Hatfield was named after the ancestral home of the Marquess of Salisbury. It was first settled on by Robert Snodgrass and David Mitchell, two transport riders who made a fortune selling whisky to newly arrived settlers in 1891. The partnership broke up shortly after another property, a subdivision of the farm, near today's Willowvale, which was given the name of Ardbennie, had been acquired.[1]
William Edward Webb was granted title the nearby area of Prospect in 1894, which later became a residential subdivision, although little is known of his activities. Hatfield takes its name from Hatfield, Hertfordshire.[2]
