Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Boom & Crash
Gold brought undreamt-of riches and a seemingly endless supply of labour to Victoria.
Melbourne became 'Marvellous Melbourne', one of the world's most beautiful Victorian-
era cities, known for its elegance - as well as its extravagance. Grand expressions of its
confidence include the University of Melbourne, Parliament House, the State Library and
the Victorian Mint. Magnificent public parks and gardens were planted both in the city and
in towns across the state. By the 1880s, Melbourne had become Australia's financial, in-
dustrial and cultural hub. The 'Paris of the Antipodes' claim was invoked: the city was
flush with stylish arcades, and grand homes were decorated with ornate iron balconies. The
city spread eastwards and northwards over the surrounding flat grasslands and southwards
along Port Phillip Bay. A public transport system of cable trams and railways spread into
the growing suburbs.
OUR NED
Victorian bushranger Ned Kelly (1854-80) became a national legend when he and his gang donned homemade ar-
mour in an attempt to deflect the bullets of several dozen members of the constabulary. Kelly's story, set among the
hills, valleys and plains of northeastern Victoria, has a Robin Hood-like quality, as well as the whiff of an Irish
rebel song.
Kelly's passionate, articulate letters, handed to hostages while he was robbing banks, paint a vivid picture of the
harsh injustice of his time, as well as his lyrical intelligence. These, as well as his ability to evade capture for so
long, led to public outrage when he was sentenced to death and finally hanged at the Old Melbourne Gaol in 1880.
The enduring popularity of the Kelly legend is evident in the mass of historical and fictional accounts that con-
tinue to be written to this day. His life has also inspired a long string of films, from the world's first feature film,
The Story of the Kelly Gang
(1906), to two more recent versions, both simply called
Ned Kelly,
with the first star-
ring Mick Jagger (1970) and the second, the late Heath Ledger (2003). A series of paintings by Sidney Nolan fea-
turing Kelly in his armour are among Australia's most recognisable artworks. In 2001, Australian novelist Peter
Carey won the Man Booker Prize for his
True History of the Kelly Gang
.
Regional cities, especially those servicing the goldfields, such as Ballarat, Bendigo and
Beechworth, also reaped the rewards of sudden prosperity, leaving a legacy of magnificent
Victorian architecture throughout the state. 'Selection Acts' enabled many settlers and frus-
trated miners to take up small farm lots (selections). Although a seemingly reformist,
democratic move, these farms were often too small to forge a real living from, and life in
the bush proved tough. Grinding poverty and the heavy hand of the law led to some settlers
turning to bushranging (rural armed robberies of money or livestock), variously considered
