The Australian city of Melbourne was named after William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, the then-serving British Prime Minister, whose seat was Melbourne Hall in the town of Melbourne, Derbyshire, England.
Permanent European settlement of the area on the Yarra River had unofficially started some two years before it was recognised as a Crown settlement in March 1837. It was variously known as Dutigalla, Bearbrass, Batmania
Having considered the name Glenelg, after Baron Glenelg, the Secretary of State, the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Richard Bourke, elected to name the settlement Melbourne.
