Welcome!

Highett started out as a farming settlement in the mid-1800s (that would’ve been around about when our great-great-great-great grandparents lived.) Highett really started to explode, as in the cases of a lot our Kingston suburbs, with the arrival of trains. People could then arrive in bunches instead of a person here or there on a horse or cart. Highett started off slowly, as farming towns do, but once Highett station opened in 1881 the population began to boom.

It took until 1950 for things to really start cooking in the area. In 1950 there were only 9 stores throughout the whole suburb, but by 1960, there were 100 stores. Southland opened in 1968. Today there are around 517 businesses registered in the bustling suburb of Highett.

Here are your Highett quick facts:

  • Highett is spread over two councils – the City of Kingston and the City of Bayside.
  • It was officially recognised as a suburb between 1974-1976.
  • Highett has an area of 3.9 km squared.
  • Highett is bounded by Wickham Road in the North; the Frankston Railway line in the East; Bay Road in the South and Bluff Road in the West.
  • The State electorate for Highett is the Sandringham District.
  • The Federal electorates for Highett are the Division of Goldstein and the Division of Hotham.

Click on the tabs above to discover more about Highett!

Name origins

Nobody knows exactly where Highett got its name, although there are two good guesses. In 1836, there are records of a man working as a grazier and a drover in the area named John Highett. (What’s a grazier or a drover I hear you ask? A grazier is a specific type of farmer that fattens up cattle or sheep for market, whereas a drover would ‘drive’ the cattle a long distance.) Access Victorian Places. It would make sense to assume that Mr. Highett is where ‘Highett’ comes from, but to confuse things, in 1850 a politician named William Highett also lived in the area.

So which of these Highett’s is our Highett? Both, perhaps? Some places are named after one person or another but sometimes they can be named after whole families who are important in the area, so your guess is as good as mine!

The first use of the name was Highetts Road which was also the name of the railway station when it opened in 1881. It was shorted to Highett in 1887. It was recognised as a suburb by 1976.


Hon. William Highett M.L.C. [picture] / T. F. Chuck. Image courtesy State Library of Victoria.

Population

Please note that the figure for 2016 includes the part of Highett that is in the City of Kingston 3,455 + the section of Highett which is in Bayside is 6,999 a total of 10,454.

  • Census DatePopulation
  • 1911169
  • 1933924
  • 19968423
  • 20019201
  • 20069402
  • 201110,263
  • 201610,454

Events

  • 1881
  • 1887
  • 1896
  • 1924
  • 1925
  • 1926
  • 1927
  • 1929
  • 1932
  • 1939
  • 1949
  • 1951
  • 1952
  • 1953
  • 1956
  • 1964
  • 1969
  • 1970
  • 1988
  • 1995
  • 2014

1881

Highett Road railway station opened on Monday 19 December. Passengers on the first train threw pennies at onlookers in celebration of the occasion. The name was changed to Highett on Monday 14 December, 1885. Aussie Heritage : Highett Railway Station.

1887

Highett Cricket Club opened. It is the second oldest club in Kingston.

1896

There was a Diptheria oubreak in South Brighton and Highett, with the first case being the daughter of the Highett Station Master. Diptheria was once a major cause of death in children. Kingston Historical Website.

1924

Highett Post Office opened on November 17.

1925

We don’t often think about the lives saved by automatic warning bells and big boom gates at railway crossings, but we would be smart to remember that we didn’t always have such good safety measures. All of those warning signals used to be controlled by single person known as a signalman. There was a fault in the system at Wickham road railway in 1925 causing the train to collide with a car. Unfortunately, eight passengers in the car lost their lives. Kingston Historical Website.

1926

The Highett Hall was opened on September 11. The hall had many uses, including dances, balls, vauldeville and a cinema. Highett Library now stands where the hall used to be. Kingston Historical Website.

1927

St Stephens Church of England opened in Donald St, Highett.

