeri-balluk clan of the Melbourne city centre
The Melbourne central business district (also known colloquially as simply "The City" or "The CBD") is the city centre and main urban area of the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, centred on the Hoddle Grid, the oldest part of the city la ...
area, from the neighbouring Woiwurrung
The Woiwurrung, also spelt Woi Wurrung, Woiwurrong, Woiworung, Wuywurung, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin people, Kulin alliance.
The Woiwurrung people's territory in Central Victoria (Austral ...
tribe, based on this system. Two wood
Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...
en sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
s of eagles, inspired by ''Bunjil'', by artist Bruce Armstrong; a 5-metre
The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pref ...
version on Mayone-bulluk clan land, erected on Young Street in Frankston in 2001,[Sentinel art installation](_blank)
Visit Frankston. Frankston City Council. Retrieved 25 August 2015 and a 25-metre version on Wurundjeri-balluk clan land, erected on Wurundjeri Way
Wurundjeri Way is a road running through the Docklands Development west of the Melbourne central business district. It was constructed in 1999 as part of replanning and development of the former Melbourne rail yards and docks. Wurundjeri Way r ...
in Melbourne Docklands
Docklands, also known as Melbourne Docklands, is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. Docklands recorded a population ...
in 2002, are representative of this link.
The earliest recorded encounter of the Bunurong tribe with Europeans in the Frankston area was in early 1803, when Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Charles Robbins sailed his ship
A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...
the ''Cumberland
Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...
'' into Port Phillip on the surveying
Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...
expedition headed by Charles Grimes. On 30 January, Grimes went ashore at Kananook Creek in search of fresh water
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...
and made peaceful contact with "around 30 of the natives"—most likely members of the Mayone-bulluk clan.
Another possible encounter of the Mayone-bulluk clan with Europeans in 1803 was in late-December, with three convict
A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...
s that had escaped from the failed settlement by Captain David Collins David Collins may refer to:
Persons
* David Collins (Hampshire cricketer), 18th-century cricketer
* David Collins (New Zealand cricketer) (1887–1967)
* David Collins (Scottish footballer) (1912–?)
* David Collins (Australian footballer) ( ...
at Sorrento
Sorrento (, ; nap, Surriento ; la, Surrentum) is a town overlooking the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the south-eastern terminus of the Circumvesuviana rail ...
on the southern Mornington Peninsula
The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geogra ...
. Among the escapees was William Buckley, who later lived with the Wadawurrung-balug clan from the neighbouring Wathaurong
The Wathaurong nation, also called the Wathaurung, Wadawurrung and Wadda Wurrung, are an Aboriginal Australian people living in the area near Melbourne, Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula in the state of Victoria. They are part of the Kulin all ...
tribe of the Kulin nation for 32 years. After travelling north up the Mornington Peninsula
The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geogra ...
for two days, Buckley describes coming to a creek that ran "near to the bay"—most likely Kananook Creek and Long Island in the Frankston area—where they encountered a "large tribe of the natives...armed with spears" but did not make direct contact.
The number of Bunurong tribe members at the time of contact with Europeans in the 1800s was estimated to be 300. James Fleming, a member of Charles Grimes' surveying expedition in early 1803, reported observing smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
scar
A scar (or scar tissue) is an area of fibrous tissue that replaces normal skin after an injury. Scars result from the biological process of wound repair in the skin, as well as in other organs, and tissues of the body. Thus, scarring is a na ...
s on members of the Kulin nation tribes he had encountered—indicating that an epidemic
An epidemic (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time.
Epidemics ...
had affected them prior to 1803. Smallpox arrived in Australia with the First Fleet
The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command ...
in 1788 and reached the Port Philip area in 1790, via the first European settlement in Australia at Port Jackson
Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...
, claiming at least half the population of the combined Kulin nation tribes.
Following permanent European settlement in 1835, another smallpox epidemic reduced the number of Bunurong tribe members to 83 by 1839. An influenza
Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...
epidemic during the 1840s further reduced their number to 28 by 1850. The last full-blood member of the Bunurong tribe, ''Yam-mer-book'', also known as Jimmy Dunbar (from the Ngaruk-Willam clan, which was geographically close to the Mayone-bulluk clan) who lived to the north of Frankston near Mordialloc
Mordialloc is a beachside suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 24 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Kingston local government area. Mordialloc recorded a population of 8,886 at the . ...
