History of Melbourne

• see also:
  • History of Australia
  • History of Sunshine
  • Bushfires

Early history:

• David Collins (1756-1810) immortalised by the naming of Collins St, sailed into Port Phillip Bay with 300 convicts in 1803 and tried unsuccessfully to establish a settlement at Sorrento (from where the famous convict Buckley escaped and managed to live with the local Aborigines for some 30 odd years until the British returned).
• the settlement on the site of Melbourne was founded in 1835 after John Batman proclaimed "This is the site for a village" as he sailed past on the Yarra River. Batman traded commodities with the Wurundjeri tribe in return for 600,000 acres of land. NSW Governor Richard Bourke later declared this deal illegal, claimed it for the Crown and named it after British Prime Minister William Lamb, Lord Melbourne instead of its previous name Bearbrass village.
• John Pascoe Fawkner (1792-1869), a teetotaller, publican settles in Bearbrass village, building the 1st house - a hut near the Rialto. He is remembered by Fawkner Cemetery (where Batman is buried in the pioneers section), the suburb Pascoe Vale and Enterprize Park along the Yarra named after his vessel in which he sailed from Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania).
• Major Mitchell travels south to Melbourne in 1836
• in March 1837, the Sydney government sent Robert Hoddle, the surveyor, to stake out an eruption of civilisation by a bunch of speculative types from Van Dieman's Land who had occupied the site of Melbourne for 18 months.
  • the government's main concern was to raise revenue from the sale of the land and wanted thus to maximise the amount of land to sell (the proceeds of which went to Sydney) and in addition, forbade central public squares on the grounds that they encouraged "the spirit of democracy".
  • the grid was to follow a strict north-south grid plan in the Sydney office which was a generic design for colonial townships set out in government regulations in 1829.
  • Hoddle had already used this grid to plan Liverpool, Campbelltown, Goulburn and others, but in Melbourne, he recognised that it promised to become a great city and thus he rotated the north-south grid a few degrees to accommodate the Yarra River and pegged out the streets to be 99' (30m) wide rather than the standard 66' (20m). Gov. Bourke first objected to the wide streets but agreed on condition that they be interleaved with lanes - the "Little" streets, which became the bane of bullockies & Beemer drivers from that day to this.
    • Hoddle:
      • had surveyed the Moreton Bay area - the future site of Brisbane - with John Oxley
      • under the direction of Major Thomas Mitchell, he surveyed vast areas of virtually inpenetrable country for the landmark 1834 map of the colony.
      • after taking part in the 1st auction of Melbourne land in 1837, he settled in Melbourne.
• in 1838, a punt service was established across the Yarra River, followed shortly after by a ferry service.
• 1845, a crude timber toll bridge was built downstream of present Princes Bridge.
• 1850, the first permanent bridge over the Yarra was built and was the longest stone arch ever built in Australia at 45.7m.

The founding of Victoria & the gold rush:

• 1850: Lorne (Louttit Bay) in the Otways is used as a port for timber and its 1st settler developed a cattle run in 1853.
• 1851, colony of Victoria founded, with Charles La Trobe of Latrobe St fame (1801-1875) appointed as 1st governor, coinciding with the gold rush which resulted in 313,000 new settlers immigrating to Victoria, rapidly outstripping NSW in population & development. In 1852 alone, 86,000 British migrated seeking their fortune.
• 1853, James Blackburn (1803-1854) commences construction of Melbourne's 1st controlled water supply - the Yan Yean Reservoir, but soon after died of typhoid. Fresh tap water became available in 1857.
• 1853, Joseph Reed (1828-1890), architect, wins competition to design Melbourne's Public Library and later teams with Frederick Barnes (1824-1884) to create a number of leading  buildings in the boom era including Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne Town Hall, Trades Hall, Rippon Lea and St Michael's Church.
• 1854, the Eureka Stockade in Ballarat; The Age newspaper is founded and was soon taken over by David Syme (1827-1908).
• 1854, Melbourne's first railway bridge was built for Hobsons Bay Railway - a timber trestle bridge just below Yarra Falls, and soon a government built iron railway bridge with a record clear span of 61m was built across the Maribyrnong River for access to Williamstown.
• 1856, a wrought iron bridge built at Church St
• 1857, Ferdinand Von Mueller (1825-1896) becomes Victoria's 1st government botanist and curator for the Royal Botanic Gardens. 16 years later he was replaced by English landscape gardener William Guilfoyle(1840-1912) to changed it from an educational facility to a recreational one much to Von Mueller's displeasure.
• 1861, iron lattice-girder road bridge built across the Yarra at eastern end of Bridge Rd which is Australia's oldest surviving metal truss bridge, although it has been modified twice since.
• 1876: William Wardell (1823-1899) architect, builds St Patrick's Cathedral, one of the biggest Gothic Revival churches in the world, and Government House.

