Horse races, a farm for orphans and a business park: The history of Tally Ho
Whitehorse Council is set to approve a plan for Tally Ho’s development over the next 15 years. But how did Tally Ho come to be?
Matthew Sims
October 27, 2025
Looking through Google Maps for my next story recently, I came across a name I hadn’t heard of before: Tally Ho.
It didn’t look like a suburb, but then what was it?
And how did it get the name Tally Ho?
🐕🦺What does “tally-ho” mean? The term “tally-ho” dates back to the mid-to-late 1700s, when hunters used it to tell the other hunters that their prey has been caught - based on the French “taille haut” or “swords up!”.
🛒🍺A store and a pub: Located on Highbury Road, which divided the former parishes of Nunawading and Mulgrave, Tally Ho began its development when a general store was built at the corner of Blackburn Road and Highbury Road in the 1860s.
However, the name of Tally Ho first appeared in connection to the area in 1877 when the local hotel named itself the Tally Ho Hotel.
💵An expensive prank: A search through the archives brought up a number of newspaper articles referencing the Tally Ho Hotel over the years.
However, the most unusual was on June 17, when a constable entered the bar and found the owner, a James Watson, crouching behind the counter.
The Age reported that when the constable asked Watson what he was doing, he said he was “hiding from his wife” in the hopes of jumping out and scaring her.
Watson received a fine of five pounds for not having all doors leading to the bar locked outside of trading hours.
🏇Ponies get moving: A race track was built near the hotel in 1898, with the 1899 Easter Monday attracting about 2000 people to spectate foot and horse racing as well as buckjumping events.
🧑🌾A farming operation: The name of Tally Ho was also connected to a boys’ training farm, launched in 1903 by the Central Methodist Mission.
The facilities acted as a farming operation overseen by staff members of the Central Methodist Mission and Wesley Central Mission, with governing councils then formed by the orphan children or wards of the state as young as six who had been in the criminal court system or suffered from parental neglect.
A dark side: A number of alleged instances of abuse have been reported over the years in relation to the farm, including an incident where the farm manager hit a boy in 1935 and years of alleged abuse.
The facility moved from being a training farm to focus on offering compassionate psychological support before eventually closing in 1986.
What is Tally Ho these days? Now located around the intersection of Burwood Highway and Springvale Road, the State Government has designated Tally Ho as an “Activity Centre”, with an office park and technology hub providing about 3,750 jobs.
Future dreams: In late 2023, Whitehorse Council started work to prepare a Structure Plan for the Tally Ho Activity Centre, which would outline the land use and development plans for Tally Ho over the next 15 years to 2041.
The council released the draft plan for public consultation from March 11 to April 8.
Aye or nay: Councillors will vote on whether or not to approve the final plan during next Monday’s council meeting.
If the Structure Plan is adopted by the council, future funds would be required, with about $60,000 set to be included in the 2025/26 budget.
Credit: Waverley Historical Society