, died of natural causes in 1877.
European settlement
Fishermen
A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish.
Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreat ...
were among the earliest European
European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
s to unofficially settle the Frankston area following the foundation of Melbourne
The city of Melbourne was founded in 1835. The exact circumstances of ''the foundation of Melbourne'', and the question of who should take credit, have long been matters of dispute.
Exploration
A series of colonisers, mostly operating from Syd ...
on 30 August 1835. Living in tent
A tent () is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over, attached to a frame of poles or a supporting rope. While smaller tents may be free-standing or attached to the ground, large tents are usually anchored using gu ...
s and wattle and daub
Wattle and daub is a composite building method used for making walls and buildings, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung a ...
hut
A hut is a small dwelling, which may be constructed of various local materials. Huts are a type of vernacular architecture because they are built of readily available materials such as wood, snow, ice, stone, grass, palm leaves, branches, hid ...
s on its foreshore
The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species of ...
and around the base of Olivers Hill
Olivers Hill is a locality located in the City of Frankston, Victoria in Australia. It is the first major rise in terrain along the eastern coastline of Port Phillip, between Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula. It was named after local Fr ...
, they would travel by boat
A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats.
Small boats are typically found on inl ...
to the early Melbourne township to sell their catches.[, p. 6][ Charlwood, Don (5 October 1949).]
Early History of Frankston
(abridged version). '' Frankston Standard Leader''. News Limited
News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of the American News Corp. One of Australia's largest media conglomerates, News Corp Australia employs more than 8,000 staff nationwide and approximately 3,0 ...
. p. 13. Retrieved 29 January 2014
James Davey arrived in the Frankston area in 1840, gaining a 640 acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imp ...
pre-emptive right to land license over what are now the suburbs of Frankston and Frankston South from Olivers Hill
Olivers Hill is a locality located in the City of Frankston, Victoria in Australia. It is the first major rise in terrain along the eastern coastline of Port Phillip, between Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula. It was named after local Fr ...
south to Daveys Bay. Davey built the Cannanuke Inn in the mid-1840s, which was the first permanent building in the Frankston area,[, p. 7] and was located on the site of the present Frankston Mechanics' Institute at 1 Plowman Place in the Frankston Central Business District (CBD). He built the first permanent wood
Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...
en house
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
in the southern Frankston area located near Daveys Bay on Olivers Hill in 1851—which was originally known as "Old Man Davey's Hill".[ Charlwood, Don (5 October 1949).]
Early History of Frankston
(abridged version). '' Frankston Standard Leader''. News Limited
News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of the American News Corp. One of Australia's largest media conglomerates, News Corp Australia employs more than 8,000 staff nationwide and approximately 3,0 ...
. p. 16. Retrieved 29 January 2014[Fascinating Historical Facts – Frankston Waterfront](_blank)
Discover Mornington Peninsula. Retrieved 15 September 2015
In 1843 Frank Liardet, the eldest son of the early Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
settler
A settler is a person who has human migration, migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area.
A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a ...
Wilbraham Liardet, took out a 300-acre depasturing license for what is now the Frankston locality of Karingal
Karingal is a local area within the suburb of Frankston located in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia. It is in the local government area of the City of Frankston (app. 45 km South East from the Melbourne CBD)
History
European settleme ...
. Liardet built the first permanent wooden house in the eastern Frankston area in 1847—which would later become part of his Ballam Park estate after the formal land sales
Rural land sales in real estate refers to the sale of undeveloped land, usually as a parcel or tract of several acres (in the U.S.) of a ranch.
Definitions
The term ''rural'' can be defined as "the comprehensive, nonspecific word referring to ...
of 1854.
Davey later partnered in the cattle run of Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Benjamin Baxter, the first Postmaster
A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...
and former Clerk
A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...
of Petty session
Courts of petty session, established from around the 1730s, were local courts consisting of magistrates, held for each petty sessional division (usually based on the county divisions known as hundreds) in England, Wales, and Ireland. The sessio ...
s for the Port Phillip District
The Port Phillip District was an administrative division of the Colony of New South Wales from 9 September 1836 until 1 July 1851, when it was separated from New South Wales and became the Colony of Victoria.
In September 1836, NSW Colonial Sec ...
, during the early-1850s. Their run covered the majority of what are now the City of Frankston suburbs of Langwarrin
Langwarrin is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Frankston local government area. Langwarrin recorded a population of 23,588 at the .
