Gisborne

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.

Most-observed species

• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  2,327
• Crimson Rosella

  Platycercus elegans (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  1,611
• Superb Fairywren

  Malurus cyaneus (Ellis, 1782) · Aves
  1,607
• Red Wattlebird

  Anthochaera carunculata (Shaw, 1790) · Aves
  1,507
• Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

  Cacatua galerita (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  1,321
• Gray Fantail

  Rhipidura albiscapa Gould, 1840 · Aves
  1,320
• Little Raven

  Corvus mellori Mathews, 1912 · Aves
  1,313
• New Holland Honeyeater

  Phylidonyris novaehollandiae (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  1,127

Most recent

• M 3.8 — 2023-05-28
  5 km W of Mickleham, Australia
• M 2.8 — 2014-01-13
  1 km SSE of Lilydale, Australia
• M 3.1 — 2013-05-01
  7 km NW of Clifton Springs, Australia
• M 3 — 2010-03-30
  4 km NNE of Portarlington, Australia
• M 2.6 — 2006-07-13
  3 km N of Gembrook, Australia
• M 2.8 — 2003-02-02
  9 km N of Trentham, Australia