The City of Waverley was located in the south-east of Melbourne, between Oakleigh and Scoresby. Its name derived from a privately surveyed township established in 1853 at the south-east corner of High Street Road and Stephensons Road. The owner of the township named his property was after Sir Walter Scott's Waverley novels. Although the township was not successful the name was re-used for Glen Waverley and Mount Waverley.

The City of Waverley was created on 14 April 1961, when post-war residential growth was occurring rapidly in outer areas of Melbourne, including the corridor along the railway line to Glen Waverley. Waverley had an area of 61 sq. km. The change from shire to city status signalled its change from rural to urban. Apart from the railway line the area relied on car-based transport.

Waverley's housing in the period from post-war to the 1970s was predominantly brick houses on generous allotments. It attracted middle-class families whose children required a rapid school-building programme. By the 1990s the municipality had 34 primary and 14 secondary schools. By 1993, however, Waverley city had one of Victoria's fastest declining populations as children moved out of home. Waverley's western sector was completing its first cycle of urban settlement.

Waverley City Council ceased on 15 December 1994, when it was amalgamated with most of Oakleigh City to form Monash City.

The City of Waverley issued the medal NU 20683 to celebrate the sesquicentenary of Victoria in 1984-45.

References:
Australian Places website, Monash University, http://arts.monash.edu/ncas/multimedia/gazetteer/list/waverley.html.

More Information