Gisborne, Victoria

History

The Gisborne town site was first settled on the 24 March 1837 by George Hamilton. The area further south of Gisborne had been settled earlier by John Aitken, who squatted on the land, having shipped his merino sheep from Tasmania.

In 1840, Henry Fyshe Gisborne, Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Port Phillip District, set up an outpost for his Border Police troopers to assist colonialists with the suppression of Aboriginal resistance.

A hotel named the Bush Inn was built near the barracks in the same year. Gisborne Post Office opened on 22 March 1850, and the Bush Inn was renamed the Gisborne Hotel ten days later, in honour of Henry Fyshe Gisborne.

In 1858 Edward Cherry established Cherry & Sons, a company who made timber butter churns. This was one of the oldest industries in country Victoria and at its height it exported butter churns to many countries in Africa and Asia. The company later diversified into other products such as post hole diggers and equipment for government schools. Its factory was destroyed by a fire in 1912 but was rebuilt and the company survived into the 1970s.

Today

Gisborne is the largest township in the Macedon Ranges and the closest to Melbourne's city centre, which can be accessed easily via a 45-minute drive along the Calder Freeway or a 50-minute train ride on the Bendigo Line. The population in June 2018 was 13,963 having grown on average 2.93% year-on-year for the five years preceding 2018.

The town centre has many cafes and wine bars, as well a theatre, restaurants and galleries, monthly farmers' market, an organic butcher and four supermarkets. Gisborne has a full-time police station in conjunction with the CFA station, State Emergency Service and medical-ambulance facilities.

Sporting facilities cater for Australian rules football, cricket, soccer, tennis, netball, basketball,gymnastics, and lawn bowls, as well as a heated indoor pool. The popular golf course is located within the township and regularly features as one of the top 100 public access courses in Australia. The Gisborne Soccer Club president is ex-Socceroo and Melbourne Victory captain Carl Valeri.

A number of media reports have made reference to the influx of young professionals, artists and 'hipsters' to the region, drawn by the region's natural beauty, proximity to Melbourne and access to city-style cafes and restaurants. The large numbers of new residents is making the local population growth rate among the fastest in regional Victoria. Locals, worried about the environmental and cultural impacts of this growing popularity, successfully campaigned for new planning controls to protect the character of the region.

Population

In the 2016 census, Gisborne had a population count of 9,822 people. At the time, 82.1% of the town's residents were born in Australia, with the most common foreign countries of birth being England (4.0%) and New Zealand (1.3%). The most common responses for religion were "No Religion" (35.3%), Catholic (28.3%) and Anglican (13.0%).

Geography and climate

source 1 = Monthly rainfall: Gisborne (Rosslynne Reservoir)

Public transport

The town's railway station is on the Bendigo Line, serviced by V/Line. Trains take 20 minutes between Gisborne and Sunbury, where customers can connect directly to Metro services; otherwise, V/Line can take customers directly into Melbourne's CBD, terminating at Southern Cross Station. When the railway line was being built, it was too difficult to get the trains down into Gisborne's township due to terrain, so instead the Gisborne railway station was built just outside the township, forming the new suburb of New Gisborne.

The town has its own dedicated bus service operated by Gisborne Transit which runs looped shuttle services around the township, as well as on-demand pick-up and drop-off services connecting townsfolk to the railway station, as part of PTV.

Media

The town receives all of Melbourne's metropolitan digital television channels, including Channel 31. The town also receives television from Mount Alexander but signals from Melbourne are much stronger. The town is largely serviced by major publication newspapers such as The Age, but Gisborne also receives free weekly regional news from the Midland Express, as well as a monthly Gisborne-dedicated publication, the GREAT Gisborne Gazette.

Gisborne features as a backdrop for several films and television series, including Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King. In 2022, Gisborne South was chosen as the filming location for the reality television series The Block.

Education

The town has three public and two Catholic primary schools, as well as one public secondary school, Gisborne Secondary College. The Gisborne Montessori School and Candlebark (alternative school) provide additional options.

Sister cities

• NZL Gisborne, New Zealand

Image gallery

File:Mount Gisborne Road, Gisborne Vic.jpg| View from Mount Gisborne Road in Gisborne South File:Gisborne Fountain.jpg|Gisborne Fountain - Hamilton St and Aitken St Gisborne File:GisborneCourtHouse.JPG|Gisborne Court House File:GisborneTelegraphOffice.JPG|Gisborne Telegraph Office

References

References

1. (27 March 2019). "People: Population: ERP: ERP by SA2 and above (ASGS 2016), 2001 onwards". [[Australian Bureau of Statistics]].
2. "1270.0.55.001 - Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 1 - Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas, July 2016: Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) ASGS Edition 2016 in .csv Format". [[Australian Bureau of Statistics]].
3. ''[[Macquarie Dictionary. Macquarie Dictionary, Fourth Edition]]'' (2005). Melbourne, The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd. {{ISBN. 1-876429-14-3
4. (2015-02-05). "From Inter Milan to Melbourne, Carl Valeri happy with new life at Victory".
5. Bride, T. F., John Aitken, Letters from Victorian Pioneers to his Excellency Charles Joseph La Trobe, Esq., Public Library of Victoria, 1895, p.41.
6. Phoenix Auctions History. "Post Office List".
7. keykey. (2025-02-08). "Cherry & Sons Butter Churn made at Gisborne {{!}} ToMelbourne.com.au".
8. "Barringo Theatre".
9. "Gisborne Olde Time Market - Food, Arts and Craft".
10. (2017-08-18). "The Design Files: Artist Elizabeth Barnett creates a farmhouse retreat in the Macedon Ranges". Domain.
11. Zhou, Christina. (2017-01-15). "Hipster haven: Why crowds flock to Kyneton {{!}} Photos". Bendigo Advertiser.
12. (2016-02-04). "Lee Lin Chin scolds hipsters to save old hospital". ABC News.
13. "When Hippy Towns Get Hip".
14. RegionalLivingVic. "Kevin & Bruce from Mirkwood Forest - Ready When You Are".
15. Lenaghan, Peter. (15 Feb 2018). "Election battle looms as residents worry over Macedon Ranges growth policy". ABC News.
16. Cowie, Tom. (13 December 2017). "New Rules to protect Macedon Ranges". The Age.
17. {{Census 2016 AUS
18. "Sister Cities". Gisborne District Council.