Gisborne, Victoria

File:Gisborne Presbyterian Church VIC 3437.jpg

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.Bride, T. F., John Aitken, Letters from Victorian Pioneers to his Excellency Charles Joseph La Trobe, Esq., Public Library of Victoria, 1895, p.41.

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.{{Citation | last = Phoenix Auctions History | title = Post Office List | url = http://www.phoenixauctions.com.au/cgi-bin/wsPhoenix.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&filter=*Gisborne* | access-date = 22 March 2021 }}

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 it's 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. It's factory was destroyd by a fire in 1912 but was rebuilt and the company survived into the 1970's.{{Cite web |last=keykey |date=2025-02-08 |title=Cherry & Sons Butter Churn made at Gisborne {{!}} ToMelbourne.com.au |url=https://tomelbourne.com.au/cherry-sons-butter-churn-made-at-gisborne/ |access-date=2025-03-22 |language=en-AU}}

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,{{Cite web|url=http://baringo.net.au/theatre/|title=Barringo Theatre|website=Barringo}} restaurants and galleries, monthly farmers' market,{{Cite web|url=http://www.gisborneoldetimemarket.org.au/|title=Gisborne Olde Time Market - Food, Arts and Craft|website=www.gisborneoldetimemarket.org.au|access-date=2018-05-22}} 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{{Cite news|url=https://www.domain.com.au/news/the-design-files-elizabeth-barnett-creates-a-farmhouse-retreat-in-the-macedon-ranges-20170818-gxmrsk/|title=The Design Files: Artist Elizabeth Barnett creates a farmhouse retreat in the Macedon Ranges|date=2017-08-18|work=Domain|access-date=2018-05-22|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/4404326/hipster-haven-why-crowds-flock-to-kyneton-photos/|title=Hipster haven: Why crowds flock to Kyneton {{!}} Photos|last=Zhou|first=Christina|date=2017-01-15|work=Bendigo Advertiser|access-date=2018-05-22|language=en}} have made reference to the influx of young professionals, artists and 'hipsters' to the region,{{Cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-04/lee-lee-chin-scolds-hipsters-old-kyneton-hospital/7139410|title=Lee Lin Chin scolds hipsters to save old hospital|date=2016-02-04|work=ABC News|access-date=2018-05-22|language=en-AU}} drawn by the region's natural beauty, proximity to Melbourne and access to city-style cafes and restaurants.{{Cite web|url=https://www.realestate.com.au/advice/hippy-towns-get-hip/|title=When Hippy Towns Get Hip|website=www.realestate.com.au|language=en-US|access-date=2018-05-22}}{{Citation|last=RegionalLivingVic|title=Kevin & Bruce from Mirkwood Forest - Ready When You Are|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_vIV0RSWzY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/q_vIV0RSWzY |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|access-date=2018-12-20}}{{cbignore}} The large numbers of new residents is making the local population growth rate among the fastest in regional Victoria.{{Cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-15/macedon-planning/9445616|title=Election battle looms as residents worry over Macedon Ranges growth policy|last=Lenaghan|first=Peter|date=15 Feb 2018|work=ABC News|access-date=15 Feb 2018}} 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.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/we-dont-want-it-to-become-like-melbourne-new-rules-to-protect-macedon-ranges-20171212-h03awv.html|title=New Rules to protect Macedon Ranges|last=Cowie|first=Tom|date=13 December 2017|work=The Age|access-date=13 December 2017}}

In the 2016 census, Gisborne had a population count of 9,822 people.{{Census 2016 AUS | id = UCL214006 | name = Gisborne | accessdate = 31 October 2017| quick = on}} 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%).

{{Weather box

|location = Gisborne (Rosslynne Reservoir) (2008–); 451m AMSL; 37.48° S, 144.57° E

|metric first = yes

|single line = yes

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 59.5

|Feb precipitation mm = 48.1

|Mar precipitation mm = 59.3

|Apr precipitation mm = 79.0

|May precipitation mm = 66.0

|Jun precipitation mm = 71.0

|Jul precipitation mm = 63.5

|Aug precipitation mm = 71.0

|Sep precipitation mm = 63.5

|Oct precipitation mm = 71.0

|Nov precipitation mm = 80.4

|Dec precipitation mm = 57.2

|year precipitation mm = 748.3|

source 1 = [http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_nccObsCode=139&p_display_type=dataFile&p_stn_num=087182 Monthly rainfall: Gisborne (Rosslynne Reservoir)]

}}

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.

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.

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.

• {{flagicon|NZL}} Gisborne, New Zealand{{Citation|url=http://www.gdc.govt.nz/council/sister+cities.htm |title=Sister Cities |publisher=Gisborne District Council |access-date=2008-11-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014122123/http://www.gdc.govt.nz/Council/Sister+Cities.htm |archive-date=14 October 2008 }}

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

• Gisborne railway station, Victoria
• New Gisborne
• Sunbury, Victoria
• Gisborne South
• Gisborne Secondary College
• Bullengarook

{{reflist}}

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• [http://www.gisbornemountmacedon.org.au/history.htm A Brief History of Gisborne and Mount Macedon Districts]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927225607/http://www.gisborneguide.com.au/?gclid=CL_eqamujogCFShtTAodsASjfA Gisborne Tourism Guide]
• [http://www.gisborne.org.au/ Gisborne Region Events and Tourism]
• [http://www.gisbornecfa.com/ Gisborne CFA]

{{Towns in Macedon Ranges Shire}}

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Category:Towns in Victoria (state)

Category:Shire of Macedon Ranges