Talk:Heyfield, Victoria

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[edit] Merge suggestion from Heyfeild, Victoria to Heyfield, Victoria

Given the inconsistent spelling in this article and the "what links here" info of the two articles, it looks like this might be a misspelling of Heyfield, Victoria which is a much shorter stub. --ScottDavis 15:29, 22 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Origin of the Name

As a soon-to-be resident of the area, I'm interested in the origin of the name. It was supposedly named after fields of corn. But that's American usage, isn't it? In Australia we call the stuff "wheat". Hay certainly doesn't come from what we call "corn" (the stuff with yellow cobs). On the other hand, hay apparently doesn't come from wheat either. So I'm confused about this and I need a country person to enlighten me. In any case, why was "hay" apparently mis-spelled as "hey"? JackofOz 22:31, 6 September 2006 (UTC)

What the Americans call corn is the same as what we call corn or maize. It's quite different to wheat. You can make hay from wheat (not corn), but it's not common. --Scott Davis ^Talk 13:22, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, but that leaves me with the same conundrums (or conundra).

• I am fully aware of the difference between wheat and corn. Hay is not normally made from either of these. But what is it usually made from?
• Is this the same stuff that was growing in the fields that led to the place allegedly being named Heyfield?
• If Heyfield was named after "hay", why was it not spelled "Hayfield"? JackofOz 13:47, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

I've got hold of a brochure from the Wellington Shire Council that gives a little more background. It was named "Hayfield" in 1841 by James McFarlane who recorded that it looked "like a field of waving corn". There's no information about why/when the spelling was changed to "Heyfield". The search continues. JackofOz 01:41, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

Just to complete this discussion, I added the following to the article a little while back:

• In 1841 an early settler, James McFarlane, described the district as resembling "a field of waving corn", and called it Heyfield. Perhaps it would have been more correct to spell it as "Hayfield", however, McFarlane's erroneous "Hey-" version has always been the accepted spelling of the name. -- JackofOz 05:25, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

Re this edit by Cassowary - the above discussion is relevant. "Perhaps" was a polite way of saying "he screwed up the spelling but now we're stuck with it". What I was attempting to do was to point out that when one names something after X, one ought to spell it "X" and not "Y". In this case, what we're left with is "Y". That's all. -- JackofOz (talk) 10:13, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

Shall you be making a similar edit to Maffra, named for Mafra? Based on it's article, the spelling of Prahran is probably a consequence of Hoddle mishearing Langhorne's "Pur-ra-ran". The phrase as written sounded too much like an opinion with weasel words. It still sounds like that, but less so than before. I find it hard to believe that someone could misspell "hay" accidentally and I'd want some evidence that it was not deliberate ("Heyfield", in McFarlane's mind, might've seemed a better name for a place than "Hayfield".) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cassowary (talk • contribs) 22:49, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

Actually, you’re right. The article does engage in a little hypothesising, and that shouldn’t be there. What we can do, though, is report that, while sources differ on the original spelling, most actually say that it was originally "Hayfield" and later changed to "Heyfield".

• This and this say it was originally named "Hayfield", but do not explain why it’s now spelled “Heyfield” or when the change occurred.
• This says it was originally “Hayfield” and has since changed to “Heyfield”, but does not say when or why.
• On the other hand, this says it grew up around “Heyfield Station” and had to move a few kilometres down the road when Glenmaggie Dam was built. That leaves open the possibility that “Heyfield Station” and the place now known as “Heyfield” were named after completely different things – perhaps the station was named after a Mr Heyfield, and the spot where Heyfield now stands was named “Hayfield” for fields of wheat, and later adopted the name of the station.
• This says that “Hayfield” is a variant of “Heyfield”. That’s fine, but what we want to know is the specific timeline of the official spelling of the name of this town/location.
• This seems to narrow the change down to between 1841 and 1866. It was “Hayfield” in 1841, but by 1866 we have the “Battle of Heyfield Bridge”.

I'll do some more research and contact the Wellington Shire Council or maybe the Heyfield Historical Society to see if they can shed any light on it. -- JackofOz (talk) 01:01, 24 February 2008 (UTC)