The depression years of the late 19th century:

• 1880, white population reaches 2.2m; Ned Kelly hanged for murder of Mounted Constable Thomas Lonigan;
• 1881, George Adams (1839-1904), the founder of Tattersalls, initiates Australia's 1st public sweepstake on Easter Monday in Sydney.
• 1883, Edward W. Cole (1832-1918) founds his book arcade in Bourke St which stayed in business until 1929.
• 1880's, falling export prices, over-borrowing for expansion, bank failures, & general depression leads to strikes & class bitterness which encourages labour parties into politics.
• Melbourne's elite develop coastal resort towns of Sorrento, Queenscliff, Torquay and Lorne as well as a multitude of bay-side sea baths and bathing boxes for health and status purposes.
• 1887: Dame Nellie Melba debuts in her opera career in Brussels.
• 1888, Lennox's stone bridge over the Yarra was replaced with an ornate three-span iron arch bridge which was much photographed with the city skyline behind it. Sandridge Rail Bridge built.
• 1889, Queens Bridge built
• 1890, a steel lattice-truss bridge at Fairfield was completed for the Outer Circle Railway
• 1891: H.V. McKay's combined grain harvester revolutionised the farming process and helped make Australia a significant grain exporter. Initially manufactured in his Braybrook factory, peaking in 1910, he then went on to found a new factory, technical school, railway station & football oval and essentially, a new suburb called Sunshine - see   History of Sunshine.
• 1893, iron swing bridge across the Maribyrnong built at Napier St to provide the first direct road access to the western suburbs, without closing the river to navigation.
• recession contributes to slowing down of immigration. Many Chinese immigrants begin to return to China (some 100,000 arrived between 1840-90) as the gold rush ended & they became isolated with Victoria introducing a poll tax on new arrivals & creating protectorates.
• NSW once again gains ascendancy over Victoria & the new colony of Queensland. 
• the Heidelberg School of Australian impressionist painters - see Ian Potter Gallery.
• 1899, the Morell Bridge opposite the Botanic Gardens was built  using the patent Monier Reinforced Concrete process. It is generally regarded as Victoria's first major reinforced concrete structure and was the last significant bridge to be built over the Yarra for 25 years.

The Federation years:

• 1900: Sidney Myer opens his 1st store - in Bendigo.
• 1901: Australia's federation
• 1910: escapologist, Harry Houdini flies 1st plane in Australia at Diggers Rest, north of Melbourne
• 1911: Sidney Myer buys Bourke St drapery and begins a 20 year property consolidation to form the Myer complex in the 1920's & 30's.
• 1907: RACV introduces certificates of competency for car drivers to improve safety
• 1912: increasing use of Melbourne's beaches by the working classes, although still required to wear neck to knee bathing costumes, and only to wear bathing costumes whilst bathing and walking directly to change rooms results in mixed bathing on Melbourne beaches branded "the viper of promiscuous hoodlums" by a Presbyterian minister. Luna Park established in St Kilda to profit from the new beach culture based on fun rather than just health and status. Many Surf Life Saving Clubs became established in 1900-1910.

World War I:

• 1914: 
  • 1st Coles store opened (Collingwood), with nothing costing more than a shilling;
  • "RACV" launches its first insurance scheme & a touring department managed by George Broadbent (of Broadbent maps fame) & in 1915 began a register of hotels for its members to visit whilst savouring the country air. In 1916 the Automobile Club of Victoria became the RACV after its contributions to ferrying soldiers from ships to hospitals.
• 1915:
  • the new cars had to contend with poor roads, horse dung and were advised to limit speed to 20mph.

