Botany – a marine suburb?

Given that Port Botany and Foreshore Drive have now claimed all of Botany’s beaches, talk of a marine suburb may seem strange. The idea however still lives on through some of Botany’s street names. Several streets in the area are named after well-known seaside towns in Britain. Folkestone Parade in Botany is one example. 

These streets are all part of the Sandgate Estate, a residential subdivision that occurred in the 1880s. All of the estate's streets are named after British places, with about a 1/3 named after towns by the sea.

Did these developers really think Botany could become as popular Folkestone? Given the number of people who used to visit the Sir Joseph Banks Hotel in the 18th century perhaps these ideas are not as strange as they sound today in 2013
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We will never know why the developers of the Sandgate Estate chose the names they did, but looking at these old postcards its interesting to imagine.

If you happen to live on any of the streets inspired by the towns illustrated here, let us know what you think.