Mount Eliza, Victoria

Mount Eliza is a seaside suburb on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 42 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Mount Eliza recorded a population of 18,734 at the 2021 census.

History
The traditional Boonwurrung name for the mount is Berringwallin. The mount was given its European name in 1836 after Captain William Hobson’s wife, Eliza Elliott.

Prior to large scale subdivision, Mount Eliza was mainly a location for holiday homes, with the Mount Eliza Post Office opening on 15 November 1920. This began to change in the early half of the 20th century when many old estates were subdivided. One such subdivision was Ranelagh Estate, designed by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin in 1924 in tandem with the surveyors Tuxen and Miller.

Daveys Bay was named after James Davey who constructed a jetty in the 1840s to ship his produce to Melbourne. In 1909 the Daveys Bay Yacht Club was established, and winds its way to a walking track overlooking Mt Eliza Beach on the shores of Canadian Bay, which was named after three Canadians who owned a sawmill in the area in the 1950s. In 1928, the independent girls school Toorak College was built and is one of the oldest independent girls schools in Victoria. By the 1950s the shopping precinct began to develop and by the 1960s was a well established shopping village. Hollywood glamour came to Mt Eliza in 1959 when movie stars Fred Astaire, Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner arrived to shoot the Stanley Kramer film, On The Beach, based on the novel of the same name by British novelist Nevil Shute who had lived at nearby Langwarrin.

Adjacent to Sunnyside beach sits a historical property Morning Star Estate. Morning Star Estate is a distinctive example of a Victorian era mansion built as a rural or holiday retreat on the Mornington Peninsula, it incorporates a number of architectural styles – including Tudor and Gothic Revival.

Sunnyside estate (now Morning Star Estate) was originally purchased by Londoner Francis Alfred Gillett in 1865 a short time after he arrived in the colony in 1853. Gillett designed the Sunnyside mansion sometime around 1867–1870. In 1932 the property was purchased, with funds from a bequest, by the Catholic Church and became known as Morning Star Boys' Home. The boys’ home was developed into a country-training centre for delinquent boys, giving them exposure to the benefits of rural life. The boys later became involved in an extensive building program, which led to further developments of the property. Despite this, the mansion remained the dominant architectural feature of the property.

Renovations and extensions were undertaken by the Franciscans in 1944–1946. Some effort to follow the lead of the mansion was made in the external Tudor/Gothic detailing of the large chapel. A number of courtyards were formed by the new buildings, including a large courtyard which was used for sports and was later enclosed. The remains of a football field lie to the south of the building complex, and a tall angular concrete pillar near the Nepean Highway originally carried a statue of the Virgin Mary sculpted by one of the brothers.

Morning Star Estate has been in a number of films due to its location and historical buildings, including a three-month location shoot around the mansion for the movie Partisan, starring French actor Vincent Cassel, during 2013 and 2014. The mansion was also the location for the Kath & Kim movie spin-off Kath & Kimderella.

Morning Star estate is also home to possibly the largest rose garden in Victoria, and the gardens surrounding the main mansion are home to more than 700 varieties of ornamental roses.

Geography
The suburb is bordered by Kackeraboite Creek, Humphries Road, Moorooduc Highway, Wooralla Drive, the Mornington railway line, Oakbank Road, Manyung Creek and Port Phillip.

There are several beaches and bays located in Mount Eliza, which include Canadian Bay (has had the name since the late 19th Century), Daveys Bay, Half Moon Bay, Moondah Beach, Ranelagh Beach and Sunnyside North Beach. In addition Mount Eliza is also home to the Moorooduc Quarry Flora and Fauna Reserve and several creeks including Ballar Creek, Earimil Creek (formerly Dennant Creek), Gunyong Creek, Kackeraboite Creek, Manmangur Creek and Manyung Creek (named after the Manyung Fault).

Mount Eliza Village
The suburb’s main shopping area is known as Mount Eliza Village. It is situated at the intersection of Canadian Bay Road and Mount Eliza Way.

