St Helena ( ) is a suburb of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, 21 km north-east from Melbourne's

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center 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 wit ...

, located within the

City of Banyule The City of Banyule is a local government area in Victoria, Australia in the north-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It was created under the Local Government Act 1989 and established in 1994 as an amalgamation of former councils. It has an area of ...

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 federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

. St Helena recorded a population of 2,890 at the 2021 census.

History

St Helena was settled by Anthony Beale, who had previously lived on the island of

Saint Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, working as the paymaster for the British East India Company. When St Helena reverted to British Government control in 1836, Beale retired and moved to England for three years with his wife and sixteen children. In the 1830s, he travelled to the Port Phillip district of New South Wales, travelling via

Van Dieman's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania during the European exploration and colonisation of Australia in the 19th century. The Aboriginal-inhabited island was first visited by the Dutch ship captained by Abel Tasm ...

, where his son Onesophorous drowned in the Tamar River. In 1841, Beale took up a large pastoral lease on the

Plenty River The Plenty River is a perennial river of the Port Phillip catchment, located in the north-eastern Greater Melbourne region of the Australian state of Victoria. Course and features The Plenty River rises in the forested slopes of Mount Disapp ...

, including the area that is now known as St Helena. The Beales' cottage was called St Helena, after which the area become known. After the death of Anthony Beales's wife, Katherine Rose, Beale built the Rose Chapel in their front garden in memory of her. Anthony and Katherine Beale, along with some of their children, are among those buried in the adjoining graveyard. The chapel and three acres of land were given to the Church of England, and it was consecrated as St Katherine's Church by the Bishop of Ballarat in 1842. Although it was burned by a bushfire in 1957, architectural drawings of it had recently been made, and the chapel was rebuilt. It is still in use today.History of St Katherine's Church. Information booklet. St Katherine's Anglican Church, St Helena, Victoria Australia. Major residential development began during the mid to late 1980s.

Amenities

St Helena Marketplace is a shopping centre consisting of a Woolworths supermarket and smaller retailers such as

Bakers Delight Bakers Delight is an Australian-owned multinational bakery franchise chain, with franchisors in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. There are over 700 stores worldwide, with Australia having over 500 stores. History Bakers D ...

, pharmacy, and fast food eateries. At the same location is Myhealth St Helena. Schools within St Helena are St Helena Secondary College, Glen Katherine Primary School, Holy Trinity Primary School and Plenty Valley International

Montessori School The Montessori method of education is a type of educational method that involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing ...

. There are a few medical clinics in St Helena and a Veterinary clinic. Public library service is provided by

Yarra Plenty Regional Library Yarra Plenty Regional Library (YPRL) provides a public library service to the local government municipalities of the City of Banyule, Shire of Nillumbik and City of Whittlesea in the northeast of Melbourne, Melbourne Australia and located on the ...

. The nearest library is Diamond Valley Library, Greensborough.

Government areas

*Local government: Beale Ward in the City of Nillumbik. *Victorian State electorate:

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three ...

, represented by

Vicki Ward Vicki Ward (born 30 June 1969) is an Australian politician. She has been a Australian Labor Party (Victorian Branch), Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since November 2014, representing the Legislative Assembly seat of El ...

MP. *Federal electorate:

Jagajaga The Division of Jagajaga is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian Electoral Division in the States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It is located in the north-eastern suburbs o ...

, represented by

Kate Thwaites Kate Lynne Thwaites (born 19 January 1980) is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has been a member of the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives since the 2019 Australian feder ...

MP.

Sport

St Helena is represented in basketball by the St Helena Saints Basketball Club, who play in the Diamond Valley Basketball Association. The club trains at St Helena Secondary basketball stadium. There are no other sporting teams that represent St Helena. However, Anthony Beale Reserve, which is in St Helena, is the home ground of the Greensborough Junior Football Club.

References

External links