Charles Joseph Latrobe        By Danielle C. and Marjorie

Charles Latrobe did a lot for Victoria because he was the first Governor of Victoria. It was in 1839 that Charles Joseph Latrobe was appointed superintendent of the Port Phillip District of the new colony of  Victoria which was proclaimed in 1851.

Governor La Trobe
(From Picturesque Atlas of Australia, 1886, vol 1 p 167, courtesy National Library of Australia)

Charles Joseph Latrobe was born in 1801 in London and educated in England and Switzerland. As a young man he travelled widely. Latrobe arrived in Melbourne in 1839 and he bought with him timber for his cottage which he built in the small town of Melbourne. His cottage was rebuilt in 1940 on land near The Shrine and Botanical Gardens.
Latrobe was Governor of Victoria until 1854.  

Latrobe's cottage was the home of Charles Joseph Latrobe.  It was originally located on five hectares of land at Jolimont, near where the Melbourne Cricket Ground now stands. Latrobe`s cottage is an historical landmark. 
Some important places in and around Melbourne are named after Latrobe. These include Latrobe Street and the Latrobe Valley where they get brown coal for the electricity in Melbourne.