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Victoria's history

Today's Victoria is well known for its breathtaking landscape, bustling Melbourne metropolis and historical and cultural abundance. Let's take a step back in time to discover the heritage of Australia's "Garden State" and learn a little more about how the food and wine capital of the nation got its groove.

Early history

Long before British settlers descended upon Victoria, the land was home to tribes of indigenous Australians who had been living self-sufficiently off the land for tens of thousands of years.

In 1940 an archaeological excavation near the outer Melbourne suburb of Keilor by a discoverer named James White, stumbled upon a skull that indicated that the area was one of the earliest sites of human inhabitancy. The inhabitants were, of course, the Aborigines, and the artefacts that were found showed evidence of a semi-nomadic existence reaching back over 40,000 years.

It is documented that Captain James Cook first sighted land at Point Hicks (near Mallacoota) on the eastern coast of Victoria during the time of his infamous Endeavour voyage in 1770.

It wasn't until 1798 that George Bass was sent to explore the coast of Victoria, and even after reaching the peninsula of Wilsons Promontory in January of 1798 he was forced to return to Sydney due to bad weather. But a determined Bass returned to the strait with Matthew Flinders in December of the same year, and made the first true British discovery of the fertile land now known as Victoria.

British settlement

In 1803 the HMS Calcutta pulled up stop at Sullivans Bay - which is better known in the present day as close by to the township of Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula.

However, permanent settlement was not successful in Victoria until 1834, when farmers from Tasmania known as the Henty family settled in Portland on the Victorian west coast.

Gold! Gold! Gold!

Victoria experienced a historical gold rush in the 1850s after golden nuggets were first upturned near Ballarat, which today is Victoria's largest inland city.

Cashing in on the treasured find, Victoria saw an unprecedented amount of migrants flood its shores, with the population increasing from 76,000 to 540,000 in just ten years. The migrants came from all over the globe - keen to snag their own pot of gold, but Irish and Chinese settlers were the most prolific.

An event now known as the Eureka Stockade coloured the year of 1984 in Ballarat, when miners rebelled over the high-cost of the implements needed for gold mining. The protest was quietened when British troops were called in to restore order, but the Eureka Stockade is well-known as an importance turning point in the democratic history of Australia.

Political federation

On the back of the gold rush, Victoria's growing capital city of Melbourne became the financial epicentre for Australia and New Zealand.

The independent colony of Victoria was federated in 1901 and became the state within the Commonwealth of Australia which it remains today. The current nation's capital - Canberra - was still under construction between 1901 and 1927, so Melbourne reigned as the capital of the country during this time.

Victoria today

From its humble beginnings, Victoria has grown into the second most populated state in Australia, after New South Wales.

Not only is the area a magnet to tourists from across the globe, but it is well-known as a multicultural hub and is home to a large number of different cultural and social groups. Victoria's multicultural harmony is thought to be one of the reasons why the state is so highly regarded for its food, wine and music.

The Victoria we know today has been shaped by the people, places and events of the past. Browse photos and stories of Victoria's past, covering themes such as immigration, indigenous culture, sporting life, architecture, landscapes and art.