Gisborne Victoria |
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View down the main street from the south |
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Gisborne
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Population: | 6,398[1] | ||||||||||||
Established: | 1851 | ||||||||||||
Postcode: | 3437 | ||||||||||||
Elevation: | 443 m (1,453 ft) | ||||||||||||
Location: | |||||||||||||
LGA: | Shire of Macedon Ranges | ||||||||||||
State District: | Macedon | ||||||||||||
Federal Division: | McEwen | ||||||||||||
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Gisborne ( /ˈɡɪzbərn/)[2] is a town located approximately 55 kilometres (34 mi) northwest of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. As it is close to Melbourne, but in attractive countryside, it is proving an increasingly popular place to settle. 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.
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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]
Gisborne township has a population of just over 7000 residences, and consists of two primary schools and one secondary school, Gisborne Secondary College. A number of cafes, bakers, restaurants/pubs and three supermarkets 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 and netball, as well as a heated indoor pool.
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