Langwarrin is bound ...
and Langwarrin South
Langwarrin South is an official bounded locality in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 47 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Frankston local government area. Langwarrin South recorded a popul ...
. The fisherman James Oliver built his house on northern Olivers Hill around this time, so he could keep watch for schools of fish in the waters below, and after whom the locality is now known by its current name. The explorer and surveyor
Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...
Charles Wedge
Charles Wedge (1810–1895) was a surveyor and explorer of the North-West regions of Western Australia.
Wedge was born in Cambridgeshire, England; he was the eldest son of Edward Davy Wedge and a nephew of John Helder Wedge. In 1824, he emigra ...
also arrived around this time, gaining a pre-emptive right to land license over what are now the City of Frankston suburbs of Carrum Downs
Carrum Downs is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 36 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Frankston local government area. Carrum Downs recorded a population of 21,976 at the 2021 ce ...
and Seaford.[Wedge's station](_blank)
Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria
Heritage Victoria is a Victorian State Government agency responsible for administering the ''Heritage Act 1995'' and supporting the work of the Heritage Council of Victoria.
Heritage Victoria was formed from the earlier Historic Buildings Prese ...
. Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure. Government of Victoria
The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive ...
. Retrieved 28 September 2015[Banyan complex](_blank)
Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria
Heritage Victoria is a Victorian State Government agency responsible for administering the ''Heritage Act 1995'' and supporting the work of the Heritage Council of Victoria.
Heritage Victoria was formed from the earlier Historic Buildings Prese ...
. Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure. Government of Victoria
The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive ...
. Retrieved 28 September 2015
Thomas and Grace McComb arrived in the Frankston area in 1852.[Staff Writer (5 October 1949).]
Grace McComb was Frankston's Florence Nightingale
. '' Frankston Standard Leader''. News Limited
News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of the American News Corp. One of Australia's largest media conglomerates, News Corp Australia employs more than 8,000 staff nationwide and approximately 3,0 ...
. p. 43. Retrieved 2 October 2015 Thomas assisted with the development of the local fishing industry
The fishing industry includes any industry or activity concerned with taking, culturing, processing, preserving, storing, transporting, marketing or selling fish or fish products. It is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization as including ...
, and Grace was the first nurse and midwife in the area. Thomas Ritchie arrived in 1854 and established a bakery
A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who ...
that same year on what is now Nepean Highway
Nepean Highway runs south from St Kilda Junction in Victoria, Australia to Portsea, close to the eastern shore of Port Phillip. It is the primary road route to central Melbourne from Melbourne's southern suburbs.
History
Originally known as A ...
in the Frankston CBD.
The central Frankston area was surveyed
Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the land, terrestrial Two-dimensional space#In geometry, two-dimensional or Three-dimensional space#In Euclidean geometry, three-dimensional positions of ...
by Thomas Hanbury Permein for the Victorian colonial government in early 1854. The only pre-existing permanent building in Permein's survey is the Cannanuke Inn. The plan for the new village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
of Frankston was drawn by James Philp from the Office of the Surveyor General of Victoria The Surveyor General of Victoria is the person nominally responsible for government surveying in Victoria, Australia
Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populat ...
on 1 May 1854—with the Cannanuke Inn as a central point and located on Lot 1 of a block bordered to the west by Bay Street, to the north by Davey Street, to the east by Wedge Street (now Young Street) and to the south by a public reserve (now Plowman Place and Frankston Park
Frankston Park, known commercially as Kinetic Stadium, is a suburban Australian rules football ground located in Frankston, Victoria, in Australia. It is home to the Frankston Football Club, which plays in the Victorian Football League.
Fr ...
). Philp's plan consisted of 29 standard lots
Lot or LOT or The Lot or ''similar'' may refer to:
Common meanings Areas
*Land lot, an area of land
*Parking lot, for automobiles
*Backlot, in movie production
Sets of items
*Lot number, in batch production
*Lot, a set of goods for sale together ...
, 49 suburban lots, nine country lots of 430 acres, and also reserved place for a village centre that would eventually become the Frankston CBD.
The first formal land sales
Rural land sales in real estate refers to the sale of undeveloped land, usually as a parcel or tract of several acres (in the U.S.) of a ranch.
