Melbourne was established 47 years after the establishment of Sydney. The main difference being that while Sydney was established to settle convicts, Melbourne was established by free settlers. It is because of the rivalry between the cities that neither Sydney nor Melbourne was chosen as the capital of Australia. Thus when the Nation became a Federation the Constitution specified that Melbourne would serve as the seat of government on a temporary basis,
Melbourne is the capital of Victoria and was established in the area around Port Phillip and the Yarra Valley. This area was occupied by various Indigenous Tribes for more than 35,000 years before the Europeans came in.
Melbourne was established on 30th August 1835. This area was discovered by John Batman a wealthy agriculturist from Tasmania. He was looking for grazing land for his cattle. He signed a treaty with eight Wurundjeri elders.However, when his group finally arrived to start the settlement Batman could not join them as he got stuck in Launceston in Tasmania due to some unpaid loans. As luck would have it John Pascoe Fawkner, a successful businessman in Launceston, had the same idea. Fawkner bought a ship, and on 4 August he reached the Yarra river with a party of intending settlers. When Batman's party reached the Yarra they were upset to find Fawkner's people already in possession. However, the two parties came to a compromise as there was plenty of land available.
Prior to being named "Melbourne", the city had several other names. It was called Batmania, Bearport and Bearbrass. It was named Melbourne by Sir Richard Bourke the Governor of NSW after the British Prime Minister William Lamb the second viscount of Melbourne.
Queen Victoria formally announced 4 Melbourne as a city and Victoria was officially declared a colony independent of NSW. In 1851 Melbourne became the capital of Victoria. In 1850 there was a Gold Rush in Melbourne. People from all over the world came to try their luck via the sea route. Melbourne underwent a sea change during that period.
Due to it's wool exports and the Gold Rush Melbourne became very prosperous and was being called, "Marvellous Melbourne". During that period it's population doubled to 75,000 and today it's population stands at four and a half million.
