colony · North America and Oceania
Colony of Victoria
Origins
Settlers from Van Diemen's Land, led by John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner, founded Melbourne in 1835 on Kulin land, and the area was governed as the Port Phillip District of the Colony of New South Wales. Pressure for separation succeeded in 1851, when Victoria became its own colony under Charles La Trobe.
Rule and society
Weeks after separation, gold was found at Ballarat and Bendigo, and the population rose from about 77,000 to over 500,000 within a decade. Miners angry at licence fees rebelled at the Eureka Stockade in 1854. Self-government came in 1855, and the secret ballot introduced in 1856 spread worldwide as the 'Australian ballot'. Wool, gold and manufacturing behind protective tariffs created the wealth of 'Marvellous Melbourne' in the 1880s.
Decline and legacy
A land boom collapsed into depression in the early 1890s. Victorian politicians such as Alfred Deakin led the movement for federation, and Victoria became a state of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. Melbourne served as the temporary national capital until 1927.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- Colony of Victoria was a colony of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland1851 CE – 1901 CE
More states of North America and Oceania →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Colony of Victoria. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/colony-of-victoria
- MLA
- “Colony of Victoria.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/colony-of-victoria. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Colony of Victoria.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/colony-of-victoria.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Colony of Victoria’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/colony-of-victoria (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