The 1920's:

• the rise in popularity of cars and buses
• 1921: Keith Murdoch (the father of Rupert Murdoch) begins as editor of The Herald newspaper, and then started The Sun News Pictorial.
• 1922: Fred Walker (1884-1935) enlists help of chemist Cyril Callister to create Vegemite.
• 1923, new Church Street Bridge built in reinforced concrete.
• 1926: Myer's store Lonsdale St facade completed.
• 1929-30: the Railways Construction Branch built the Spencer Street Bridge in steel.

The depression years of the 1930's:

• 1930: Spencer Street Bridge built blocking river traffic upstream and increasing usage of Victoria Dock.
• 1932: Cole's Book Arcade in Collins St demolished to make way for G.J.Coles' store (no relation to E.W.Cole, founder of Cole's Book Arcade)
• 1933, The Country Roads (Borrowing) Act 1933 finally gave the CRB the powers to raise loan funds for metropolitan bridges.
• Melbourne's Myer's Store becomes the largest department store in Australia.
• 1934: a big storm destroys many of Melbourne's bayside sea baths and bathing boxes that had been established in the late 19thC.
• 1934: the Grange Road Bridge built from a donation by confectionary entrepreneur MacPherson Robertson to celebrate Victoria's centenary.
• 1936-38: a composite design of welded steel girders and reinforced concrete deck was used to build Lynch's Bridge over the Maribyrnong while a single-piece concrete superstructure, cast as a single process over 117 hours, was used to build the Hoddle Bridge over the Yarra.
• 1939: after a long drought, on Jan 13th, Black Friday - 71 killed in a devastating bushfire affecting a large area of eastern Victoria and destroying the township of Narbethong - subsequently the Country Fire Authority (CFA) was formed. 

World War II:

• cars were put up on blocks in garages because of lack of fuel
• car headlights had to be almost completely covered in case of enemy attack
• 1944: 32 killed in a severe bushfire season which destroyed 700 homes including 50 in beachside suburbs Beaumaris and Mentone
• 1948: the FX Holden car introduced, followed in the 1950's by the iconic FJ
• 1948-52: the Swan Street Bridge over the Yarra took five years to complete.

The 1950's:

• 1954: after the Country Roads and Level Crossings Act 1954 provided funding for bridges to eliminate dangerous railway crossings, a new type of bridge emerged the concrete ramp overpass - the first was the Clifton Hill Railway Overpass.
• 1956: Myer's Bourke St facade gets a facelift.
• 1956: Melbourne Olympic Games; B&W commercial TV starts; Barry Humphries creates "Edna Everage"; subscriber trunk dialling introduced in Sydney & Melbourne;
• the start of wholesale demolition of many of Melbourne's historic buildings.
• 1957-61: King St Bridge built, although a span collapsed in 1962 due to brittle failure in a cold spell.
• 1959: historic Melbourne Fish Market building on Flinders & Spencers Sts built in 1890, demolished to make way for the Flinders St overpass at King St which was built in 1961. 
• 1959: historic Equitable Life Assurance Building (built 1896) on the cnr of Collins & Elizabeth Streets demolished. A 7 storey building of marble walls & floors with 15 tonne roof blocks. The building's 4m sculpture Charity being kind to the Poor had towered 4 storeys up over Collins St, and now stands on the lawn in the University of Melbourne.

The 1960's:

• 1960: the 113yr old Eastern Market at Exhibition & Bourke St demolished to make way for the 16 storey Southern Cross Hotel which was demolished in ~2000. The Eastern Market flourished in the 1880's having been run by E.W.Cole who went on to found Cole's Book Arcade which spanned the area from Bourke to Collins St where David Jones store now stands.
• 1962: the Southern Cross Hotel opens, ushering Melbourne into a new era of international jet travel. Built, designed & run by American hotel chain, Intercontinental in partnership with local stockbrokers Potter Partners, primarily to cater for Americans travelling down under. With its vivid interior tiling decor, 17 second room service response time, shops and Melbourne's 1st tenpin bowling alley, it became the place to be in the 1960's, famously hosting the Beatles in 1964, but by the 1990's it had become passe and closed in 1995 and demolished in 1997.
• Sept 1965: conscription for Vietnam war starts. 
• 1966:
  • pubs allowed to open till 10pm instead of 6pm in Victoria;
  • decimal currency introduced.
• 1967: PM Harold Holt disappears whilst surfing off Portsea; postcode system for mail introduced;
• 1968: KFC arrives;
• 1969: 23 killed and 230 homes lost in 230 bushfires break out, many on the urban fringe including the Lara fire which killed 18 people who left their cars on the Princes Highway trying to out-run the fire front.
• 1969: natural gas piped to residential homes; 

