Gisborne, Victoria

Gisborne
Victoria

View down the main street from the south
Gisborne
Coordinates 37°29′24″S 144°35′20″E / 37.49000°S 144.58889°E / -37.49000; 144.58889Coordinates: 37°29′24″S 144°35′20″E / 37.49000°S 144.58889°E / -37.49000; 144.58889
Population 7,289 (2011 census)[1]
Established 1851
Postcode(s) 3437
Elevation 443 m (1,453 ft)
Location
LGA(s) Shire of Macedon Ranges
State electorate(s) Macedon
Federal Division(s) McEwen
Localities around Gisborne:
Macedon New Gisborne Riddells Creek
Bullengarook Gisborne Sunbury
Bullengarook Toolern Vale Gisborne South

Gisborne /ˈɡɪzbərn/[2] is a town approximately 55 kilometres (34 mi) north-west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The town was named after Henry Fyshe Gisborne (1815–1841), the first Commissioner for Crown Lands of the Port Phillip District.[3] Gisborne is part of the Shire of Macedon Ranges.

History

St Paul's Anglican church in Gisborne

In 1834, John Aitken arrived in Melbourne with others and deemed the land south of Mount Macedon ideally suited to sheep grazing. He selected a sizeable area of land and in the following year, shipped merino sheep from Tasmania. Despite his ship running aground at Dromana, Aitken managed to rescue many of his flock and transport them to the Gisborne area with the help of aborigines. He named his property "Emmeline Vale," after his wife Emmeline. Aitken reared six children on the property and produced some of the finest merino wool in the Colony.[4]

From the late 1830s, many pastoralists, arriving from Tasmania and New South Wales, began taking up areas of land in the surrounding districts. The first recorded settlers were: Barbour and Matson, who settled at Bullengarook, Hill at the "Turitable Run" south of Mount Macedon, Stainforth in the area around the present Rosslynne Reservoir, and Aitken and Howey in the area to be later known as Gisborne.

Gisborne Post Office opened on 22 March 1850 as Bush Inn but was renamed Gisborne ten days later.[5]

Today

Gisborne township has a population of just over 7000 residents, and consists of two primary schools and one secondary school, Gisborne Secondary College. There are a number of cafes, bakeries, fruiters, delicatessens, restaurant-pubs and three supermarkets, Foodworks, IGA and Coles, which help make up the town centre. Gisborne has a full-time police station in conjunction with the CFA station and medical-ambulance facilities. Gisborne has public outdoor sporting facilities for AFL football, cricket, soccer, tennis, netball gymnastics and lawn bowls as well as a heated indoor pool. Access to Gisborne from the Melbourne CBD is a 45-minute drive down the Calder Freeway. It is a popular destination because of its regional setting and open spaces whilst still being a comfortable distance from the city.

Sister cities

See also

References

  1. ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Gisborne, Vic(SSC)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
  2. ↑ Macquarie Dictionary, Fourth Edition (2005). Melbourne, The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd. ISBN 1-876429-14-3
  3. ↑ Gisborne Online Web Site accessed 29 September 2006
  4. ↑ A Brief History of Gisborne and Mount Macedon Districts accessed 23 October 2006
  5. ↑ Premier Postal History, Post Office List, retrieved 2008-04-11
  6. ↑ Sister Cities, Gisborne District Council, archived from the original on October 14, 2008, retrieved 2008-11-25
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gisborne, Victoria.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.