Definitions
The term ''rural'' can be defined as "the comprehensive, nonspecific word referring to ...
for the new village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
of Frankston took place on 29 May 1854. Frankston was gazetted in late-April of that year as being "well watered with springs...the odour and flavour of the water being remarkable". The road to Melbourne was extended from Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
to Frankston (now the Nepean Highway
Nepean Highway runs south from St Kilda Junction in Victoria, Australia to Portsea, close to the eastern shore of Port Phillip. It is the primary road route to central Melbourne from Melbourne's southern suburbs.
History
Originally known as A ...
) with bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
s over Kananook Creek and Mordialloc Creek in late 1854.
Liardet became one of the first official land owner
Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...
s in Frankston after the formal land sales—establishing his Ballam Park estate on the land that he had a depasturing license for. There is a popular theory
A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be s ...
(published in the '' Victorian Historical Magazine'' in March 1916) that Frankston was named after Liardet due to his earlier presence in the area.
19th century
Following the first formal land sales
Rural land sales in real estate refers to the sale of undeveloped land, usually as a parcel or tract of several acres (in the U.S.) of a ranch.
Definitions
The term ''rural'' can be defined as "the comprehensive, nonspecific word referring to ...
for the new village on 29 May 1854, on 12 December, Samuel Packham was granted the licence to establish the Frankston Hotel.[Staff Writer (13 December 1854).]
Quarterly Licensing Day
. '' The Argus'' (1846–1957). p. 5. Retrieved 29 September 2015 Licensing records (and newspaper articles) suggest that it was located on what is now the northwest corner of Davey Street and Nepean Highway (the present site of the Pier Hotel). Packham advertised the Frankston Hotel as a country retreat, and employed a kangaroo
Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...
tracker and organised game hunting expeditions from the hotel.
Charles Wedge
Charles Wedge (1810–1895) was a surveyor and explorer of the North-West regions of Western Australia.
Wedge was born in Cambridgeshire, England; he was the eldest son of Edward Davy Wedge and a nephew of John Helder Wedge. In 1824, he emigra ...
established his Banyan sheep station on his pre-emptive right to land over what are now the City of Frankston suburbs of Carrum Downs
Carrum Downs is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 36 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Frankston local government area. Carrum Downs recorded a population of 21,976 at the 2021 ce ...
and Seaford after the formal land sales of 1854, and James McMahon purchased lands over what are now the City of Frankston suburbs of Sandhurst and Skye
The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated b ...
at this time.
The first permanent brick
A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...
house
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
in Frankston was built at Ballam Park in 1855 and replaced the 1847 wood
Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...
en house on the site. It was built by Frederick Liardet, the younger brother of Frank, and was designed in a French Colonial
French colonial architecture includes several styles of architecture used by the French during colonization. Many former French colonies, especially those in Southeast Asia, have previously been reluctant to promote their colonial architecture ...
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
style by their father Wilbraham. The house is listed on the Victorian and Australian heritage registries through the National Trust of Australia
The National Trust of Australia, officially the Australian Council of National Trusts (ACNT), is the Australian national peak body for community-based, non-government non-profit organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's Ind ...
.[Ballam Park](_blank)
Australian Heritage Database
The Australian Heritage Database is a searchable online database of heritage sites in Australia. It is maintained by the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment , in consultation with Australian Heritage Council. There are more than ...
. Australian Heritage Council
The Australian Heritage Council is the principal adviser to the Australian Government on heritage matters. It was established on 19 February 2004 by the ''Australian Heritage Council Act 2003''. The Council replaced the Australian Heritage Commis ...
. Department of the Environment
An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...
. Government of Australia
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federalism, federal parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster system, Westminster-sty ...
. Retrieved 14 September 2015 It is now managed by the Frankston Historical Society which conducts tours of the house and also maintains a local history museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these i ...
at the estate.[Ballam Park](_blank)
Frankston Historical Society. Retrieved 14 September 2015
A site for a Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
(Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
) was reserved after the formal land sales.[History](_blank)
St. Paul's Anglican Church (Frankston). Anglican Diocese of Melbourne
The Anglican Diocese of Melbourne is the metropolitan diocese of the Province of Victoria in the Anglican Church of Australia. The diocese was founded from the Diocese of Australia by letters patent of 25 June 1847[burial ground
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...]
