About the place
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,[15] it was incorporated as a Crown settlement in 1837.[15] 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.[15] It was officially declared a city by Queen Victoria, to whom Lord Melbourne was close, in 1847,[16] after which it became the capital of the newly founded colony of Victoria in 1851.[16] During the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s, it was transformed into one of the world's largest and wealthiest cities.[17] After the federation of Australia in 1901, it served as the nation's interim seat of government until 1927.[18] Additionally, it was the host city of the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games.