What if I told you that the suburb beneath your feet was almost named after some native shrubs? It is true. Welcome to Hawthorn.
Hawthorn’s story begins on a spring day in 1840. Superintendent Charles La Trobe visited Dr James Palmer’s estate. They strolled near the Yarra River. La Trobe remarked that the native shrubs reminded him of hawthorn trees. Or so the story goes.
This charming tale is likely false. Hawthorn was surveyed between 1837 and 1843. The name might come from a local house called ‘The Hawthorns’. La Trobe did love nature. He set aside parkland turning Victoria into Australia’s ‘Garden State’. He was also one of many settlers. They brought hawthorn trees to Melbourne for a taste of home.
Crataegus monogyna. It is the scientific name for the hawthorn. This plant is related to the rose family. Hawthorn hedgerows are common in British fields. They keep livestock in place. Early Australian farmers also used hawthorn. They divided their paddocks with it. Today the plant is oddly unwelcome here. You will rarely see it in botanic gardens. Land groups try to get rid of it.
The hawthorn tree has many meanings. It represents renewal and decay. It has benefits for the heart. It is valuable as food. But it is a weed. The hawthorn is a symbol of English gentility. It is also a symbol of Indigenous dispossession.
On the banks of the Yarra River in Hawthorn, there is a garden. It aims to show the vegetation before La Trobe’s arrival. Dorothy Sutherland from the Hawthorn Historical Society had the idea. It was planted in 1990. The garden is named Wurundjeri Garden. It honors Melbourne’s Indigenous people. The City of Boroondara and the Hawthorn Historical Society manage it together.
You see the past we try to forget always lingers. The hawthorn flourishes as a reminder of this past. Hawthorn is part of the Wurundjeri land. The Wurundjeri people are custodians of this land. They are part of the Kulin nation. The Kulin nation is an alliance of five peoples. This area was an important meeting place for the Kulin nation. It was a source of food and water.
In 1836, John Gardiner visited the area. He came by ship from Van Diemen’s Land. Later he, John Hepburn and Joseph Hawdon travelled overland. They came south from New South Wales with cattle. Their goal was to establish cattle stations. By 1837, Gardiner’s homestead was north of his creek. The creek was called Kooyongkoot. It is marked on surveyor Robert Hoddle’s plans.
By 1852, Hawthorn village was laid out. The Municipality of Hawthorn was formed in 1860. Mains water arrived in 1865. Mains gas followed in 1869. Hawthorn became a town in 1887. The Town Hall opened in 1889. It was designed by John Beswicke. In 1890, Hawthorn became a city. It was the first city in Boroondara. Hawthorn was divided into four wards in 1891. Sewerage arrived in 1905. Electric trams came in 1913. In 1994, Hawthorn joined the City of Boroondara.
But until a fortnight ago, I had never seen hawthorn with my own eyes. Ordinary people have always known the hawthorn tree’s bounty. It’s colloquially known as the ‘bread and cheese tree’. In hard times, peasants and travellers could eat its leaves and berries. The fruit of the related Chinese hawthorn, Crataegus pinnatifida, makes a traditional Chinese candied snack called tanghulu. Hawthorn leaves, flowers and berries have been used this way for millennia.
So as we stand here in Hawthorn. Remember its true name. Its complicated history and the beautiful blossoms of a thorny past.