Cheltenham, Victoria

Cheltenham is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 18 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Bayside and Kingston local government areas. Cheltenham recorded a population of 23,992 at the 2021 census.

The eastern side of the area's metropolitan railway line and Charman Road north is located within the City of Kingston, while the suburb's western region towards extensive golf links, parks and Port Phillip Bay falls within the City of Bayside. A significant feature in Cheltenham is Westfield Southland, a major shopping centre which opened in 1968.

Cheltenham is currently undergoing significant gentrification and urban development.

The Boon Wurrung people had used natural springs in the area and when European settlers arrived they established market gardens and orchards nearby.

Cheltenham was one of the earliest areas to be settled in the parish of Moorabbin. It initially consisted of 625 acres of land purchased at auction by Josiah Morris Holloway on 11 May 1852. He subdivided this land into 370 allotments that were offered for sale in 1853. Many of the blocks were two acres in size and this gave the community its first name, Two Acre Village.

Lot 13 was purchased by Charles Whorrell for £20 and was located on the corner of Schnapper Point Road (Nepean Highway) and Centre Dandenong Road. On the allotment he built a hotel, the Cheltenham Inn, named after his home town in England, and a publican's license was granted in 1854. It was probably the first public building in the community and is believed to have given its name to the settlement. It later became a coffee palace before being demolished in the 1930s. Another pub, the Armagh Hotel (Royal Oak), had been built on Schnapper Point Road by 1856. A third pub, the Exchange Hotel (Tudor Inn) had been built nearby on the highway by 1871. By 1880, a fortnightly sale of livestock and produce took place behind the hotel.

Sufficient population had settled for a Post Office to open on 1 August 1857. The community had a medical practitioner by November 1857, Dr Richard Goldstone (1802–1888). A Mechanics' Institute was opened in January 1865, with a Temperance Hall attached that could accommodate 300 people.

Local government began with the creation of the Moorabbin Roads Board in 1862. This became the Moorabbin Shire Council in 1871. Which in turn became the City of Moorabbin in October 1934. This became the City of Kingston in 1994 following a program of municipal amalgamations initiated by the state government. Cheltenham is the largest suburb in the municipality in terms of size and population and it contains the seat of local government.