History of the Waverley Area

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History of Waverley

Before the appearance of the white man the Boonorung Aboriginal tribe occupied the area from the mountains East of Melbourne to the shores of Port Phillip Bay as they hunted throughout the year.

It would appear that the earliest white settlement of the Mulgrave area was in about 1836/37 with Joseph and John Hawdon grazing cattle along the Dandenong Creek.

The City of Waverley grew from the Oakleigh and Mulgrave Roads district which was created by an Act of Parliament in 1857 following the land sales of 1853.

Featured in the logo of the WHS is St. Stephens Church which was established in 1865 and is the oldest church in what was the City of Waverley which has subsequently been absorbed into the City of Monash.

Chronological History of the area

This is not an exhaustive list! If you have any dates which you feel should be included, please email us.

Feb 1803 Charles Robbins sights future Parish of Mulgrave
1837 Joseph and John Hawdon graze cattle along the "Dandenong Creek" flats
Before 1839 The Boonoorung people, a nomadic tribe of aborigines, included the present Waverley area in their hunting grounds
October 1839 Thomas Napier leases west bank Dandenong Creek, later Bushy Park Run
January 1840 John McMillan applies for licence of Scotchman's Creek Run
October 1840 Survey of Dandenong Creek, Scotchman's Creek and Kooyong Koot (Gardiner's Creek)
July 1842 South Yarra Pound gazetted (later site of Oakleigh)
Dec 1846 John McKean takes over McMillan's lease
1850 Wesleyan Methodists held cottage meetings at Black Flat
April 1853 Survey of the Parish of Mulgrave by Eugene Bellairs
Sept-Oct 1853 First land sales of country block in Mulgrave
Dec 1853 Dr James Silverman purchases site in what was to become Mt Waverley
Feb-Mar 1854 Dr James Silverman subdivides and sells first lot of subdivision
1854 Mulgrave Arms Hotel built (Princes Highway, Oakleigh)
1856 Common school built at Mulgrave, corner of Wellington and Springvale Roads
January 1857 Road District of Oakleigh - Mulgrave gazetted
June 1860 First road board elected
1865 St Stephen's Church of England built, Mount Waverley
1866 Judge Sir Redmond Barry buys land at Syndal
1866 Wesleyan Church, Black Flat, establishes church school
1869 St Matthews Church of England, Mulgrave, built
Dec. 1871 Road district becomes a Shire
1874 Act of Parliament phases out all toll gates on public land
1875 Warrigal Road State School opened
March 1879 Melbourne-Gippsland railway link (via Oakleigh) completed
1885 First Postmaster appointed - Black Flat's school master
1888 Oakleigh Times commenced publication
October 1888 First Shire offices completed in Oakleigh
1890 Waverley-Oakleigh railway opened
1890 Melbourne and Metropolitan water supply installed
1891 Mulgrave Presbyterian Church built
13 March 1891 Borough of Oakleigh severed from Shire
1893 Gold discovered at Black Flat
1893 G V Blackburne of Tally-Ho has purchased Dr Hewlett's place "Letcombe"
19 Feb 1897 Shire of Oakleigh changed to the Shire of Mulgrave
Sept. 1899 Opening of the horticultural hall Mount Waverley
1905 Mount Waverley Post Office named
January 1905 Glen Waverley township gazetted
May 1905 Glen Waverley township officially gazetted
July 1905 Mount Waverley post office officially named
1906 Mount Waverley Primary School opened
August 1909 Glen Waverley Mechanics Institute opened
30 May 1913 Oakleigh Borough divided into three Wards
1919 Loan obtained for building of Mount Waverley Co-operative Cool Store
Dec 1920 First Council meeting in new Shire Offices - Notting Hill
1921 St Paul's Church of England built, Glen Waverley
1921 Oakleigh connected to sewerage system
1922 Melbourne-Oakleigh-Dandenong railway electrified
1925 Hughesdale station opened
1926-27 Electricity mains connected
28 Apr 1927 Oakleigh declared a City, (proclaimed 2 Aug 1927)
1927 Mount Waverley reservoir begun
1928 Huntingdale station (now East Oakleigh) opened
1929  
May 1930 Railway line to Glen Waverley opened
1942 Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) formed from local men, to assist war effort
1946 Tuhan's Boundary Store, SE corner Waverley and Warrigal Rds, demolished for road widening
Nicholas buys site of Aspro factory NE corner of Waverley and Warrigal Rds
1947  
15 Dec 1949 Severance of part of South and Centre Ridings and annexed to Oakleigh
1949  
1950 Glen Waverley RSL formed
1951  
1952  
1953 Railway line to Glen Waverley duplicated, allowing direct runs to Melbourne instead of single-carriage shuttle service
1954 Foundation stone for Corpus Christi Roman Catholic Seminary (now the Police Academy) laid
August 1955 Opening of Municipal Offices, Springvale Road
1956 May Rd and Hewlett Rd became Blackburn Rd
Waverley's first naturalisation ceremony
1957  
1958  
October 1959 Further severance of South Riding
14 April 1961
Shire of Mulgrave proclaimed the City of Waverley, population approx 45,000
1963 GW station moved back beyond Kingsway
1966 Melway No 1 produced in a Mt Waverley garage
1967 The Glen Shopping Centre opened. Postcodes began
1968  
1969  
April 1970 VFL Park opened
1970 Brandon Park Shopping Centre opened
1971  
1972 Roman Catholic Seminary and 40 acres passed to the Victoria Police College
1973 Work commenced on Mulgrave (now Monash) Freeway
1974 Monash Freeway - Stud Rd to Jacksons Rd
Jell's Park started
1975 Monash Freeway - Stephensons Rd bridge
1976 Monash Freeway - Stephensons Rd to Blackburn Rd
1977 Monash Freeway - Blackburn Rd to Forster Rd
1977 Waverley Gardens Shopping Centre opened
1978  
1979 Monash Freeway - Forster Rd to Huntingdale Rd
1980  
1981  
1982  
1983  
1984 New Waverley City offices opened
1985  
1986  
1987  
1988 First sod turned for building of Arts Centre at Jells Rd and Ferntree Gully Rd
1989  
1990  
1991  
1992  
1993  
1994 City of Waverley and City of Oakleigh amalgamate to form City of Monash. Women's Sports centre at Jell's Park opens
1995  
1996  
1997  
1998 Novotel Hotel, Springvale Rd, Glen Waverley
1999  
2001 Monash Federation Centre opens
2002 Monash Aquatic Centre
2004  
2005  
2006 Eastlink construction commences. Madeline's Restaurant in Jell's Park
2007 "Once There Was Jordanville" published. Official launch 14 November