Flemington

Flemington is an inner suburb of Melbourne, Australia, 4 km north-west of Melbourne's central business district.

Flemington is an inner suburb of Melbourne, Australia, 4 km north-west of Melbourne's central business district. Its local government areas are the Cities of Melbourne and Moonee Valley. At the 2016 census, Flemington had a population of 7,719.

The Melbourne Cup Thoroughbred horse race has been held at Flemington Racecourse since 1861.

Flemington is located between the Maribyrnong River and the Moonee Ponds Creek and includes the locality of Newmarket, in which the main commercial area Racecourse Road is located.

The suburb was named by settler James Watson after Flemington Estate in Scotland. Another version of the origin of the name relates to Robert Fleming, a Brunswick (Victoria) resident who had owned land beside the Saltwater River and operated a butchery there.

In 1839, James Watson came to Port Phillip to purchase land for himself and English and Scottish investors. He named the area Flemington after Flemington Estate in Scotland where his wife's father was a manager, which was in turn named because of Flemish settlement in the area.

Flemington and neighbouring Kensington consist primarily of weatherboard cottages mixed with attached brick single-storey and some double-storey terrace houses. Most of the homes are in Victorian or Boom style with some Edwardian and Federation style homes. Some sections originally contained factories and industry.

The earliest land release was in the 1840s when fertile land adjacent to the Maribyrnong River was taken up for cattle grazing. Land for Flemington Racecourse was reserved as early as 1845. Around this time the Melbourne Municipal Saleyards were relocated from Elizabeth Street, West Melbourne to Flemington. Also around this time abattoirs and other commercial activities were established. Various industrial activities were clustered around the Maribyrnong River and the Moonee Ponds Creek.

The Victorian Goldrush of the 1850s encouraged further development as Mount Alexander Road was the main route to the North Western Goldfields. Flemington Post Office opened on 1 January 1854; the current heritage-listed building dates from 1890.It was originally included in the City of Essendon at its formation in 1861 and the first Melbourne Cup was run at Flemington the same year. Buntingford Tannery (now demolished) was located adjacent to Moonee Ponds Creek. This business, established by members of the Debney family, moved to the site in 1876 and at one time covered more than an acre of ground and consisted of several buildings.

Flemington and Kensington broke away from the City of Essendon in 1882 to form the Borough of Flemington and Kensington as the decade saw intensified residential development consisting of detached single-storey weatherboard homes and some brick semi-detached or attached single-storey homes on small allotments. Some larger homes including grandiose double-storey brick homes on double allotments, and some double-storey brick terrace homes were also constructed. Industry consisting of mills, factories and warehouses continued in the area taking advantage of the low-cost flat land. By 1911 the population was 6,109.In 1905 the Borough of Flemington and Kensington was subsumed by the City of Melbourne.During the 1950s there was an influx of European immigrants, mostly from Italy.Flemington Magistrates' Court closed on 30 June 1982.