Ocean Grove, planned originally as a holiday resort for people of Methodist persuasion, perpetuates in its older streets the names of Methodist pioneers - ministers and laymen plus an occasional place-name dear to the hearts of early Methodists.
Ocean Grove was named not after the Rev. T. Grove, who was well known as a Methodist clergyman in the Geelong district last century, but after a Methodist holiday resort in the U.S.A.; however, Rev. Grove was actively associated with the scheme and had a house at Ocean Grove.
| Asbury Street | Francis Asbury (1745-1816) was a Methodist bishop in America having been sent there as a missionary in 1771 by the Wesleyan Conference in London. He was regarded as a leader of American Methodism and his powerful preaching suited him for America's frontier conditions. |
| Avon Court | Heather Park Estate, Collendina. This street has a Devonshire flavour - Avon Court would be named after one of the several Avon rivers to be found in England, this one rising near Dartmoor. |
| Baker Street | Probably named in honour of Rev. Thomas Baker, who was martyred in Fiji. A memorial college commemorates him in Fiji. (Otherwise it may be named for Rev. Henry Baker, who died in 1887 when Ocean Grove was being established.) |
| Beaver Street | Francis E. Beaver, auctioneer and M.L.A. and a pioneer Methodist of Northcote, is no doubt remembered here. Perhaps he helped to obtain the Ocean Grove land for the Methodist Church? |
| Belvedere Terrace | "The Parks" Subdivision. Another member of the Callanan family has a property in Belvedere Terrace, Lorne, and the name has a traditional subdivisional flavour. See Tareeda Properties. |
| Biami Way | An Aboriginal word said to mean 'a good place'. See Tareeda Properties. |
| Bramwell Street | Rev. William Bramwell was known as the "apostle of holiness" - Bramwell Booth, of the Salvation Army, was also named after him. |
| Butters Street | President of the Wesleyan Methodist Conference, William Butters (1810-1887) came to Victoria from Tasmania in 1850. He was a real pioneer and died when Ocean Grove was being laid out. |
| Dare Street | Dr. Joseph Dare (1831-1880) was regarded as the most eloquent preacher in the colonies. He was at Yarra Street Church in 1860, having come from South Australia in 1856. He was President of the Methodist Conference in 1878. |
| Devon Court | Heather Park Estate, Collendina. This street has a Devonshire flavour - Devon Court takes the name of the County. |
| Draper Street | Rev. Daniel J. Draper (1810-1866) was one of the most celebrated Methodist clergymen of his time. He was equally well-known in South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria, where he was one of the founders of Wesley College. He went down on the London in the Bay of Biscay in January, 1866, when returning to Australia. |
| Duburg Street | Rev. Charles Dubourg (1826-1886) is no doubt remembered here. |
| Eggleston Street | Rev. John Eggleston (1813-1879) saw service in Tasmania and South Australia before coming to Victoria. In 1860 he was president of the Australasian Methodist Conference and from 1875-1877 he was stationed in Geelong at Wesley Church, Yarra Street. |
| Epworth Street | Epworth rectory, near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, was the birthplace of John Wesley - hence Epworth Hospital, Epworth Book Centre, etc. |
| Fernleigh Place | "The Parks" Subdivision. The name of a street in Lorne near a Callanan family member's property. See Tareeda Properties. |
| Field Street | Rev. Benjamin Field (1826-1869) was joint editor of the Wesleyan Chronicle with the Rev. William Hill when the latter was murdered at Pentridge. He had come to Victoria from Ceylon in 1853 for the benefit of his health. He produced a handbook of Christian theology which was published after his death and served as a textbook for many years. |
| Garden Street | "The Parks" Subdivision. Named because of its position in the subdivision which was appropriately named "The Parks". See Tareeda Properties. |
| Grubb Road | The northern extension of Tuckfield Street, known as Grubb Road, commemorates Rev. G. C. Grubb, who last century itinerated by means of this road from Drysdale to Ocean Grove. Other oral histories claim its name came from "grubbing" out the road. |
| Guthridge Street | Hon. Nehemiah Guthridge, a Melbourne merchant and parliamentarian, was a member of the meeting held in the old Collins Street chapel on 22.1.1857 to establish a Wesleyan Chapel and Building Fund. Five ministers and nine laymen attended, including an R. Guthridge (presumably brother of the Hon. N. Guthridge). |
| Hill Street | Rev. William Hill (1826-1869), who had been attached to Yarra Street Church in 1857, was savagely murdered by a prisoner at Pentridge on 13.5.1869. He arrived in Victoria in 1854 or 1855. |
| Hodgson Street | This street commemorates Richard Hodgson who in 1874 was appointed first Chairman of the Melbourne branch of the Methodist Local Preachers' Association. |
| Hurst Street | Rev. Benjamin Hurst was one of the three clergymen responsible for the establishment in 1839 of Buntingdale Aboriginal Mission at Birregurra - the others were Francis Tuckfield and Joseph Orton. He also gave Geelong its first Wesleyan Church - a wooden building which in 1842 was sited on the east side of Yarra Street near the corner of Little Malop Street. |
| Inskip Street | Rev. John Inskip was an American clergyman who left America in 1879 with Rev. Osborne to set up in India an evangelical station. It failed so the party moved to Melbourne, then Point Lonsdale and finally Ocean Grove. By 1881 he transferred his labours to Lydiard Street, Ballarat. |
| Knowle Court | Heather Park Estate, Collendina. This street has a Devonshire flavour - Knowle Court takes the name of a village close to Crediton, Devonshire. |