1932

Highett is certainly a very safe place to live, but history often shows us moments of less civilised behaviour. One such moment took place on November 25, 1932 when two men were caught at Highett station following a burglary. The brave Constable Christopher Coe approached the men and he managed to shoot and kill one of the robbers. During this tussle, he was shot 4 times himself. I think it’s fair to say a lot of people would have given up the fight at that point - not Constable Coe. He continued to fight until the other burglar fled the scene. Coe was awarded the King’s Medal for Gallantry (the first time it was awarded to someone in Victoria) and the second burglar was arrested some time later.

1939

Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation built a factory in Highett to build Aircraft wings and fuselages. The factory closed at the end of the second world war in 1945.

1949

Highett RSL opened on Friday 11 March, 1949. The first building was known as the Tin Shed. Access Highett RSL History website.

Hall in 12 hours. Goal of Working Bee, The Herald 1947. Image courtesy of Trove.

1952

Explosion in Highett! On Friday December 13th there was an explosion at the gasworks. Kingston Historical Website.

Gas Works Ablaze (1952, December 15). The Age. Retrieved from Trove.

1953

Highett Primary School 4677 opened on Graham Road. It backed on to the CSIRO, however declining numbers led to the school's closure in 1993. The school was demolished in 2004 to make way for a housing estate.

1956

Highett High School opened.

1964

An Olympic length swimming pool was built on Turners Road. Renovated in the 1990s, it reopened as Waves Leisure Centre.

Waves Leisure Centre. Image courtesy City of Kingston.

1970

C.S.I.R.O. opened in February by the Minister of Science Lord Casey. There was a Division of Building Research.

1988

Four schools merged Beaumaris High, Hampton High, Highett High and Sandringham Technical Schools to form Sandringham College.

1995

Premier Jeff Kennett opened Kingston's 9 million dollar indoor pool and fitness Centre, Waves, on the December 6. More than 20,000 people have used the pool since it opened to the public on November 18.

Waves Leisure Centre. Image courtesy City of Kingston.

Places

Williams Aircraft Factory

Highett used to be home to the Williams Aircraft Factory which built airframes during the Second World War. It was named after a Mr. Williams who had planned to build an aerodrome (a small airport) on the site but he died before he could see it built. The factory was repurposed (but thankfully never needed to be used) as an air raid shelter. The land the factory was on is now the Highett Shopping Centre, where the only planes you can buy are toys. Kingston Historical Website.

CSIRO

CSIRO moved into a Highett factory after the war. Research continued untill September 2015, when staff were relocated and the site was cleaned up for sale.

Highett Hall

Highett Hall was officially opened on September 11, 1926 in Highett Road. The hall could seat 500 people, and was used for film screenings, functions, dances, flower shows and church services. The hall was sometimes known as The Lyric Theatre or The New Highett. Highett Hall closed in 1958. It was knocked down in 1966, and Highett Library now stands where the hall used to be. Kingston Historical Website.

Demolition of Highett Theatre, 1966. Courtesy Leader Collection.

Smith & Lambert Tomato sauce factory

Next time you load up a hot dog with a nice drizzle of tomato sauce from the canteen, give a moment to remember the Smith & Lambert Tomato sauce factory which started operating in Highett in 1915.

Highett Gasworks

While we’re talking about tomato sauce, it’s certainly easier to get things cooking with the help of gas. Sure enough, Highett had that covered too at the Highett Gasworks which was completed in June 1939 and extended in 1950. It supplied gas to 70 square miles and almost 30,000 customers. The last gas made here was in 1969. The area is now mainly a business park with only one remnant chimney left. Kingston Historical Website.

Aerial view of Highett Gasworks, c1970. Courtesy Leader Collection.

Sir William Fry Reserve

You might have been to the spot where that gas factory was built and not even known it – in 1985 it was announced that this land would be converted into one of Highett’s beautiful reserves. It’s now known as the Sir William Fry Reserve. You might have seen skaters jumping in and out of the skate park when you visit Southland, or perhaps you’ve taken a stroll around the large pond. Next time you do, be sure to remember it’s named after Kingston’s very own Knight. Sir William Gordon Fry was a Moorabbin City Councillor from 1963 till 1972 and Mayor in 1968 and 1969. He was also a state member of parliament in 1967 and retired a year before he was knighted in 1980.Kingston Historical Website. 

