# Canterbury, Victoria

Canterbury is an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km from Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Boroondara local government area. Canterbury recorded a population of 7,800 at the 2021 census.
Famed for its leafy green boulevards and substantial, opulent historic residences, Canterbury is one of Melbourne's most expensive and exclusive suburbs.

## Geography

Canterbury extends as far as Mont Albert Road in the north, Burke Road in the west, Chatham and Highfield Roads in the east and Riversdale Road to the south. The main thoroughfare through Canterbury is Canterbury Road, which runs east–west and roughly bisects the suburb.
Canterbury is the home to many of Victoria's oldest and most prestigious private schools, including Camberwell Grammar School, Camberwell Girls Grammar School and Strathcona Baptist Girls Grammar School. Other schools include Camberwell High School, Canterbury Girls' Secondary College and Canterbury Primary School. Canterbury contains various parks and gardens and is home to the Camberwell Hockey Club in Matlock Street. The Canterbury Sports Ground, home of cricket and Australian football, is in Chatham Road.
The main shopping area in Canterbury is around the railway station and includes shops in Canterbury Road, as well as Maling Road. Larger shopping centres nearby include Burke Road in Camberwell and Whitehorse Road in Balwyn.
Canterbury is serviced by the Canterbury and East Camberwell stations, on the Lilydale and Belgrave train lines. It is also serviced by tram routes 72 and 109.

## History

The railway station is in many ways responsible for the suburb's existence: before the opening of the railway to the City in 1882, the area was a semi-rural area. Even then, it was occupied by the well to do. Many of these early residents and in some cases, their properties, are remembered in the street names of the suburb, notably Logan Street and Monomeath Avenue.
Canterbury Post Office opened on 22 November 1870 (it was closed between 1887 and 1892). It has since been turned into a café.
The first subdivision in the area came in 1885, when Michael Logan created the 'Claremont Park Estate' within the area of Canterbury Road, Bryson Street, Prospect Hill Road and Logan Street.
At around this time, Edward Snowden settled on 7 hectares in the area centred on a manor he named Monomeath. In 1900 Snowden's estate was subdivided and sold off to form what is now Monomeath Avenue and residents such as notable architect Percey Kernot and prominent citizen George Coghill moved in. The road was paved in 1911 and lined with oak trees. Over time it has gained much cachet in Australian society, famed for its wealthy and sometimes eccentric residents.

## Population

In the 2016 Census, there were 8,056 people in Canterbury. 67.2% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were China 7.9%, England 3.7%, Malaysia 1.7%, New Zealand 1.6% and India 1.3%. 73.4% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 9.9%, Cantonese 2.4% and Italian 1.3%. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 37.7%, Catholic 20.1% and Anglican 12.8%.

## Culture

Canterbury is regarded as one of Melbourne's most exclusive suburbs, particularly the "Golden Mile" – a term referring to a part of Mont Albert Road, running west from Balwyn Road and the avenues that connect it to Canterbury Road, specifically Monomeath Avenue, which is lined by large, century old oak trees and grand ornate mansions and is home to many notable politicians and leaders of business and industry.
Other blue-chip locales along this stretch include Alexandra Avenue, Hopetoun Avenue, Victoria Avenue and The Ridge. It consistently ranks in the top three suburbs for average house prices in Melbourne.

### Notable residents

Present and past residents of Canterbury include or have included:
* Sir Macfarlane Burnet OM, AK, KBE, FRS, FAA, FRSNZ – virologist best known for his contributions to immunology. He won a Nobel Prize in 1960 for predicting acquired immune tolerance and was best known for developing the theory of clonal selection. He was the first ever Australian of the Year and the Burnet Institute is named in his honour
* Frank Cheshire, bookseller and publisher who founded the F. W. Cheshire Pty. Ltd. publishing house
* Frank Cicutto – former CEO of National Australia Bank
* Sir Rupert Hamer – former Premier of Victoria
* Billy Harvey MC, Australian Rules footballer who during World War I won the Military Cross and was killed during the Battle of Passchendaele
* Alfred Mellor – stockbroker and financier
* Kylie and Dannii Minogue's family
* Andrew Peacock – former federal leader of the Liberal Party of Australia
* Tom Schieffer – former US Ambassador to Australia, and to Japan

## Sport

The suburb has an Australian rules football team called the Canterbury Cobras with senior and junior teams for women and men and boys and girls. The club founded in 1881 is one of the oldest local clubs still in existence. The club originally played on a ground where Strathcona is now situated, before moving in the late 1890s to an oval built by William Malone behind his Canterbury Club Hotel in between Maling and Wattle Valley Roads. This ground was the home of the cricket and football clubs. The club moved to its current location at the Canterbury Sportsground in the early 1900's.
It has worn its distinctive red, gold (originally yellow) and black colours since 1915. This was chosen by locals to respect the memory of the Anzacs sacrifice in Flanders Fields, Belgium. The club won its first senior premiership in 1920 when it defeated Mitcham by a point. The club has also won senior mens premierships in 1923, 1956, 1969,1972, 1991,2003,2015,2024. The club briefly changed its colours to Green with a gold vee at the end of World War 2 when it feared its jumper looked too much like the postwar new German flag. The club reverted back to its old colors in 1949 and worn them since.(Canterbury Football Club-Berries to Cobras-A History 1881-2013-James Nicolas: Vivid Publishing 2013)
Well known names in footy such as Hawthorn Captain Bob Williams, Port Adelaide superstar Jack Abley, Hawthorn Captain John Peck, Hawthorn presidents Trevor Coote and Brian Coleman, Hawthorn's Peter Curran, Fitzroy players Dale Fleming and Darren Kappler amongst many to have worn the Canterbury jumper. South Melbourne legend Bob Pratt who was a longtime local and administrator of the club. Gold Coast star Matty Rowell played his junior footy with the Cobras.
The club has successfully launched a womens senior team in the 2000s and they won the 2017 Reserves premiership.

## Schools

Canterbury has a number of primary and secondary schools in its vicinity. These include Canterbury Primary School, Camberwell Grammar School, Camberwell High School, Strathcona Baptist Girls' Grammar School, and Canterbury Girls' Secondary College.

## Places of worship

* Canterbury Christadelphians
* Canterbury Presbyterian Church
* Canterbury Baptist Church