. A temporary hall was built in 1856 and served as both a place of worship
A place of worship is a specially designed structure or space where individuals or a group of people such as a congregation come to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study. A building constructed or used for this purpose is somet ...
and as a school (which later became the Woodleigh School).[History](_blank)
. Woodleigh School. Retrieved 1 September 2015 The first post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...
in Frankston opened on 1 September 1857 which also initially operated from the hall.
Early economy
Frankston's fishing industry was further developed with the assistance of Thomas McComb, who funded the construction of Frankston Pier in 1857.[Frankston Coastal Arts Discovery Trail](_blank)
(2006). City of Frankston. p13. Retrieved 8 October 2015 Following a petition by residents, to the Victorian colonial Department of Public Works, the pier was extended into deeper water in 1863. A gaslamp was installed at the end of the pier and a lamplighter was also employed. Frankston Fish Company was founded in 1867, by a consortium of local businessmen including Thomas Ritchie, in order to transport the catches of local fishermen in bulk to the fish market
A fish market is a marketplace for selling fish and fish products. It can be dedicated to wholesale trade between fishermen and fish merchants, or to the sale of seafood to individual consumers, or to both. Retail fish markets, a type of wet mar ...
s of the Melbourne city centre.
In 1870, Ritchie established his first general store on what is now the southwest corner of Playne Street and Nepean Highway in the Frankston Central Business District (CBD). Ritchies Stores
Ritchies is the largest independent supermarket chain in Australia, owned by a group of private investors including Metcash. It is also known as "Ritchies Supa IGA". The majority of its stores are located throughout Victoria. Ritchies annual r ...
is now the largest independent grocery chain in Australia—with its headquarters still located in the Frankston area.
On 15 November 1873, William Davey Jr., grandson of pre-emptive Frankston settler James Davey, applied for the license to establish the Bay View Hotel, on what is now the northeast corner of Davey Street and Nepean Highway (the present site of The Grand Hotel) in the Frankston CBD.[Notices — Publicans' and Other Licenses](_blank)
(13 November 1873). '' The Argus'' (1846–1957). p. 12. Retrieved 2 October 2015 It was constructed with a guest house which Davey had shipped from Jersey
Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...
.
Following a petition by residents to the Victorian colonial Department of Education in 1873, headed by Grace McComb, the first government school in Frankston was built on Davey Street in 1874.[History](_blank)
Frankston Primary School. Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. Government of Victoria
The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive ...
. Retrieved 31 August 2015 The No. 1464 Frankston School (Which later became Frankston Primary School) opened on 1 November of that year with an initial enrolment of 45 students.
Mark Young purchased the Frankston Hotel on 13 August 1875 for £380, and renamed it the Pier Hotel (under which name it continues to operate).[Pier Hotel](_blank)
ALH Group Limited. Retrieved 25 August 2015 Young spent an estimated £3700 on improvements to the hotel, making it one of the finest in the colony of Victoria at the time.
In 1879, following a conference of city councils in inner-Melbourne, the Frankston area was chosen as the preferred site to replace the Melbourne General Cemetery
The Melbourne General Cemetery is a large (43 hectare) necropolis located north of the city of Melbourne in the suburb of Carlton North.
The cemetery is notably the resting place of four Prime Ministers of Australia, more than any other nec ...
.[Staff Writer (20 March 1879)]
The Cemetery Conference
''The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
''. Fairfax Media
Fairfax Media was a media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased ''The Sydney Morning Herald' ...
. p. 3. Retrieved 6 October 2015 The roughly 3000 acre Crown land site was bordered to the north by Charles Wedge's Banyan sheep station
A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...
(over what are now the City of Frankston suburbs of Carrum Downs and Seaford), to the south by Frank Liardet's Ballam Park estate (in what is now the Frankston locality of Karingal),[Staff Writer (22 May 1879).]
Proposed Cemetery Site
. '' The Argus'' (1846–1957). p. 7. Retrieved 6 October 2015 and is now the suburb of Frankston North. Its south-west corner is described as being "about a mile .6 kmnorth of the village of Frankston, and the same distance east of the beach".
Frankston Mechanics' Institute was established on the former site of the Cannanuke Inn, at what is now 1 Plowman Place in the Frankston CBD, in 1880.[Staff Writer (2 June 1880).]
Frankston
. ''South Bourke and Mornington Journal'' (1872–1920). p. 2. Retrieved 4 October 2015 Its construction was funded by public donations, headed by a residents' committee, and supported by friendly and temperance societies
The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, a ...
including a Frankston group of Freemasons
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
and the Independent Order of Good Templars
The International Organisation of Good Templars (IOGT; founded as the Independent Order of Good Templars), whose international body is known as Movendi International, is a fraternal organization which is part of the temperance movement, promot ...
