The first known reference to the district comes in the Christchurch Inclosure Award of 1805, in which a 'Charminster Lane' is cited, along with two plots of land called 'Charminster' in the possession of Matthew Aldridge, the owner of Muscliff Farm.

A. D. Mills suggests it was a straightforward appropriation of Charminster near Dorchester, which was recorded as a toponym from the Domesday Survey onwards, and which translates as 'church on the River Cerne';[4] why it should have been applied to this part of Bournemouth, however, remains unclear.

These plans were suspended in 1866, however, when the Tories returned to power, Malmesbury taking up the position of Lord Privy Seal in the 14th Earl of Derby's third administration.

[5] Consequently, the 1870 Ordnance Survey map shows little more than tumuli and brickfields at Charminster, while the suburb of Springbourne was developing independently to the south.

[13] Another school, a secondary modern, was added on the south side of East Way in the post-war period to meet the needs of the expanding populace.