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Produced and published by the School of Historical & Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne
Published July 2008
Published July 2008
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(3082, 19 km NE, Whittlesea City)
Mill Park takes its name from the property of George and Francis Coulstock who built and operated a flour mill on the Plenty River in the 1840s. They sold to the Hon. Henry Miller, MLC, who developed a model farm stretching from the Darebin Creek to the Plenty River, and from the current Mill Park to South Morang. He bred racehorses, among them Redleap, a winner of the National Hurdle in 1898, building the house named The Stables in honour of the horse in 1899. The property passed to his son who, like Miller, was master of the Findon Hunt Club, stabled at Mill Park. After his death, the property changed hands frequently until purchased by T&G Mutual Life Society in 1972 when the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works nominated the area for residential development. The first home was completed in 1976 on Mill Park Drive, which followed Miller's original circular training track. Access to the estate was from Plenty Road, but a bridge over the Darebin Creek in Childs Road linked Mill Park with Lalor and Thomastown to the west in 1988. Gazetted as a suburb in 1978, Mill Park is now the largest centre in the City of Whittlesea.