Geoffrey Blainey, A History of Camberwell, Jacaranda Press, Melbourne 1964, is a lively account of the municipality of which Canterbury was a part. Michael Cannon, The Landboomers, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne 1970 and Graeme Davison, The Rise and Fall of Marvellous Melbourne, Melbourne University Press 1978 and 2005 establish the context of Canterbury’s rise in the landboom of the 1880s. Andrew Lemon, Box Hill, Lothian, Melbourne 1978 and Victoria Peel, Deborah Zion and Jane Yule, A History of Hawthorn, Melbourne University Press, Carlton 1993, cover the history of neighbouring suburbs shaped by similar forces. Don Gibb and Stuart Warmington, Visions of Village, Canterbury History Group 1997 and 2007 is a beautiful and evocative history of Canterbury’s much-loved main street. A valuable reference to the wider history of Melbourne is Andrew Brown-May and Shurlee Swain eds., The Encyclopedia of Melbourne, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne 2005, which is available online here, ‘Early Canterbury‘ by Gwen McWilliam, Camberwell City Libraries 1994.

Readers interested in the environmental and architectural history of Canterbury should consult the local heritage studies listed on the City of Boroondara website. Among these two are especially valuable: the 1991 Environmental History by Chris McConville and Associates, and the more recent Gap Study by Context.

Places of state heritage significance are listed on the Victorian Heritage Register and places of Aboriginal heritage significance at the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Register.

An essential point of reference for the history of Canterbury and the wider region is the City of Boroondara Library’s Local History Collection. For a useful listing of resources in the library’s collection click on the link above.

Here you will find microfilm copies of the two most important local newspapers covering events in Canterbury, The Boroondara Standard 1882-1897 and the Camberwell and Hawthorn Advertiser 1888-1920 and of the City of Camberwell Ratebooks. (Originals of the ratebooks are kept in the Public Record Office of Victoria in North Melbourne). References to Canterbury events and people may also be found in the vast digital collection of Melbourne dailies and weeklies searchable and accessible through the National Library’s Trove database.

The Boroondara Local History Collection also holds many original photographs, digital copies of which can be viewed online here.

The State Library of Victoria also holds a large collection of pictorial material, such as real estate advertisements, maps and photographs on Canterbury. Click on the link above and search the catalogue by period or type of material.

Two valuable sources for locating individuals in Canterbury are the Sands and McDougall Melbourne Directories which list householders from the mid-nineteenth century to 1977; selected years are available online here and the Commonwealth Electoral Rolls which list those entitled to vote at Commonwealth elections by full name, address and occupation: you can consult them through the Ancestry Library, available to subscribers or for free through the State Library or the City of Boroondara Library.