I thought that Beaconsfield was named because of beacons, either those lit to celebrate the separation of Victoria (Port Phillip District)from the colony of New South Wales in 1850, or those lit by John Gardiner's stockmen during the previous decade when ships had strayed into Westernport instead of Port Phillip. The fires had nothing to do with the name of Beaconsfield. It was so-named soon after the death of Benjamin Disraeli, Lord, or Earl Beaconsfield in 1851.

The area near the Cardinia Creek was considered at the time to be entrance to Gippland, thus the hotel built by the lessee of five square miles there in early days was named the Gippland Hotel. The article about Beaconsfield pioneers in 1950 stated that Cardinia was a corruption of Karr-din-yarrh (looking to the rising sun).

Amazingly, Alexander Thompson, one of the earliest settlers to use Mt Macedon Rd (Mt Alexander Rd)and Braybrook Rd (Buckley St) heading west from the future Essendon to Solomons Ford (not on the west end of Canning St but south of Rhonda St, in today's Avondale Heights) used the same name* for his homestead at Geelong, accidentally published in the 1840's starting with C but correctly starting with K re Kardinia Ward (of the Geelong Council) in the same decade.
* " Kardinia is an indigenous word meaning sunrise." WHAT'S IN A NAME


The first Australians living on the Mornington Peninsula were the Boon-wurrung. Their territory included land east to Bunyeep (Bunyip) and Port Phillip Bay (Nerm, a dry plain through which the Yarra and Werribee river flowed, combining to feed a lake, the stream continuing into the dry Bass Strait where it joined the Tamar River. When Nerm flooded about 6000 years ago, they retained the northern coast line (south of the Yarra) and the western coastline as far south as the Werribee River. Thus they were the neighbours of the Wurundjeri (north of the Yarra) and the mobs in Gippsland and near Geelong. Whether the Boon-wurrung or the Gippland mob named Cardinia near Beaconfield or not, the Peninsula mob was almost certainly responsible for two places so far apart sharing the same name with the same meaning. There is no evidence that Dr Alexander Thompson had been in contact with the Boonwurung or the fierce Gippsland Tribe. He settled in Melbourne in 1836 near the present St Paul's Cathedral and was appointed as medical officer for the settlement but soon afterwards set off to Kardinia.

The origins of the names of many places near Geelong are given in Jo Mitchell's excellent WHAT'S IN A NAME. (See link above.) Surnames of people after whom places have been named are in the surnames list.

EMAIL TO GEELONG HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Hi, I'm a local historian living in Rosebud and in the course of reviewing a book about golf clubs affiliated with the Peninsula District Golf Association, now Peninsula Golf Vic, discovered the origin of the name of Cardinia, near Beaconsfield. By chance, I came across an early reference to early Geelong pioneer, Dr Alexander Thompson with his property wrongly written in the same way, rather than starting with a K.

In researching Kardinia I found a blog about the origins of street and place names in the Geelong area which revealed that Cardinia and Kardinia had basically the same origin despite the First Australians who coined the descriptive names being separated by a vast body of water for some 6000 years.

I provided the surnames of people after whom places etc. had been named and a link to the blog in my itellya journal:
https://www.familytreecircles.com/was-a-place-in-or-near-geelong-vic-aust-named-after-one-of-your-ancestors-also-aboriginal-vocabulary-70803.html


A few hours later, I felt some readers might be disappointed as there were only 10 surnames of much use to family historians, really only 9 because most people would know all about John Landy.

Feeling compelled to provide a little more information in my journal, I decided to see if there was something interesting about the origin of Highton. There was. It was named because of early settler, John Highett, who'd probably come from Tasmania because that was where he married in 1946, after having spent several years living at Highton House, Barabool Hills.

The Mornington Peninsula Shire has recently started a project to provide origins of street and place names and I thought there might be a similar effort made for the Geelong area. There was, on the Geelong and District Database* but I had no luck in using the fields. Is there an actual link to the index?
*http://www.zades.com.au/gandd/index.php/databases/potpourri/ppindexes/499-ppgdstreets

A LITTLE EXTRA.
FROM THE WIKIPEDIA ENTRY FOR HIGHTON.
History
Grazier John Highett set up a farm and finished building his house on a hill overlooking the Barwon River in 1837. Later his property became the Montpellier vineyard, hotel and picnic ground. Highton was named after an abbreviation of his name.