| Lakeside Place | "The Parks" Subdivision. A street close to several ornamental lakes in the land being subdivided. See Tareeda Properties. |
| Lelean Street | The Lelean name is a very proud one in Methodist circles, ranging from Australia to Fiji. William D. Lelean (1834-1875) is probably commemorated on this occasion, however; Charles Oswald Lelean, the celebrated missionary, probably came to fame after the street was named. |
| Lowe Street | This street probably commemorates Rev. William Lowe, who was the incumbent at Yarra Street Church from 1845-47; however, John Lowe was an original trustee of Noble Street Methodist Church and a Rev. James Lowe also started his career at the same church. |
| Madeley Street | Madeley, Shropshire, was the parish for 25 years of Rev. John William Fletcher, Swiss-born clergyman, who was a close friend of John Wesley, for whom he sometimes preached. He was noted for his piety and saintliness. |
| McCutcheon Street | Walter B. McCutcheon (1864-1934), an influential layman of the Methodist Church, is commemorated here. He was a foundation member of the Methodist Central Mission, Melbourne, a president of the Old Wesley Collegians' Association and at the time of his death he held the record for continuous election to General Conferences. |
| Newcomb Street | Caroline Newcomb, the partner of Anne Drysdale, of Boronggoop and Coriyule fame, besides being herself a Methodist, also in 1861 married Rev. James Davy Dodgson - a Methodist minister. |
| Orton Street | Joseph Orton (1795-1842) as stated earlier was actively associated with the founding of Buntingdale Mission. He also, on 24.4.1836, conducted the first church service at the Melbourne settlement by an ordained clergyman. He had earlier seen service in the West Indies, New South Wales and Tasmania. |
| Osborne Street | Rev. W. B. Osborne was the originator of the Methodist holiday camp scheme at Ocean Grove, New Jersey, U.S.A. With Rev. Inskip he attempted to introduce a similar scheme to Ocean Grove, Victoria - it failed; however, Methodist rest homes, etc. were later established and many Methodist ministers and laymen bought holiday blocks in the area. |
| Parker Street | Edward Stone Parker was a Methodist lay preacher who in 1838 was selected by Lord Glenelg as a protector of aborigines in which field he was eminently respected and successful. |
| Parkview Avenue | "The Parks" Subdivision. A typical subdivisional name appropriate for this select area. See Tareeda Properties. |
| Peers Crescent | John J. Peers and Edward Peers were actively associated with the original Methodist Church of Port Phillip, John largely provided the first wooden building; but both were active in providing the music for religious worship. |
| Petras Place | "The Parks" Subdivision. Bill Petrass was an early manager of the Cobb & Co. depot in Ocean Grove. See Tareeda Properties. |
| Powell Street | Walter Powell (1822-1868) was an early benefactor of the Methodist Church of Victoria. He was closely associated with Victoria. He was closely associated with the Melbourne Immigrants' Home, he gave large sums to Wesley College, and it was said that he assisted financially almost every Methodist Church erected during Melbourne's early years. He died in London, but there is a tablet to his memory in Wesley Church, Melbourne. |
| Sweetman Street | Rev. Edward Sweetman (1793-1856) was the third incumbent of the Melbourne Methodist Circuit, a position he occupied from 1845-1850 when he left for Launceston. He was later stationed at Brighton. He was greatly esteemed by the early colonists. |
| Tareeda Properties | J.A. and V. Callanan, trading as Tareeda Properties, [ ... ] supplied the origins of streets named by them. |
| Tareeda Way | "The Parks" Subdivision. This street carries the trading name of the subdividers created from the names of their children, Taryn, Bree and Dane. See Tareeda Properties. |
| Tarnalla Place | "The Parks" Subdivision. "Tarnalla" was the name of the property of George Harold Hills (1841-1931), a pioneer of Colac, to whom the subdividers are connected. See Tareeda Properties. |
| Thacker Street | Henry Thacker, founder of the long-established Geelong printing company, was Secretary of Yarra Street Methodist Church from 1876-84. The Thacker family has given great service to the Methodist Church and William Thacker, Geelong's first postmaster and later of Ballarat, was active in establishing the Methodist Local Preachers' Association. |
| Tuckfield Street | Rev. Francis Tuckfield, who has already been mentioned, in connection with Buntingdale Mission, was minister at Yarra Street from 1847 to 1850 and is probably the best known Methodist minister of this area. His family also inherited his religious zeal, two sons being Methodist ministers and one or more daughters married Methodist ministers and missionaries. |
| Watkin Street | Edwin Iredale Watkin, D.D. (1839-1916), was a son of Rev. James Watkin (1805-1886) and he gave 59 years to the Methodist ministry, including a term in Geelong (1872-74). In later years he had an administrative post, so perhaps he saw an opportunity to commemorate his father's death by naming a street at Ocean Grove in his honour. |
| Whitton Street | This street commemorates William Witton, a Tasmanian local preacher who helped Rev. Joseph Orton establish the Methodist Church in Melbourne in the late 1830s. |
| Wilkinson Street | Rev. Samuel Wilkinson (1819-1899) was the first regularly appointed Methodist minister in Melbourne. He arrived from Sydney in 1841 and had all Victoria as his circuit. |
| Wyatt Street | Charles Wyatt, nurseryman, of Frogmore, Fyansford, who was the leader of the Methodists of Fyansford and was known to donate trees and shrubs to beautify Methodist reserves, etc., is no doubt remembered here. On his death on 29.4.1885, three Methodist ministers officiated at the graveside and the pall-bearers were mostly, if not entirely, leading Geelong Methodist laymen. |
