Not much interest had been placed by the New South Wales government in the area, which today is known as Victoria. They were more preoccupied with developing the immediate area around their city, before engaging in detailed explorations of areas which were further afield. However, at least 200 squatters had entered the region that was to become Victoria, and in 1836 Governor Bourke, realising the inevitability of development of the areas around Port Phillip Bay, declared the district open for development.

John Batman acquired land around the Port Phillip Bay area in 1835, desiring to use it as pastureland. He also set aside a portion of the land for a township. Governor Bourke was not happy with Batman's actions, although in March 1837, he visited the township, and agreeing that the site chosen near the falls of the Yarra River was the best site for settlement, he named the town Melbourne after the British Prime Minister. Names originally considered for the town were Bearbrass and Port Phillip.

Bourke also named the port at the mouth of the river William's Town after King William IV. He arranged for the land to be surveyed and the first land sale to be held officially on June 1. This allowed those currently trespassing on Crown Land to become the legal owners of their township lots.

Bourke made Melbourne an administrative centre; the government played a huge role in the growth of the city, and following the proclamation of Melbourne as a legal port, the town became an important commodity market as well as a port for immigrants.

Merchants, bankers, builders, stock and land agents flooded in to buy land, seeking to gain entry into the new trading centre. Bond storage sheds, wharves and docks flourished, and in 1838 four banks had opened for business. Bewteen 1838 and 1840, the population more than quadrupled. By 1861, the population of the expanding city had reached 125,000.

As settlement flourished, governing the area south of Sydney became increasingly arduous. In 1838 Sydney based Governor Gipps reported to London of the difficulties of governing the Port Phillip Bay district.

By the 1840s, public buildings had begun to assume an air of permanence, and true suburban development had accelerated the town's evolvement. In the 1840s demonstrations were held on Melbourne's streets in favour of separating from New South Wales, and in 1851, when most of the excellent pastoral land between the Murray River and Bass Strait had been occupied, Victoria gained freedom from Sydney.

The discovery of gold in Victoria led to at least one third of Melbourne's adult population making its way to the diggings. Within fifty years of its foundation Melbourne was a boom town, a glittering metropolis in the south.

The discovery of gold had allowed the city to take a great leap forward; rapid economic expansion had created the opportunity and funds for the development of magnificent buildings. As the city limits exploded, and new housing areas were commissioned and sold to new and eager buyers, the city became fixed with an air of optimism and expansion. Shops, hotels, churches and schools were built, and medical and other professional men built grand residences that accommodated consulting rooms. Melbourne quickly developed into a strong commercial base and a capital was born.

The International Exhibition of 1880 (for which many of Melbourne's grand buildings - including the magnificent Exhibition Buildings - were erected) set the seal on the colony's place in the sun. Melbourne had emerged as the dominating force in Victoria, and as the boom took hold the city was bestowed with the title 'Marvellous Melbourne'. Today the title still echoes with a resounding element of truth. Indeed, prior to the establishment of Canberra in 1927, the city of Melbourne was the national capital, which reflects very well on the its advancement in the nineteenth century.

Melbourne is applauded internationally for its wonderful shopping and its many and varied restaurants. But Melbourne has an abundance of other attractions to be discovered, some of which are detailed in the following links.

Historical
Galleries and Museums
Other

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