Why did they build Melbourne city where it is?

Answer 1

Melbourne was built where it is primarily in response to the need for more pastureland and for the settlers to have a base from which to spread out. It was built to give Britain a "presence" on the southern coast, to offset concerns about the French colonising unoccupied parts of the nation. It was also founded because John Batman started a settlement "illegally".

Batman applied for land in the Westernport Bay area of southern Australia, now Victoria, but was refused his request. In May 1835, he explored Port Phillip Bay, looking for suitable sites to settle. A month later, he signed a 'treaty' with the Aborigines, which enabled him to have free access to almost 250,000 hectares of land. Two months later, Governor Bourke declared Batman's treaties invalid, and issued a proclamation warning off him and his supporters as trespassers on crown land.

Despite the attempts at government intervention, the foundling settlement of Melbourne remained, and flourished. The new township was surveyed and named as Melbourne on 3 March 1837, in honour of the British Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne.