History of Victoria
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This article describes the history of Victoria.
After the founding of the colony of New South Wales in 1788, the continent was divided into an eastern half - named New South Wales, and a western half, named New Holland, but under the administration of the colonial government in Sydney.
Initially the NSW government attempted to constrain settlement around Sydney into the 13 counties, however settlement quickly spread beyond this artificial restriction.
The first explorers of Victoria were Hamilton Hume (after whom the Hume Highway is named), and William Hovell.
Victoria's first settlement was at Portland, on the west coast of what is now Victoria. Portland was settled by the Henty family in 1834, who were originally farmers from Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). When Major Mitchell led an expedition to the region from Sydney in 1835, he was suprised to find a small but prosperous community, living off the fertile farmland.
Melbourne was founded in 1835 by John Batman, also from Van Diemen's Land.
In 1851 gold was discovered at Ballarat, subsequently at Bendigo and at later at many sites around the state. This triggered one of the largest gold rushes the world has ever seen. Victoria grew rapidly and was granted independence from NSW in the same year.
In 1854 there was an armed rebellion against the government of Victoria by miners protesting against mining taxes (the "Eureka Stockade"). This was crushed by British troops but some of the leaders of the rebellion subsequently became members of the Victoria Parliament and the rebellion is still sometimes regarded as a pivotal moment in the development of Australia democracy.
Many Chinese miners worked in Victoria, and their legacy is particularly strong at Bendigo. There did not seem to be the anti-Chinese violence that was seen at the Massacre of Lambing Flat in NSW. There was however a massacre at Buckland Valley on July 4, 1857. There was a massive outbreak of typhoid at Buckland Valley in 1854 that killed over 1000 miners.
George Augustus Constantine Phipps, 2nd Marquess of Normanby, was governor during 1879—1884.
The first foreign military action by the colony of Victoria was to send troops and a warships to New Zealand as part of the Maori Wars. Troops from New South Welsh had previously participated in the Crimean War
In 1901 Victoria ceased to be an independent colony and became a state in the Commonwealth of Australia. Victorian and Tasmanian politicians were particularly active in this process.
As a result of the gold, Melbourne became the financial centre of Australia and New Zealand. For a time Melbourne was capital of Australia (while Canberra, the current capital city), was being built. It was also the largest city in Australia at the time. Whilst Melbourne remains an important financial centre, its importance slowly waned from the 1970's onwards as Sydney increases in population and business importance.
See also: Politics of Victoria
Categories: Australian history | Victoria