, Independent Order of Rechabites
The Independent Order of Rechabites (IOR), also known as the Sons and Daughters of Rechab,Alan Axelrod ''International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders'' New York; Facts on File, inc 1997 p.206 is a fraternal organisation a ...
and Manchester Unity of Oddfellows
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
.[Staff Writer (24 March 1880).]
Frankston
. ''South Bourke and Mornington Journal'' (1872–1920). p. 3. Retrieved 4 October 2015 Its foundation stone was laid by committee president Mark Young on 22 March of that year, and the building was opened on 24 May at a cost of £280.
On 16 March 1881, the Colonial Bank of Australasia (later the National Bank of Australia
The National Bank of Australasia was a bank based in Melbourne. It was established in 1858, and in 1982 merged with the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney to form National Australia Bank.
History
In 1858, Alexander Gibb, a Melbourne gentleman ...
) was the first bank to open a lending branch in Frankston. It was located next to Mark Young's Pier Hotel on what is now Nepean Highway. The first library
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
in Frankston, the Frankston Free Library, opened at the Mechanics' Institute to mark its first anniversary. The first 400 books of the new library were a donation from the banker H.D. Larnach.
To service the proposed new metropolitan cemetery the railway line to Melbourne was extended from Caulfield to Frankston between 1881 and 1882.[Staff Writer (19 December 1881).]
Monday, December 19, 1881
. '' The Argus'' (1846–1957). p. 5. Retrieved 6 October 2015[Staff Writer (13 September 1880).]
The Proposed Railway to Frankston
. '' The Argus'' (1846–1957). p. 7. Retrieved 6 October 2015[Staff Writer (13 September 1880).]
The Commissioner of Railways at Frankston
. ''South Bourke and Mornington Journal'' (1872–1920). p. 3. Retrieved 6 October 2015 The first section from Caulfield to Mordialloc opened on 19 December 1881. The second section from Mordialloc to Frankston opened on 29 July 1882.[Staff Writer (1 August 1882).]
Opening of the Frankston Railway
. '' The Argus'' (1846–1957). p. 6. Retrieved 6 October 2015 The course of the railway line was directly influenced by the location of the proposed cemetery. From Mordialloc to Seaford it runs adjacent to what is now Nepean Highway—which was built over a 1000-year-old sand dune that once ran parallel to the coastline.[Natural reserves within Frankston City](_blank)
. Frankston City Council. Retrieved 24 August 2015 After Seaford it curves inland eastwards to where a "mortuary station" was to be located (now Kananook railway station) near the border of the proposed cemetery, then continues to Frankston.
Due to concerns from undertakers about sandy soil and underlying granite at the Frankston site, the proposed cemetery was abandoned—which was later established in the Melbourne southeastern suburb of Springvale in 1901. It was also briefly considered as one of the possible sites to replace the Melbourne Benevolent Asylum in 1887—which was later established in the southeastern suburb of Cheltenham in 1911.
Seaside resort
Despite not becoming the site of the new metropolitan cemetery, Frankston benefited from its new railway line. The travel time to the Melbourne city centre was reduced from several hours by horse-drawn carriage to 90 minutes by steam train, making it a popular seaside destination for excursionists and weekend holidaymakers from the mid-1880s.
Mark Young constructed enclosed sea baths in 1883,[Staff Writer (9 May 1883).]
Frankston
. ''South Bourke and Mornington Journal'' (1872–1920). p. 3. Retrieved 7 October 2015[Staff Writer (4 October 1884).]
Melbourne — Its Infancy and Growth
. '' The Argus'' (1846–1957). p. 13. Retrieved 7 October 2015 on a bed of granite located roughly 100 metres off the coastline of Frankston Beach, at a cost of £950. They were connected to the coastline by a wooden pathway that led to a suspension bridge over Kananook Creek to Young's Pier Hotel.
During this time, an article in '' The Argus'' newspaper on the growth of outer Melbourne (published 4 October 1884) describes Frankston as "going ahead rapidly" with "50 to 60 new houses... nthe last three years" as well as having "two hotels, a wine shop, four boarding-houses, three general stores, an ironmonger, two saddlers' shops ndfive brick-yards". Frankston's Market Gardeners' and Fruit Growers' Association was founded around this time, in order to transport the produce of local farmers by steam ship to New South Wales and Tasmania, and the majority of trade for the Mornington Peninsula and Phillip Island, as well as south-west Gippsland, is also described as passing through Frankston.
