Melbourne is a place.
Flinders Street railway station is a railway station on the corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets in Melbourne , Australia . Melbourne . It was named `` Melbourne '' by the Governor of New South Wales , Sir Richard Bourke , in honour of the British Prime Minister of the day , William Lamb , 2nd Viscount Melbourne . It was officially declared a city by Queen Victoria , to whom Lord Melbourne was close , in 1847 , after which it became the capital of the newly founded colony of Victoria in 1851 . Referred to as Australia 's `` cultural capital '' , it is the birthplace of Australian impressionism , Australian rules football , the Australian film and television industries , and Australian contemporary dance . It was the host city of the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games .