History of Melbourne

On 3 October 2009, Friends of La Trobe’s Cottage re-enacted La Trobe’s arrival at Port Phillip. Charles Joseph La Trobe took over from Captain Lonsdale and assumed the position of Superintendent until 1851 and then Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria Read more..

Taking place in November 2006, a number of exhibitions and events combined to celebrate 50 magic years in Melbourne since the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. The weekend (18th & 19th) featured events at the MCG including a re-enactment of t Read more..

An Australian Heritage list of over 20,000 places, buildings and objects of natural, indigenous and historic significance. This list contains listings from world, national and commonwealth heritage lists. Whether you looking for information f Read more..

Australian Heritage magazine celebrates the birthright of all Australians - the stories, the people and the places that we, as Australians, have inherited and pass on to future generations. Written by leading historians and authors, each issue of Read more..

Since the infamous Batman Treaty (Douta Galla Treaty) was signed on 6th June 1835, the exact circumstances of the foundation of Melbourne, and the question of who should take credit, have long been matters of dispute. Even the location of the sign Read more..

Batmania is a fun way to explore the people and events surrounding the foundation of Melbourne. Do the historical documents portray the true story? What were the motives of the main players? What was John Batman really like? Fact or fiction - you Read more..

At the State Library of Victoria, this rare and historical cyclorama oil painting shows a 360 degree view of Melbourne in the 1840s. Measuring 100 feet, this panorama is one of the earliest known views of Melbourne. It depicts the people, buildin Read more..

It seems that Batman expected his diary would be forwarded to London as part of the submission to the British Government. It was vital then, that his diary be consistent with the pro forma wording already on the treaty documents, and the reports, an Read more..

The Darebin Historical Encyclopedia is a fabulous resource including an A To Z Index of topics, Local History Talks, Oral History Transcripts, Northcote WW1 Database and Darebin web links. It also includes access to digital copies of the Northcote Read more..

"Put it away Mr Clarke, or we shall all have our throats cut". - Sir George Phillips, 1844 after Reverend WB Clarke presented his gold discovery. Discovery of Gold > Early gold discoveries Gold in Australia before 1851 was a dangerous commodit Read more..

Batman's Hill Marker When John Batman first settled the Port Phillip district in 1835, a small hill known as Pleasant Hill was a key feature of the landscape. Elevated land was very desirable in the then swampy river flats along the Yarra River, a Read More..

The emblems of Victoria include... Floral emblem: Pink Heath Animal emblem: Leadbeater's Possum Bird emblem: Helmeted Honey-eater Marine Faunal Emblem: Weedy Seadragon Sadly, the Leadbeater's Possum and Helmeted Honey-eater are considered to Read more..

The Encyclopedia is an A to Z reference work covering the city's history from pre-European settlement up to the present day. Alphabetical entries range from short factual summaries about places, institutions and events, through to extended survey Read more..

Melbourne was meticulously planned. It began as a barely legal, speculative settlement that broke away from New South Wales, and was fortunate to be blessed with farsighted founders who envisioned a great 19th century city with an abundance of parks Read more..

Edmund Finn arrived in Melbourne in 1841 and began writing colourful descriptions of life in early Melbourne under the pseudonym of Garryowen. :: Johnny Fawkner :: Burial Hill :: Eerie cavortings at the Old Melbourne Cemetery See links below Read more..

The Glenrowan1880 site is an educational resource for those who wish to learn the truth about the siege at Glenrowan in June of 1880. Find original newspaper text, archives, police documentation and read eyewitness accounts and much more. Read more..

Melbourne's high points of colour and activity from 1904 until after World War 2 were the annual Henley-on-Yarra regattas. They were held each year during spring, between the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups. Melburnians flocked to the Yarra for one d Read more..

History in Australia and in particular Victoria, is well recorded and maintained. Listed below are but some of the Government maintained records and sources for historical information. Public Record Office of Victoria National Archives of Austra Read More..

Melbourne and Victorian Historical Societies include: HISTORICAL SOCIETIES Box Hill Historical Society Suite 7, Town Hall Hub, 27 Banks Street, Box Hill (Rear of Box Hill Town Hall) Postal Address: PO Box 268, Box Hill, Victoria, Australia Read more..

A wonderful video history tour of marvellous Melbourne from her founding by John Batman through to the Olympic Games in 1956 and beyond. Marvellous Melbourne History video by Shane Northey. Read more..

Melbourne is the capital of Victoria, and home to close to 4 million people. Many of the citizens of Melbourne live in the suburbs that east and south of the Yarra River, sprawled around Port Phillip Bay and extending as far east as Mount Dandenong. Read more..

Richmond, 3 km. east of Melbourne, has been a residential, industrial and residential, and latterly a more residential, suburb. Its western boundary, Punt Road, adjoins Melbourne city and its eastern boundary is the Yarra River, across from leafy Haw Read more..

After 100 hard days at sea, reaching dry land at Melbourne was hardly the paradise many had been waiting for. "The migrants who had travelled so eagerly to the other side of the world were rarely prepared for the frontier society they found at th Read more..

The area around Port Phillip was the home of the Kulin nation, an alliance of several language groups of Indigenous Australians, whose ancestors had lived in the area for approximately 30,000 years. The Kulin lived by fishing, hunting and gatheri Read more..

Melbourne will celebrate Labour Day with a public holiday on Monday March 14th, 2011. Victorian Labour Day is on the second Monday in March every year. The celebration of Labour Day has its origins in the eight hour day movement, which advocate Read more..

One of the State Library of Victoria collection treasures is the Lazarus Diary, which contains one of the few eyewitness accounts of the Eureka uprising in December 1854. Measuring 12cm x 18.5cm, the diary is a vellum-bound octavo stock notebook Read more..