The 1970's:

• 1970:
  • Westgate Bridge span collapses during construction killing 35 & injuring 19;
  • seatbelts become compulsory in Victoria (other states followed in 1971)
  • McDonald's & Pizza Hut arrive in Australia
• 1971: 72% of Victorian pop. live in Melbourne;
• 1973: Bourke St closed to traffic to become a mall;
• 1978: Westgate Bridge opens after 13yrs construction;

The 1980's:

• 1981: one of the best snow seasons ever in Victoria
• 1982: Melbourne's Art Centre & Concert Hall opens;
• 1983: 
  • after a long drought, a massive dust storm hits Melbourne, then Ash Wednesday bush fires on Feb 16th decimate Victorian rural areas, especially Mt Macedon, Dandenongs, Warburton and Otway regions. 47 killed and 2000 houses lost.
  • 65yr old farmer Cliff Young wins Sydney-Melbourne marathon;
• 1984: 
  • world's 1st frozen embryo baby (Zoe Leyland) born in Melbourne;
  • Melbourne's smog problems revealed: 24 days (cf 18days Sydney) - 4th worst in world behind Tokyo, Mexico City & LA;
• 1986:
  • census shows that of Melbourne suburbs:
    • highest paid live in Brighton; most qualified live in Hawthorn/Kew; most married live in Melton;
    • most divorced live in St Kilda; youngest in Melton; oldest at Flinders;
• 1990: Melbourne loses its bid for 1996 Olympic Games;
• 1991: 
  • controversial Myer bridge over Lonsdale St built.
  • John Cain resigns as Vic. Premier after a series of financial blunders caught up with him - Joan Kirner becomes Australia's 2nd female premier;
• 1992:
  • Melbourne's Swanston St closed to form Swanston Walk, a controversial pedestrian mall;

The Kennett years (1992-99):

• the early 1990's was a period of real estate and economic recession and recovery from the poor fiscal position that the previous Labor state government had left the state in.
• Kennett slashed the public service workforces esp. in health and education and went ahead with industrial reform which together created social unrest and hardship for many, and continued the privatisation of public utilities (electricity supply, Port of Portland, prisons, public transport systems) which had commenced in the 1980's
• He was instrumental in the development of major infrastructure initiatives for better or worse:
  • the Grand Prix to Albert Park as of 1996
  • 500cc motorcycle Grand Prix was held at Phillip Island as of 1997
  • the Crown Casino and Southbank precinct and the introduction of poker machines
  • CityLink tollway and Bolte Bridge
  • Melbourne Exhibition Centre ("Jeff's shed") opened 1996
  • the development of Docklands & Telstra Stadium
  • the development of new art galleries including refurbishment of the State Gallery
  • the new Museum
  • demolished the ugly Gas and Fuel Building on Flinders St and replaced it with Federation Square
  • the amalgamation of health into larger health services
  • wins right to stage the 2006 Commonwealth Games
• 1994: Werribee Mercy Hospital opens;
• 1995: 6th World Police & Fire Games held at MCG - the largest sporting event in Melbourne since 1956 Olympic Games.
• 1998:
  • Victoria's Metcard automated public transport ticketing system begins operation.
  • Victorians without gas in winter for 2wks after explosion at the Esso Longford Gas Plant in Sale, Gippsland.
• 1999: redevelopment of Sunshine Hospital commences

The Bracks years (1999-:

