who was the city of melbourne named after
Melbourne Founded by free settlers from the British Crown colony of Van Diemen's Land on 30 August 1835, in what was then the colony of New South Wales,[14] it was incorporated as a Crown settlement in 1837.[14] 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.[14] It was officially declared a city by Queen Victoria, to whom Lord Melbourne was close, in 1847,[15] after which it became the capital of the newly founded colony of Victoria in 1851.[15] During the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s, it was transformed into one of the world's largest and wealthiest cities.[16] After the federation of Australia in 1901, it served as the nation's interim seat of government until 1927.[17] Additionally, it was the host city of the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
History of Australia (1788–1850) The history of Australia from 1788â€“1850 covers the early colonial period of Australia's history, from the arrival in 1788 of the First Fleet of British ships at Sydney, New South Wales, who established the penal colony, the scientific exploration of the continent and later, establishment of other Australian colonies and the beginnings of representative democratic government.