No better way to get some insight into a city than going on a walking tour with a local. Liam, our guide, did a great job sharing some of Melbourne’s history and little anecdotes.
here are a few little snippets of what we picked up …
Melbourne was founded in 1835 by John Batman which led to the settlement briefly be known as Batmania, at this time an administrative district of New South Wales. In 1837 the settlement was renamed to Melbourne after the British Prime Minister at the time. Melbourne was declared a city in 1847 by Queen Victoria. After a few begging letters to the Queen, Melbourne got approval to split from New South Wales to become the new colony of Victoria.
The discovery of gold in mid-1851 in Victoria sparked a gold rush and Melbourne, as the colony’s major port, experienced rapid growth. The wealth brought in sparked the building of grand buildings such as the Royal Exhibition Building, the Princess theatre.
The Eureka Rebellion in 1854 resulted in major political changes to the colony, including improvements in working conditions such as 8 hour movement: 8 Hours Work, 8 Hours Recreation, 8 Hours Rest – introduced in 1856. Most notable since 1860 a Long Service Act allows public servants, after 10 years’ service, to sail “home” to England or elsewhere – 3 months leave on full pay. This is still in place and has been extended beyond the public service sector in the 1950’s. How good is that?
Melbourne is a multi cultural city with people coming from all over the world. The population is growing rapidly with lots of apartment blocks being built for housing. On the way in from the airport I casually counted 30 cranes working on one or other skyscraper building sites.
The Travels of Birgit 