On 8 December 1884, John Storey Petrie was granted the license to establish a third hotel in Frankston, the Prince of Wales Hotel, on what is now the southwest corner of Davey Street and Nepean Highway (the present site of Davey's Bar and Restaurant) in the Frankston Central Business District (CBD).[Staff Writer (17 December 1884).]
Police Courts
. ''South Bourke and Mornington Journal'' (1872–1920). p.3. Retrieved 7 October 2015 It was designed in the Victorian Queen Anne style and was constructed of bluestone and locally-made bricks.
The intersection of Davey Street and Nepean Highway with Young's Pier Hotel (northwest corner), Davey's Bay View Hotel (northeast corner) and Petrie's Prince of Wales Hotel (southwest corner), became known as a "hotel corner" from the 1890s,[D.J.H. (13 December 1890).]
Town and Country Sketches — Frankston After 10 Years
. ''Mornington Standard
The ''Mornington Standard'' was a weekly newspaper, circulating in the Frankston, Mornington, Dromana and Somerville areas of Victoria, Australia from 1889 to 1939. Usually four pages in length, the ''Mornington Standard'' covered news from al ...
'' (1889–1908). p. 3. Retrieved 9 October 2015 and contemporarily as "pub corner". Around 100 years later, in the mid-1990s, they were joined by a nightclub on its southeast corner.[Clifton-Evans, Louise (11 February 2013).]
Frankston strip club to turn into upmarket restaurant
. '' Frankston Standard Leader''. News Limited
News Corp Australia is an Australian media conglomerate and wholly owned subsidiary of the American News Corp. One of Australia's largest media conglomerates, News Corp Australia employs more than 8,000 staff nationwide and approximately 3,0 ...
. Retrieved 9 October 2015
Frankston Brick Company was founded in 1886,[Advertising — Public Companies](_blank)
(7 August 1886). '' The Argus'' (1846–1957). p. 12. Retrieved 7 October 2015 by a consortium of local businessmen including William Davey Jr. and Thomas Ritchie—most likely in order to capitalise on the Melbourne land boom during the mid-1880s—and was later publicly floated. It was the first large-scale employer in Frankston, consolidating the existing local brick-yards onto a single site close to Frankston Pier, and producing approximately 50,000 bricks a week.
The Victorian colonial government established a large military camp in what is now the City of Frankston suburb of Langwarrin in 1886, which aided in the growth of the Frankston area.[Former Langwarrin Military Camp](_blank)
Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria
Heritage Victoria is a Victorian State Government agency responsible for administering the ''Heritage Act 1995'' and supporting the work of the Heritage Council of Victoria.
Heritage Victoria was formed from the earlier Historic Buildings Prese ...
. Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure. Government of Victoria
The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive ...
. Retrieved 13 October 2015[Langwarrin Flora and Fauna Reserve](_blank)
. Parks Victoria
Parks Victoria is a government agency of the state of Victoria, Australia.
Parks Victoria was established in December 1996 as a statutory authority, reporting to the Victorian Minister for Environment and Climate Change. The ''Parks Victoria Ac ...
. Department of Environment and Primary Industries
The Department of Environment and Primary Industries (DEPI) was a state government department responsible for protecting the environment, boosting productivity in Victoria's food and fibre sector, management of natural resources and managing wate ...
. Government of Victoria
The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive ...
. Retrieved 12 October 2015 The entrance to the Langwarrin Military Camp was located on the corner of McClelland Drive and Robinsons Road, and it is now the Langwarrin Flora and Fauna Reserve.
By the mid-1880s, No. 1464 Frankston School was classified as a "class 4" school (approximately 250 pupils) and had previously been expanded with an extension to the existing wooden school house in 1880. Due to its growing enrolments, and following a petition by residents to the Victorian colonial Department of Education, an additional 20 x 30 feet brick school house was built in 1889. The brick school house is now operated as an education history museum by the Frankston Historical Society.[Old School House](_blank)
Frankston Historical Society. Retrieved 14 September 2015
A new Anglican church building was opened on 5 February 1887. It was designed in a Victorian Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
style by the