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History of metropolitan suburb names - H


The following information is a summary of origins for suburb names within the Perth metropolitan area. Please select the first letter of the suburb you wish to see:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

HACKETS GULLY

The name of this rural suburb was approved in 1972 and derives its name from the feature of the same name. "Hackett Gully" is believed to honour Thomas Hackett (1814-1866) who established a market garden in the hills district.


HALLS HEAD

Halls Head is named after Henry Hall who was granted land in the area in the 1830's. The suburb was officially named in 1970, but had been locally known by the name for some years previously.


HAMERSLEY

The name of this suburb honours the district's first land owner, Edward Hamersley. Hamersley owned and farmed land near Guildford, and in the late 1800's built a summer home in what is now North Beach, and named it "The Castle". It was on the site of what is now the Castle Hotel.


HAMILTON HILL

The earliest known settler at Hamilton Hill was Sydney Smith, the agent of Captain George Robb. Robb arrived in Western Australia in 1830 and took up land south of Fremantle. During the next twelve months Smith was actively engaged in establishing Robb's farm. In a letter dated August 27th, 1830, he gives his address as Hamilton Hill. The origin of the name, and whether it was Robb or Smith who did the naming, remains uncertain but the area has been known as such ever since.


HAMMOND PARK

Formerly part of the rural locality of Banjup, Hammond Park is named after James Hammond, a pioneer of the Jandakot district. The suburb name was approved in 2002.


HAZELMERE

The suburb of Hazelmere is mostly contained in land which was the subject of one of the Colony's earliest grants made to Captain James Stirling in 1829. This was Stirling's "Woodbridge" grant fronting both the Swan and Helena Rivers. In 1883, James Morrison an Auctioneer of Guildford, purchased land in the area. He subdivided his property into small agricultural lots. The name chosen for the estate was Hazelmere, the reason for this choice being to link it with Guildford, as there is a Haslemere in England which is a suburb of Guildford, Surrey. The reason for the different spelling in the name as compared to the original is unknown.


HEATHRIDGE

Heathridge is a descriptive suburb name, chosen because of the heath type vegetation growing on the sand ridges in the area.


HELENA VALLEY

Descriptive name, after the valley of the Helena River where the suburb is located. The river was named in 1829, but it is not known after whom. Helena Valley was first settled by the Smith family of Clayton Farm about 1850.


HENDERSON

The suburb of Henderson comprises land resumed by the Commonwealth Government in 1915 for defence purposes. A large naval base was planned by Admiral Sir Reginald Henderson, and the was area sometimes referred to as "Henderson's Naval Base'. The name was approved for the suburb in 1973.


HENLEY BROOK

The suburb of Henley Brook takes its name from one of the earliest named areas in Western Australia. In March 1827, Captain Stirling was exploring the Swan River and when he reached the extremity of navigable water for their long boat, he made a close inspection of the country. Stirling named an area near Upper Swan "Henley Park" and this name was used as a property name in 1830 by W H Mackie and F C Irwin when they settled here. A brook flowing though the property was recorded as Henley Brook in 1842 and this name was approved as the suburb name in 1972.


HERDSMAN

This area takes its name from Herdsman Lake. The lake was first known as Great Lake, but was recorded as Herdsman Lake by the Surveyor General, J S Roe in 1836. The name is probably descriptive as the area around it provided good grazing and stock were most likely herded in the area.


HERNE HILL

William Locke Brockman, pastoralist and stockbreeder, arrived at the Swan River colony in January 1830 and took up a land grant in Upper Swan. Well to do, Brockman brought with him considerable livestock, including three rams and forty six pure merino ewes, a prefabricated house and seven servants. He named his grant "Herne Hill" and soon set to work developing it. He lived on his land at Herne Hill and was a member of many societies and served on the Legislative Council. He died at Herne Hill in 1872.


HIGHGATE

Land in the Highgate area was first taken up in ten acre farmlets around 1860. One of the early owners is believed to have named the area 'Highgate Hill' after the town of Highgate in Kent, England. St Albans Church, an early landmark in the area, was opened in 1889 and is named after St Albans Cathedral in Highgate, England.


HIGH WYCOMBE

This suburb was formerly part of Maida Vale and was officially named in 1978. The name was introduced by a subdivider "Western Agencies" in 1958. One of the partners in the firm instigated the name, which was that of a village in Buckinghamshire, England, his birth place.


HILLARYS

This suburb is named after Bertram John Hillary, a Gallipoli war veteran who died in 1957 at the age of 62, who set up the first beach shack on a lonely stretch of beach in 1930. That lonely stretch of beach eventually came to be named after its best known inhabitant, courtesy of the Army which had use of the land during World War 2. The name was suggested as a suburb name by the Shire of Wanneroo, and was approved in 1971.


HILLMAN

This suburb is named in honour of Alfred Hillman, who arrived in Western Australia in 1831 to take an appointment as colonial Draftsman. He distinguished himself as a Draftsman, Surveyor and Explorer, including early surveys in the Rockingham area. The suburb was named in 1970.


HILTON

Named after "Hilton Park", a reserve in the area. Included in a list of Postal Districts submitted by the Postmaster General in May 1954. The Postal District was shown as "Hilton Park" until May 1959 when it was agreed that the suffix "Park" would no longer be used.


HOCKING

A new suburb that was formerly part of Wanneroo, Hocking was approved in 1994. The name honours Herbert Hocking, landowner in the area, first Chairman of the Wanneroo Road Board and member of the Board, 1903-1931. He was also treasurer of the Agricultural Society in 1909.


HOPELAND

Hopeland is a farming area west of Serpentine that was formerly part of the Peel Estate Group Settlement Scheme. Group 46, formed in 1923, was named Hopeland, and the name was approved as a suburb name in 1997.


HOPE VALLEY

The suburb of Hope Valley takes its name from the property name of its first settler, George Postans. Between 1882 and 1886 a small community developed in this area, with Postans the first settler, followed by Angel de San Miguel and John Mortimer. This small band of hopeful settlers built homes and established small mixed farms, naming their community Hope Valley.


HOVEA

This suburb takes its name from a crossing loop on the Eastern Railway. Named 'Park View' in 1912 from its proximity to the National Park but, because of confusion with nearby stations, viz:- Swan View and Bellevue, it was renamed. Hovea is the name of a purple flowered native plant, a common sight in the Darling Range. It was named after AP Hove, a Polish botanist.


HUNTINGDALE

This suburb name was suggested by the Town of Gosnells in 1974. The name was a promotional name used by developers for the area.

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