Melrose

History

Journalist Rodney Cockburn, in his popular book What's in a Name asserts that consensus has not yet been reached about the origins of Melrose's name. He gives the explanation that its surveyor named the town after George Melrose, of Rosebank, Mount Pleasant, who assisted him when he was ill. Another explanation suggests a land owner named Alexander Campbell settled in the area in 1844 with his family and named the region after his hometown, Melrose, in Scotland. Historian Geoff Manning found that the town was located on a property claimed by the Mount Remarkable Mining Company and in the 1850s subdivided it into 250 sections of . Townsites were surveyed at either end, Melrose to the north and Bangor at the southern end. This was in accord with Cockburn's findings, but Manning was convinced that A. L. Elder, a prominent director of the company and a proud Scotsman, named it for Melrose in Roxburghshire. The first European explorer in the area was Edward John Eyre in 1840; pastoralists settled in the area about a decade later. Copper was discovered and mining started in 1846, but it was not economically viable, and ceased in 1851. The mine was opened again three more times, with the latest closure in 1917. In 1893 at a time of high unemployment, Wilton Hack founded a communal settlement in the area. At its peak, some 130 settlers were working of land. By the end of 1895 after a succession of poor seasons around half the settlers had left, and in 1896 the village was closed by the Government. When it was opened in 1848, the police station in Melrose was not only the first permanent police station in the region, but the base of the largest police district in the world. A constable, two troopers and an Aboriginal tracker were responsible for an area extending to the…

Most-observed species

• Galah

  Eolophus roseicapilla (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  384
• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  374
• Crimson Rosella

  Platycercus elegans (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  334
• Laughing Kookaburra

  Dacelo novaeguineae (Hermann, 1783) · Aves
  315
• Gray Shrikethrush

  Colluricincla harmonica (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  291
• Willie-wagtail

  Rhipidura leucophrys (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  250
• Red Wattlebird

  Anthochaera carunculata (Shaw, 1790) · Aves
  248
• Yellow-throated Miner

  Manorina flavigula (Gould, 1840) · Aves
  236

Most recent

• M 4.3 — 2024-04-17
  8 km ENE of Jamestown, Australia
• M 3.3 — 2018-07-09
  9 km NNW of Jamestown, Australia
• M 4 — 2017-04-24
  29 km ENE of Quorn, Australia
• M 4.6 — 2011-10-15
  73 km E of Quorn, Australia
• M 4.1 — 2011-09-04
  16 km SW of Peterborough, Australia
• M 4.2 — 2010-07-30
  21 km NNE of Quorn, Australia