Marvellous Melbourne’s 175th Anniversary

Melbourne, currently ranked as one of the worlds most liveable cities, had its beginnings on 30th August 1835 when the Tasmanian schooner Enterprise disembarked the first European settlers on the Yarra River’s north bank.

This pioneering group was led by Captain John Lancey who decided to take John Batman’s earlier advice that this location (near the corner of Flinders and William Streets) would be a good place for a “Village”.

Melbourne’s growth was driven by the Victorian gold rush where by the mid 1850′s Melbourne was one of the worlds wealthiest cities on a per capita basis.Two years after the gold rush started, Melbourne’s population increased from 20,000 to 123,000 and by 1880 it was 245,000.

Despite Melbourne’s past property booms and busts as well as the 1890′s Bank Crash (which was repeated a 100 years later when in 1990 the State Saving Bank was sold to the CBA and the Geelong based Pyramid Building Society collapsed) it has still retained its “Marvellous Melbourne” status. This has been reflected by its built heritage, sporting, commercial and cultural leadership.

To commemorate this important milestone we will be displaying during September some some rare photos of Melbourne’s CBD when it was 100 years old and some of the people who contributed to Melbourne’s growth.