MARRIED,
On Tuesday, the 1st September, at St. John's Church, New Town, Van Diemen's Land, by the Rev. Mr Foster, John Highett, Esq., of Geelong, Port Phillip, to Sarah, fourth daughter of Thomas Moore, Esq., of Preston Bagytt, Warwickshire. (Geelong Advertiser and Squatters' Advocate (Vic. : 1845 - 1847) Wednesday 23 September 1846 p 3)

HIGHETT.— On the 16th January, at his residence, Queenscliff, John Highett, Esq., of Highton House, Barrabool Hills, aged fifty-eight years. (P.2, The Herald, 21-1-1867.)

HIGHETT—RYAN.—On the 29th March, at the residence of S. C. Craig, Esq.,Corack Station, by the Rev. H. Swan, Joseph, second son* of the late John Highett, Esq., of Barrabool-hills, Geelong, and nephew of the late Hon. William Highett* , M.L.C., to Emma J., eldest daughter of the late Captain John Ryan, of Liverpool.
(The Australasian Sketcher with Pen and Pencil (Melbourne, Vic. : 1873 - 1889) Saturday 23 April 1881 p 130)

*At a guess, the eldest son of John and Sarah Highett, would have been John Moore Highett.
FACT CHECK, AS THEY SAY IN Q and A:
Highett—Payne—On the 30th ult., at Christ Church, South Yarra, by the Rev. H.Tucker, assisted by the Rev. C, T. Perks,John M. Highett, eldest son of the late John Highett, of Highton, Geelong, to Annie Josephine, eldest daughter of Captain Chas.Payne, R.N., of Osmington, South Yarra. (P.2, Geelong Advertiser, 10-10-1882.)
John Moore Highett became a member of parliament like his uncle William.

William Highett came to Victoria to manage the Union Bank and is known to have been the grantee of 65 acres in Melbourne's north west (my first research area), being crown allotment 20 of section 2, parish of Doutta Galla, on the east corner of today's Kensington and Dynon Rds, extending north to Macaulay Rd. That was probably just one of many investments in land. The Melbourne suburb of Highett was named after him.

From the Wikipedia page for Highett, Victoria.
History
The name comes from William Highett, a parliamentarian and local land owner in the 1850s.

Australian Dictionary of Biography page for William Highett.

Highett, William (1807–1880)

by J. Ann Hone

This article was published in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 4, (MUP), 1972

This is a shared entry with John Highett

William Highett (1807-1880), businessman and politician, and John Highett (1810-1867), pastoralist, were born at Weymouth, Dorset, England, sons of Joseph Highett and his wife Elizabeth, née Harding. In February 1830 the brothers arrived at Hobart Town in the Elizabeth. Though bound for Sydney, they stayed in Van Diemen's Land and applied for land. With highly respectable testimonials and a combined capital of £507, they were granted 500 acres (202 ha) which they located at George Town. Later they acquired much land at Launceston and Campbell Town. John managed these properties while William became accountant of the new branch of the Van Diemen's Land Bank at Launceston in May 1832. When it closed he joined the Tamar Banking Co. as cashier in January 1835. By 1859 the brothers had sold all their Tasmanian land.

In partnership with his cousin, William Harding, John took up Mount Hesse station in the Port Phillip District in 1837. In 1842-46 his partner was William Haines. John later bought much suburban land at Geelong. On a commanding site above the River Barwon he built a large residence, Highton House. He was a successful farmer and flour-miller and well known as a horseman and breeder. He died at Queenscliff on 16 January 1867, survived by his wife Sarah, née Moore, whom he had married in Tasmania on 1 September 1846, and by five sons and one daughter.

In 1838 William became first Melbourne manager of the Union Bank of Australia and in 1840 a local director with the title of managing director. He resigned in 1842 to visit Europe but on his return in 1845 was reinstated as a local director. He was a founder and director of the Bank of Victoria, the Melbourne Banking Corporation Ltd and the Victoria Fire and Marine Insurance Co. and had many shares in the Hobson's Bay Railway Co. He also helped to found the Melbourne Mechanics' Institute. An early member and trustee of the Melbourne Club, he shared in negotiations for its new site although his role was difficult because the Bank of Victoria wanted to buy the old property.

Highett was active in the separation movement and in 1853 was a government nominee in the Legislative Council. In 1856 he failed to win a seat in the new council but was elected for the Eastern Province in May 1857. He supported state aid, National schools, railway extension and the opening of crown land with moderate compensation for the squatters. A conservative and industrious councillor, he retired in 1880. In 1847-66 he held a squatting lease, Maindample. He was also an early landowner in Moorabbin Shire, part of which was named for him, and by the late 1870s had 6117 acres (2475 ha), valued at £15,292, in addition to land in Richmond and other suburban areas. For years he was a trustee of St Stephen's Anglican Church, Richmond. In his last years he suffered from gout but continued to play whist on Saturday evenings at his club. He died on 29 November 1880, unmarried and intestate.