The Lilydale & District Historical Society was formed in 1971 to help plan and mount suitable displays for the Shire of Lillydale’s Centenary in February 1972. After the celebrations, society members tried to return objects loaned for display but the Read more..

In the summer of 1987-88, almost an entire block at the northern end of Melbourne's Central Business District was excavated by a team of historical archaeologists, before being redeveloped for tall office buildings. About 17,000 items were collected Read more..

By world standards, Melbourne is a young city. But it has layers of history. Here you can discover some of them. Bluestone and concrete, paint and neon, Victorian-ornate and sheet-glass — all cram into the cross-hatched canyons that are Melbourne's s Read More..

Melbourne (pronounced /melbn/) is the second most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 3.74 million (2006 estimate).[1] Located around Port Phillip Bay in the country's south-east, Melbourne is the state ca Read more..

A Melbourne archive that features the work of one of the first artists in the world to work with laser, sound and image production, Joseph Stanislaus Ostoja-Kotkowski, has been included in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register – a program governed Read more..

Until the 1880s ships coming into Melbourne anchored in Hobson's Bay and unloaded their cargo onto lighters which then made their way up the Yarra River to wharves such as the famous Queen's Wharf. Alternately the cargo was unloaded at Williamstown o Read more..

The iPhone app that tells the story of a great Victorian-era city: MELBOURNE HISTORICAL What Melbourne alleyway is named after a group of hard rockers? Where can you find a corroboree tree that's older than the entire city it's standing in? And Read more..

A pictorial perspective look at Melbourne, Now and Then. Featuring Melbourne landmarks in 2007 compared to how they looked in c1870 including: :: Flinders Street Station :: Yarra River (west) :: Flinders Lane :: Elizebeth Street :: Chinatow Read more..

In 1934, as Melbourne planned to celebrate the centenary of European settlement, it seemed to some that there was little to celebrate. The financial strains of the depression, unemployment and the scandal of the city's slums all undercut claims of un Read More..

Edward "Ned" Kelly was born near Melbourne in January 1855 and hanged at the Melbourne gaol on 11 November 1880. Ned Kelly and his gang are Australia's most famous bushrangers, pursued by police for robbery and murder, his capture was finally mad Read more..

The other MELBOURNE... The earliest permanent settlers of Melbourne were three black men: Peter Wright , Balaam Allen and Wright Brothers. They came to the Crane Creek area about 1870-1872. The first white families - the Clohecys and the Bradl Read More..

Where did the name Melbourne come from? John Delaney from Derbyshire, England explains the link between Victoria’s great city and a small town in the English Midlands. In 1837 a small settlement on the banks of the Yarra River in Australia nee Read more..

The giant hearted chestnut thoroughbred gelding racehorse Phar Lap is a much loved Australian, and New Zealand, national icon. He triumphed during the Great Depression of the early 1930s, when a hero was most needed by the people of Australia. Read more..

Victorian History Library - The PMI Library has been specialising in the history of Victoria for 25 years, and is the only collection of its kind in Australia which is available for loan. We have over 10,000 items for loan including many items ab Read more..

Organisation working at preserving the memories of early settlement in Victoria. Site features information about the organisation, programme of activities and events, research material, and links. The Royal Historical Society of Victoria was forme Read more..

Before 1835 The first people to live around the area which is now Melbourne were the Aboriginal people. There were five different groups which belonged to the Kulin Nation. They were hunter-gatherers. ------------------------------------------- Read more..

The events that shaped the city of Melbourne by year. 1835 - On 20 August* the Enterprize charted by John Pascoe Fawkner and captained by John Lancey entered the Yarra River. After being hauled upstream, she moored at the foot of the present day W Read more..

Melbourne has been called many names but one it didn't like was SMELLmellbourne. In the 1800's the majority of sewage and waste from houses was emptied into open drains that flowed into street channels. This waste mixed with waste from stables an Read more..

A history of Italian restaurants in Melbourne commencing with Cafe d'Italia (later The Latin), The Society, Florentino's, Molinas and Marios, and how they became known as the spaghetti mafia. The Italian Restaurant families The way we eat in Aust Read more..

The debate over who actually named Melbourne's streets, and to whom those names indeed refer, is less important than their evolving role as socio-cultural signifiers. It was Richard Bourke not Sir Richard Bourke who named most Melbourne CBD street Read more..

The study of history has been part of the curriculum of the University of Melbourne since it began teaching in 1854. Under Sir Ernest Scott, Professor of History from 1914 to 1936, the Department pioneered teaching and research in Australian histo Read More..

The site of the Eureka Stockade lies in the eastern suburban area of Ballarat, now a major provincial city. The stockade affair is commemorated by a park reserve located some 2.5 km east of the centre of the city, on the north side of Eureka St. The Read more..

For much of this century the term Victorian, which literally describes things and events in the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901), conveyed connotations of "prudish," "repressed," and "old fashioned." Although such associations have some basis Read more..

The Victorian Heritage Register and the Victorian Heritage Inventory is available on-line in a fully searchable database. The Register is a comprehensive listing of Victoria's most significant places, objects and historic shipwrecks. The Heritage Read more..

These name and location details are extracted from the forthcoming 4th edition of "Into History - The Australian Historical Directory" , which is currently under preparation and which will provide full name, function and contact details for these and Read more..

For an excellent virtual historical tour of the history of Melbourne you cannot go past the Royal Historical Society of Victoria - Why Melbourne? Why Melbourne?: From Dreamtime to the capital of Victoria Just one of the societies Local History Read more..

The Yarra has played a pivotal role in the pre-European history and the modern development of Melbourne. To the original Wurundjeri people, the river was "birrarung" - 'river of mists and shadows'. They camped on both banks of the river, especiall Read more..