The name Hawthorn, gazetted in 1840 as “Hawthorne”, is thought to have originated from a conversation involving Charles La Trobe, who commented that the native shrubs looked like flowering Hawthorn bushes. Alternatively the name may originate with the bluestone house, so named, and built by James Denham St Pinnock (see Australian DNB), which stands to this day.
The region is generally regarded to be one of Melbourne’s surviving bastions of post-Gold Rush expansion and today, one of Melbourne’s most affluent and influential suburbs. Land values in the region are among the country’s highest, with streets such as Hawthorn Grove, in the prestigious Grace Park Estate, straddling the suburb’s northern boundary and Yarra Park’s Coppin Grove in the west, located closer to the Yarra River have been arguably the most sort after with properties commanding prices to match. Interestingly, there is also a considerable amount of student accommodation, due mainly to the presence of Swinburne University. This is located in the Hawthorn East and Auburn areas.