The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Pre-European settlement
Aboriginal Australians settled the area for at least 30,000 years.
19th century’s timeline
1800 – James Grant explores the south-east of Australia
1801 – John Murray sails into Port Phillip in the Lady Nelson
1803 – Charles Robbins and Charles Grimes explore the entirety of Port Phillip and discover the Yarra River in the 1803 – David Collins sent from Sydney to establish a settlement for the British Government. Unaware of previous discoveries, Collins settles near present-day Sullivan Bay on the Mornington Peninsula. This settlement is abandoned five months later. 1834 – Henty family establish first long-term European settlement in Victoria at Portland 1835 – John Batman 'buys' the 2,430 km2 that Melbourne would be founded on from the local Aboriginal nation, the Wurundjeri. The Batman Deed is now widely recognised to be more of a treaty than a sale. 1835 – Melbourne is founded by John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner 1836 – William Lonsdale built the first government block, declaring Melbourne the capital of the Port Phillip district 1837 – 28 March – Hoddle Grid of streets for the central business district is surveyed by Robert Hoddle 1837 – 10 April - Melbourne named by Governor General Richard Bourke 1837 – 1 June – First inner-city land sale 1838 – Melbourne is declared a legal port and administrative centre, opening the way for vastly increased immigration 1838 – Melbourne Cricket Club is founded 1838 – Second inner-city land sale 1839 – Third inner-city land sale. Quarrying of bluestone began out of the Melbourne Corporation Quarry at Clifton Hill. 1840 – First petition for the separation of Port Phillip District from New South Wales drafted by Henry Fyshe Gisborne and presented to Governor George Gipps. 1841 – First seaport and market are opened 1842 – Melbourne Municipal Corporation Act was passed in Sydney. Melbourne City Council is formed. 1842 – Birth of Saint Mary MacKillop 1845 – First Princes Bridge constructed connecting both sides of the Yarra 1846 – The Melbourne Botanic Gardens is founded 1847 – Melbourne declared a city by Queen Victoria on 25 June. 1847 – Melbourne Building Act was proposed in 1847 based on Sydney act of 1833. 1848 – Melbourne Hospital founded (from 1935 the hospital is called The Royal Melbourne Hospital) 1848 – First Catholic bishop appointed 1849 – "Melbourne Building Act" was passed. 1851 – Beginning of the Victorian gold rush with discovery of gold at Buninyong 1851 – Victoria becomes a colony, separate from New South Wales 1851 – First state Lieutenant-Governor Charles La Trobe inaugurated 1852 – City's first gas works is opened 1853 – The University of Melbourne is founded 1854 – The Melbourne Terminus (first Flinders Street station building) is completed 1854 – First steam railway journey in Australia from Melbourne Terminus (on the current site of Flinders Street station) to Sandridge (later Port Melbourne) 1854 – Melbourne Exhibition held in conjunction with Exposition Universelle (1855) 1854 – The State Library of Victoria is founded 1854 – First telegraph service, to Williamstown 1854 – The first Town Hall is completed 1855 – First state Governor Sir Charles Hotham inaugurated 1855 – The Melbourne Museum is founded 1856 – Stonemasons win the eight-hour day 1857 – First reservoir water supply (at Yan Yean Reservoir) tapped outside city limits 1857 – Queen Victoria Market is founded 1857 – Victoria's first country railway from Geelong to Melbourne is built 1857 – City streets first lit by gas lighting 1858 – 7 August – a game of football played between Melbourne Grammar School and Scotch College 1858 – First inter-city telegraph services, to Adelaide and Sydney 1859 – 14 May – Melbourne Football Club, Australia's oldest football club, is founded 1859 – Spencer Street station (then Batman's Hill Station) and Princes Bridge railway station completed 1859 – Construction of the General Post Office begins 1859 – First Melbourne Trades Hall building opened. 1860 – Burke & Wills expedition departed from Royal Park. 1861 – National Gallery of Victoria is founded 1861 – First Melbourne Cup 1861 – Victorian Exhibition held 1861 – Melbourne's population reaches 125,000 1862 – Melbourne Zoo founded 1863 – Batman's Hill levelled 1865 – Melbourne overtakes Sydney to become Australia's most populous city 1866 – Intercolonial Exhibition of Australasia held 1867 – Melbourne Town Hall begins construction 1869 – Royal Mint is completed 1874 – Supreme Court building is completed 1875 – Victorian Intercolonial Exhibition held 1877 – First Test cricket match, between Australia and England, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.