Whittlesea

Whittlesea is a township with surrounding rural area 36 km north-east of central Melbourne on the Plenty River. It is also a municipality extending southwards to Reservoir and Bundoora in metropolitan Melbourne. Whittlesea was probably named by a local surveyor who had lived in Whittlesey, England, when he surveyed the township’s site in 1853. An alternative reason for the name is the presence of a swamp near the township, which may have reminded engineers/surveyors of swamp draining works recently carried out in Whittlesey, England.