Cr W G Fry, Mayor of Moorabbin 1968-69. Image courtesy Kingston Collection.

People

Mrs Slater

Some 20 years before those burglars showed up (the ones we heard about in ‘Key Events’) and caused everyone grief at Highett Station, Mrs Slater, a Highett local, was responsible for keeping the station in order. She was the ‘Station Mistress’ for 25 years, from 1894 till 1919 when she was transferred to McKinnon.

Reg 'Eagle Eye' Henderson

Would you like to be a top class tennis player - or play for the Richmond football club? How about learning to tap dance? Or, like Highett man Reg ‘Eagle Eye’ Henderson, would you like to excel at all three and then wrap it up with a successful career as a detective? Believe it or not, not only did Mr Henderson achieve all this, he was also commended for his uncanny ability to recall the faces of escaped criminals. In October 1951, Henderson was taking a tram through St Kilda and correctly identified two criminals after seeing a photo of them a whole three years earlier. That’s almost a superpower, surely. http://www.policemuseum.vic.gov.au/qr3

"EAGLE EYE" AGAIN! (1951, October 16). The Argus Image courtesy Trove

The Nicol family

Did you know there’s a backwards street in Highett? Well, kind of: it’s Locinda Street. Locinda backwards is… adnicol… Adnicol… A.D. Nicol. It turns out ‘Locinda’ is a bizarre nod to Mr Albert David Nicol (A.D. Nicol) of the Nicol Family. It’s not the only street dedicated to the Nicol Family either – Gilarth Street and Hazel Avenue were named in memory of other Nicol family members. Although what does it take for a family to have streets named after them? The Nicol family were successful local market gardeners. They won prizes at the Moorabbin Horticultural Show in the vegetables, pigeons and poultry competitions. I guess you could say they cornered the market on place names!

Mary O'Donovan

In (1835-1881) Mary O'Donovan streets named after her. These are Mary Street, Clonmult Avenue (after her place of birth at Clonmult, County Cork, Ireland) and Desmond Avenue after her maiden name. She died of typhoid fever. Her husband, James O’Donovan, also named James Avenue, Middleton Street (he was born in Midleton County Cork, Ireland), and Cloyne Street.

William Highett.

One of those fellas we believe Highett might’ve been named after was William Highett. He was born in Dorset, England over 210 years ago, in 1807. At 23 years old, his journey brought him to Tasmania where he acquired some land and became involved in banking. At 31 years old he shipped over to Melbourne and began work with the Union Bank.

More ambitious yet, Highett got involved in the Separation movement to have Victoria and New South Wales be declared as two separate colonies. If they hadn’t succeeded the today you would have been from New South Wales! William Highett went on to become a local government councillor and a Member of the Upper house of Parliament. He ended up owning land in Moorabbin Shire, part of which was named in his honour. It seems more and more likely William might be the man Highett is named for after all. He passed away at the age of 73 on the 29th November, 1880. Kingston Historical Website.


Hon. William Highett M.L.C. [picture] / T. F. Chuck. Image courtesy State Library of Victoria.

Robert Hurley Stephenson

Owned the Stephenson's Pharmacy in Highett Rd from 1951 to 1983.

Stephenson’s Pharmacy in Highett Road, Highett, 1976. Image courtesy Leader Collection.

Fun Facts

Near Highett station, there’s a street named Allen Street. That’s a fun fact, right? Maybe not. What is kind of funny is that the street actually has a typo in it. It was named after a Highett family – namely the Allan family. The council misspelt it and despite reminders, never corrected it.
Quite rarely, you might see a fox skulking around some Australian suburbs late at night. When Highett was less built up, foxes and in turn old fashioned fox hunts were common in the area until the late 1880s.

The Master of the Hounds. Melbourne Hunt Club c. 1895. Image courtesy State Library of Victoria.

