Mornington: Population, history, crime, wild weather and famous market
Mornington has been Melbourne’s holiday playground for more than 150 years, but the seaside town was also the scene of the biggest tragedy in the history of Australian football. Here’s a look at postcode 3931.
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Is it a town? A city? A suburb of Melbourne?
You’d receive different answers from residents and visitors alike as they strolled along Main St, the boulevard that runs from the start of the shopping strip down to the picturesque boat harbour.
Situated 57 kilometres from Melbourne, Mornington is certainly far enough from the CBD to
feel rural.
But the town’s 24,000 residents experience all the benefits of big-city living while enjoying an idyllic beachside lifestyle that constantly brings ‘Sea-changers’ to the region.
Mornington’s history is intrinsically linked with the arrival of the first Europeans to Port Phillip Bay.
A statue of Matthew Flinders that sits grandly in Mornington Park commemorates the explorer’s arrival in 1802 to a region that had long been home to the Boonwurrung/Bunurong
people.
The area was first settled in the 1840s, with the first to stake their claim eyeing the rich
timber, fishing and pastoral offerings.
Known at that time as Schnapper Point, the town was renamed Mornington in 1861 shortly after the completion of the first pier.
The name is believed to have been taken from the Earl of Mornington of County Mornington, Ireland.
An armada of vessels – from fishing trawlers to paddle steamers – soon called the harbour
home and would provide the main access point for visitors and freight from Melbourne until
the opening of the railway in 1889.
The rail and road connection of Arthur’s Seat Rd (now the Nepean Highway/Point Nepean
Rd) slowly brought Melbourne’s elite to the region where many built luxury homes including the spectacular Beleura (1863).
Mornington is still a magnet for day trippers with thousands flocking to the famous Main Street Market every Wednesday.
Prior to the coronavirus pandemic it had been held every week for 40 years, making it Victoria’s longest running street market.
Postcode 3931 boasts family friendly beaches with calm waters and wide sandy beaches dotted with Insta-worthy beachboxes.
But the sunny shores can become treacherous in wild weather and the waters off Mornington were the scene of the worst tragedy in the history of Australian football.
On the night of May 21, 1892, members of the Mornington Football Club were returning home after a match against Mordialloc when the vessel Process struck a reef.
Of the 15 who perished, 14 of them were Mornington footballers.
The local Presbyterian Minister, Reverend James Caldwell, lost his three sons in the
disaster.
Modern day sailors who moor their vessels behind the sea wall at Mornington Boat Harbour saw how fierce the waves could be after 20 boats were wrecked in a 2008 storm, one of several major weather events to impact the structure in its 150-year history.
The pier was rebuilt in 2015 but has again been damaged since its reopening.
Mornington was also the scene of one of the peninsula’s most shocking murders.
On April 23, 2004 John Sharpe – who was later dubbed the Mornington Monster – used a speargun to kill his pregnant wife Anna Kemp as she slept.
Four days later he used the same weapon to murder his 20-month-old daughter Gracie.
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