• despite having the enviable prospect of a large State fiscal surplus, little infrastructure has been added, but instead, some of the excessive service and job cuts of the Kennett era have been reversed to improve services on the back of the efficiency levels achieved under Kennett.
• introduced the 30yr plan to restrict further outward growth of residential Melbourne amidst a real estate property boom from 1996-2003
• redeveloped Austin Hospital with a budget blowout to some $350m
• introduced 50kph residential speed limits and 40kph school zone limits
• created driver paranoia by introducing a multitude of speed cameras which appear to be more a revenue raising tactic rather than the stated objective of reducing road trauma. Forced to repay millions of dollars in fines as fixed speed cameras found to be faulty while the contracted company that runs them goes into liquidation.
• other than that, it seems to have bumbled its way through its terms trying to please everyone without much to show for it, while at the same time apparently wasting its surplus.
• 2003:
  • Jan: lightning strikes start 87 bushfires in Victoria's eastern alpine region which raged for 70 days and burnt 1.3 million hectares of land (~5% of Victoria or 15% of public land) but despite a 800km fire front, fortunately only 1 person died and 41 homes lost in Victoria (although Canberra in the ACT was severely affected).
• 2004:
  • Aug 14th is Melbourne's coldest day for 6 yrs and its coldest August day for 26yrs
  • snow season is the best since 1981, beating 1990.
  • Melbourne had its eighth consecutive year of below normal rainfall, the first time this has happened since records began in 1855.
• 2005:
  • Victoria has its wettest February since 1973 followed by its driest Autumn on record
  • Aug 10th: snow falls widespread across Victoria down to sea level, even at coastal towns of Torquay & Apollo Bay - the 1st time since 1986, but spares Melbourne itself.
  • plans to redevelop the Royal Children's Hospital
  • the redeveloped Spencer St Railway Station becomes Southern Cross Railway Station.
  • Dec: Melbourne's hottest December on record and its hottest New Year's Eve on record (43.4degC at the airport near me and 46degC in Horsham!)
• 2006:
  • Jan: bushfires devastate the Grampians region in Victoria's west.
  • March: Melbourne hosts the Commonwealth Games.
  • Melbourne's 2nd driest October on record as the 10yr drought worsens and driest Spring since 1939.
  • Melbourne voted world's no.1 sporting city as well as being in the top 2 most livable cities in the world.
  • after a poor snow season, snow falls in mid-November in regional Victoria as well as Stanthorpe in Qld as Sydney and Brisbane have their coldest November night in 100yrs.
  • the ALP, led by Bracks is easily re-elected to parliament.
  • Dec: bushfires rage through Victoria's eastern alps, threatening Mt Buller's alpine village for the 2nd time in 4 years only to be saved by timely rain and then, incredibly, snow for Christmas Day while the bushfires in the alps continued to burn.
  • Melbourne finishes the year with its 8th driest on record and starts 2007 with stage III water restrictions.
• 2007:
  • May: global warming? what global warming? Let's keep trying to put our heads in the sand.
    • Melbourne has its driest 365 days on record as dams fall below 30% full and the 11 year drought continues.
    • Melbourne has its warmest May night on record with a minimum 17.9degC.
    • Victoria has its warmest Autumn on record.
• 2008:
  • Docklands retail shopping precinct and ferris wheel opens.
  • drought continues
• 2009:
  • following record heat waves reaching 47degC, Black Saturday bush fires in Feb devastate Melbourne's northern regions including Kinglake and Marysville townships.
  • the heat wave damages the new massive ferris wheel at Docklands which opened in 2008, forcing it to be dismantled and repaired.
  • Hilton Hotel and Melbourne Conference Centre along with yet another DFO retail precinct open west of the Casino.
  • Geelong FC beats St Kilda wins its 3rd AFL Grand Final in 4 years after its shock loss to Hawthorn in 2008.
  • major modifications to Bolte Bridge-Westgate Bridge-Kings Way-Burnley Tunnel road interchange
  • record heat wave for early November, although not as severe as in Adelaide.
  • drought continues
• 2010:
  • new public transport ticketing system - Myki - a RFID smartcard system finally commences but with substantial problems and less than enthusiastic public support.
  • Jan - equal warmest night on record - minimum overnight of just over 30degC.
  • real estate market continues to boom but slowing by year's end after a series of interest rate hikes.
  • John Brumby loses state election to Liberal's Ted Baileau after a string of controversies including Myki ticket system, north-south water pipeline, desalination plant costs, failure to plan for transport and hospitals.
  • La Nina's rains result in Melbourne's dams hitting 50% full after good Winter rains, and the wettest Melbourne Spring since 1992.
  • Collingwood and St Kilda draw in AFL Grand Final, but Collingwood easily wins replay. Gary Ablett and coach, Mark Thompson leave Geelong FC.
  • locust plague
• 2011:
  •