Saturday, December 6, 2014

Australia, London, Melbourne, Melbourne Cemetery, Healesville - what's the connection?


I was looking at this wine bottle label and trying to trace the location and names of the places mentioned, Healesville in Victoria, in Australia? This moscato is sparkling and different muscat grapes vary. Let's nor worry about that now - it's enough of a challenge for us in the UK to work out where to find Victoria. After a brief diversion into what I've just been told about Rutherglen Muscat, which I'm typing up because I want to remember it, I shall tell you what I've found about Melbourne, Healesville and the snooker gravestone.

Northern Victoria is also known Rutherglen Muscat, a sweet wine. 
(You may know Rutherglen muscat. I am informed by my local UK expert, that the local clone is Brown muscat making red not white musket. Some wines are made in a solar system like sherry blending vintages and flavours to get a consistent flavour over the years. A third local characteristic is raiseined grapes in an area with lots of heat and not so uch water.

I've been to Australia, to Perth, Sydney and Melbourne, but Healesville?
Let's start with what I know, Victoria in London is named after Queen Victoria and Victoria in Australia must have been founded and named after her in her era.

Australia, Captain Flinders, His Map and That Cat
The name Australia is related to the English man, Captain Matthew Flinders, who mapped Australia and gave Australia its name. His statue was placed on Euston station in London this year (2014). See pictures of Flinders and his cat statue in my earlier post by doing a search for the word Euston.

Melbourne
Melbourne was named after Queen Victoria's minister, Melbourne, who was living in London and having an affair with a lady, immortalised in the line, 'would you like to sin on a tiger skin with Eleanor Glyn?'

Healesville
Healesville is an area north east of Melbourne, Australia. Healesville is named after one of its first VIPs. Ironically he was a teetotaller campaigning for temperance. I wonder if the vineyard realises that their address immortalises and recalls him?

What became of him? He was buried in Melbourne Cemetery. So were other VIP founders of Australia, or early members of the government.  But the most amusing gravestone in the cemetery is that of the snooker player below. 


Walter Lindrum, Australian Billiards Player

The grave is of Walter Lindrum in Melbourne General Cemetery. (I found the photo in Wikipedia when I researched Healesville.)

Enjoy contemplating this whilst drinking your Moscato, from Healesville, Australia. (The UK importers are mentioned in the previous post on this blog.)


Walter Lindrum OBE, Australian billiards player




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