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23.07.

1773: The Largest Australian Cities – Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane Named after the British Aristocrats

1773: The Largest Australian Cities – Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane Named after the British Aristocrats
Photo Credit To Wikipedia Commons/Australia has one of the world's most highly urbanised populations with the majority living in metropolitan cities on the coast

Story Highlights

  • Historical event
  • 23 July 1773
  • Sydney was named after Lord Sydney, the British Minister of Interior, Melbourne after Lord Melbourne, the former British Prime Minister, and Brisbane after General Sir Thomas Brisbane.

On this day, in 1773, Sir Thomas Brisbane, the British general who played a role in Australian history, was born.



 Namely, Sir Thomas Brisbane was Governor of the British colony of New South Wales from 1821 till 1825. 

He came to this position at the recommendation of Duke of Wellington, famous military leader under whom he served as an officer during the Napoleonic Wars.

Sir Thomas Brisbane was actually a Scotsman by birth. He was born near the town of Largs in Scotland, about fifty km from Glasgow.

 He achieved a noteworthy military career, reaching the rank of Major General. As mentioned, Brisbane became Governor of New South Wales in 1821when that colony covered a much larger territory than today’s eponymous Australian state. 




In fact, New South Wales once included more than half of the entire Australian continent (the entire eastern half and a part of the western half). Indeed, in the time of Governor Sir Thomas Brisbane, New South Wales also included New Zealand and Tasmania.

The Australian city Brisbane was named after Sir Thomas Brisbane. The city has a population of 2.2 million and is the third largest in Australia after Sydney and Melbourne.

It is interesting that all these three largest Australian cities were named after British dignitaries. More precisely, Sydney was named after Lord Sydney, the British Minister of Interior, and Melbourne after Lord Melbourne, the former British Prime Minister.

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