In 1928 there was a proposal to build a cemetery next to Highett Station. Moorabbin Council blocked the proposal. Five years later the new Cheltenham Cemetery was establised right next to the Railway Station.
In the 1930s the residents of Graham Road protested that the road was to be sealed, as it would cost them too much money (landowners had to pay for construction). Graham Road is named after the previous owner Norman George Graham.
Do you remember what CSIRO stands for? The kids of Highett Primary School would likely have remembered after they were gifted freshly baked cakes after school while the CSIRO were testing cooking products. What better a thing for scientists to study than ensuring the yummiest cakes? The fun with CSIRO didn’t stop there either. During their time in Highett, local residents used their grounds for bonfire night celebrations and in the 1940s, they kept 90 cows on the premises.
The CSIRO grounds were used as a short cut to school.

Short cut" to Highett school (1954, May 21). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 5. Retrieved March 1, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23429370

Do you remember what CSIRO stands for? The kids of Highett Primary School would likely have remembered after they were gifted freshly baked cakes after school while the CSIRO were testing cooking products. What better a thing for scientists to study than ensuring the yummiest cakes? The fun with CSIRO didn’t stop there either. During their time in Highett, local residents used their grounds for bonfire night celebrations and in the 1940s, they kept 90 cows on the premises.
When you can take a moment to google Barry Humphries. He’s one of Australia’s most well renowned comedians and actors and you’ll see he’s a pretty funny guy with some rather bizarre characters. Some years ago he wrote an ode to Highett in a song titled ‘The Highett Waltz’. He performed it as one of his famous characters, Dame Edna. You can take a listen here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPgKlmCSxDs

An intimate night with Dame Edna: New Jenny Craig ambassador performs at Civic Hotel, Sydney, 23rd April, 2012. Image courtesyEva Rinaldi [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

St Agnes parish school was established in 1951. It was set up in the RSL hall in Worthing Street with classes set up every morning and then put away at night so it could be used for the returned servicemen.
In 1953 a new world record was set in producing the largest high-pressured laminate sheet in the world. It measured 12 ft (3.657600m) by 4 ft ( 1.219200 m) and was produced by Laminex in Highett.

Another world record! (1953, September 8). The Argus. Image courtesy of Trove.

Archery Targets used to be set up at Turner Road Reserve.

Photos


Hon. William Highett M.L.C. [picture] / T. F. Chuck. Image courtesy State Library of Victoria.


Panorama of Market Gardens from Highett Railway Station.THROUGH THE MOORABBIN MARKET-GARDENS. (1906, August 25). The Australasian. Image courtesy of Trove.


Boys dressed in a variety of military fancy dress costumes, Highett, c. 1900. Image courtesy Museums Victoria Collections.


Demolition of Highett Theatre, 1966. Courtesy Leader Collection.


Aerial view of Highett Gasworks, c1970. Courtesy Leader Collection.


Placing a memorial plaque outside the Highett Library, 1979. Image courtesy the Leader Collection.


The Highett Branch of the Library and Information Services of the City of Kingston, 2004. Image courtesy Kingston Collection.


"EAGLE EYE" AGAIN! (1951, October 16). The Argus Image courtesy Trove


Stephenson’s Pharmacy in Highett Road, Highett, 1976. Image courtesy Leader Collection.


Cr W G Fry, Mayor of Moorabbin 1968-69. Image courtesy Kingston Collection.


Waves Leisure Centre. Image courtesy City of Kingston.


Gas & Fuel Corporation of Vic. Gas Works. Nepean H'way, Highett. Vic. Peter Wille 1931-1971 photographer. Image courtesy State Library of Victoria.


Highett Town, South Brighton, 1885. Image courtesy State Library of victoria.


Gas Works Ablaze (1952, December 15). The Age. Retrieved from Trove.


Another world record! (1953, September 8). The Argus. Image courtesy of Trove.


An intimate night with Dame Edna: New Jenny Craig ambassador performs at Civic Hotel, Sydney, 23rd April, 2012. Image courtesyEva Rinaldi [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.


Waves Leisure Centre. Image courtesy City of Kingston.


The Master of the Hounds. Melbourne Hunt Club c. 1895. Image courtesy State Library of Victoria.


Short cut" to Highett school (1954, May 21). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 5. Retrieved March 1, 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23429370


Hall in 12 hours. Goal of Working Bee, The Herald 1947. Image courtesy of Trove.