Melbourne, Quebec

For the former village of Melbourne (now part of Richmond), see Richmond, Quebec.

Melbourne is a township municipality located in Le Val-Saint-François Regional County Municipality in the Estrie region of Quebec, Canada.

Melbourne
Township municipality
Town hall
Location within Le Val-Saint-François RCM
Melbourne Location in southern Quebec
Coordinates: 45.58°N 72.17°W / 45.58; -72.17[1]
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Estrie
RCM	Le Val-Saint-François
Constituted	July 1, 1855
Government [2]
• Mayor	James Johnston
• Federal riding	Richmond—Arthabaska
• Prov. riding	Richmond
Area [2][3]
• Total	173.70 km2 (67.07 sq mi)
• Land	173.93 km2 (67.15 sq mi)
	There is an apparent contradiction between two authoritative sources
Population  (2021)[3]
• Total	1,096
• Density	6.3/km2 (16/sq mi)
• Pop 2016-2021	3.1%
• Dwellings	494
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Postal code(s)	J0B 2B0
Area code	819
Highways A-55	R-116 R-243
Website	www.melbournecanton.ca

The name Melbourne comes from the name of an English town in Derbyshire and Hampshire.

History

The village was founded by Irish immigrants from New England after the famine in Ireland. These settlers, who arrived around 1860, decided to try their luck here, because these lands were still available, accessible, open and cultivable. The municipality was officially created in 1855 but has since lost parts of its territory. First in 1860 when the village section of Melbourne (now merged with Richmond) became its own entity. In 1889, New Rockland separated (it has since been merged with Kingsbury). In 1896, Kingsbury separated also. Finally, in 1920, Brompton Gore (now part of Racine) separated.

Demographics

Historical Census Data - Melbourne, Quebec^[4]

Year	Pop.	±%
1861	1,621	—
1871	2,290	+41.3%
1881	2,396	+4.6%
1891	2,017	−15.8%
1901	1,626	−19.4%
1911	1,597	−1.8%
1921	1,784	+11.7%
1931	1,189	−33.4%
1941	1,105	−7.1%
1951	1,107	+0.2%
1956	1,124	+1.5%
1961	1,114	−0.9%
1966	1,080	−3.1%
1971	1,089	+0.8%
1976	993	−8.8%
1981	1,054	+6.1%
1986	947	−10.2%
1991	1,055	+11.4%
1996	977	−7.4%
2001	951	−2.7%
2006	1,095	+15.1%
2011	1,004	−8.3%
2016	1,063	+5.9%
2021	1,096	+3.1%

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Melbourne had a population of 1,096 living in 439 of its 494 total private dwellings, a change of 3.1% from its 2016 population of 1,063. With a land area of 173.93 km² (67.15 sq mi), it had a population density of 6.3/km² (16.3/sq mi) in 2021.^[5]

Mother tongue (2021)^[3]

Language	Population	Pct (%)
French only	765	69.9%
English only	285	26.0%
English and French	25	2.3%
Non-official languages	25	2.3%
English and non-official language	5	0.5%

Upper Melbourne 1910

Notable people

• Marie-Claire Blais (1939–2021), writer and novelist
• William Hoste Webb (1820 – 1890) lawyer and political figure

See also

• List of anglophone communities in Quebec
• List of township municipalities in Quebec