Two major supermarkets, Ritchies Stores Supa IGA and Woolworths can be found along with many specialty shops. There is a range of restaurants from moderately priced restaurants to fine dining.

Secondary schools

 * Peninsula Grammar
 * Toorak College
 * Mount Eliza Secondary College

Primary schools

 * Kunyung Primary School
 * Mount Eliza Primary School
 * Mount Eliza North Primary School
 * St. Thomas More Catholic Primary School
 * Peninsula Grammar
 * Toorak College

Kindergartens

 * Toorak College Preschool
 * Peninsula Grammar Early Childhood Centre
 * Guardian Early Learning Centre Mt Eliza
 * Mt Eliza Preschool
 * Kunyung Preschool
 * Woodlands Early Learning Centre
 * Walkers Road Preschool
 * Mt Eliza House Childcare & Early Learning Centre
 * Little Grasshoppers Early Learning Centre Coolstores

There is also another child care centre being built on 1412 Nepean Highway, Mount Eliza VIC 3930 designed by Rauhous

Sport
There are many sporting clubs in Mount Eliza, but most notable is the Mount Eliza Football Club competing in the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League.

Mt Eliza Cricket Club which is one of the most successful Cricket Clubs on the Mornington Peninsula with ten First Eleven premierships and a total of more than 55, including the Juniors. During the 1980s the club was heralded as the largest cricket club in Australia with nine senior teams and eight junior teams.

Mount Eliza Soccer Club was formed in 2008 and has grown rapidly. They cater for all age groups and have approximately 500 members. The club competes in both the Football Federation Victoria Metropolitan League and Bayside League.

Mornington Peninsula Pony Club provides dressage, show jumping and cross-country facilities for young equestrian enthusiasts. The club is affiliated with the Pony Club Association of Victoria.

Other sporting clubs include the Mount Eliza Bowls club, the Mount Eliza Tennis Club and the Peninsula Old Boys Football Club which compete in the VAFA.

Davey's Bay Yacht Club is located in Mount Eliza. The club celebrated its centenary in 2009.

Mount Eliza Skate Park, located in Emil Madsen Reserve, Wooralla Drive, opened in 2012.

Mount Eliza Fire Brigade
Mount Eliza is served by a volunteer fire brigade, part of the Country Fire Authority. The station responds to approximately 250 calls a year within the local area, supporting neighbouring brigades and further afield in the event of large bush fires. The brigade currently has three vehicles, a Scania Type 3 Medium Pumper, a medium tanker for rural fires and a Forward Control Vehicle. Mount Eliza Fire Brigade is part of District 8.

Transport
Mount Eliza is served by two major roadways, the Nepean Highway and Moorooduc Highway.

The Melbourne bus routes 772, 773, 781, 784, 785 & 788 also serve the area.

Notable people

 * Sir Reginald Ansett
 * Sir Edgar Coles and Dame Mabel Coles
 * Greg Hunt
 * Rob Hulls
 * Nick Warner PSM AO
 * Walter Burley Griffin
 * Marion Mahoney Griffin
 * Peter Mitchell
 * Emilie de Ravin
 * Tim Wilson
 * Billy Brownless
 * Dani Venn
 * James Rees
 * Sir Laurence Hartnett
 * Brooke Satchwell
 * Joanna Murray-Smith
 * Cameron Daddo
 * Andrew Daddo
 * Lachie Daddo
 * Campbell Clerke
 * Grahame Begg
 * David Andersen
 * Alec Potts
 * Mete Erdogan
 * Melissa Clarke
 * Odette Joannidis
 * Sally McLean
 * Tim Ross
 * Mick Molloy
 * Kate Forster
 * Summer de Roche
 * Andrew Wrigglesworth
 * Jean Kittson
 * Laura Coates
 * Harry Norris
 * James Reyne
 * Henry Kerley
 * Ethan Hawkins
 * Hazel Chow
 * Czulak, Józef Karol (1915–1985)
 * Simon Hussey Awarded Songwriter and Record Producer