Guadeloupe, Zurich, Melbourne, Venice: this summer, The duty trip… to Quebec and Ontario! Third report in our series Villages from here from elsewhere, on these villages whose name is best known for their international cousins.
Melbourne. Thousands of kilometers from the Australian metropolis of 5 million inhabitants is a small homonymous village in the Eastern Townships of some 1100 souls. First inhabited by Abenakis, it saw its toponymy take an English turn at the end of the 18th century.e century, when Irish settlers from New England came to clear a large area of formerly wooded land to turn it into agricultural land in the middle of this mountainous landscape.
More than 200 years later, agriculture remains the main occupation of the residents of this village. Its mayor since 2009, James Johnston, is himself the owner of a dairy farm, which he manages with his son. In fact, his family, which has been in this village for five generations, even has a road named after him, “Johnston Road”. The mayor points it out to us, aboard his red van, in which he offers us a tour of the locality. “My son’s children, I hope they will take over,” says the septuagenarian, contemplating the fields and the “ rolling hills » whom he has always known.
A myth to debunk
It was long believed, like the Australian metropolis, that the township of Melbourne was named in honor of William Lamb, former British Prime Minister between 1834 and 1841. “But research has shown that it was not not that at all,” said the first president of the Commission de toponymie du Québec and geographer emeritus, Henri Dorion, in an interview.
William Lamb — also known as Lord Melbourne — was only a teenager when the small bucolic municipality of Estrie, bordered by the Saint-François River, was baptized in the English way. “We must therefore look elsewhere,” notes the author of nearly 40 books, who has devoted his life to toponymy. The most plausible theory would rather be that the name Melbourne was given to this township “to recall one of the two or three important villages called Melbourne in England”, among others in the Derbyshire region, adds Mr. Dorion. “It seems that’s it,” but you can never be sure, says the geographer.
Chance would therefore explain that this village bears the same name as a large Australian city, or well almost. “It’s a coincidence, but that can be explained very well. Whether it is Canada, England or New Zealand and Australia, they are member countries of the Commonwealth” and of the former British Empire, notes Mr. Dorion. Moreover, it still happens that the two Melbournes create confusion for some visitors.
“We have already had people who booked thinking they had booked a room in Melbourne”… in Australia, laughs Gabriel LeBlond-Fontaine, the owner of the broken clock lodge, located in the heart of the village of Estrie. Originally from Lévis, he has lived in Melbourne for six years with his spouse.
A power of attraction
At the bend of the country roads, old barns rub shoulders with 21st century houses.e century, illustrating the arrival of new residents in this agricultural township with deep roots.
Many properties have also been sold “to people from outside” in recent years, notes the director general of the municipality, Cindy Jones. A situation that notably benefits Judith Samson and Samuel Desaulniers. The young couple, who studied in Trois-Rivières, have been managing the small organic farm La valse des saisons for several years. It offers its vegetables and fine herbs every Saturday at the Melbourne country market, the first of its kind in the Eastern Townships.
“There are a lot of young families that we find [au marché], who are our age, in their early thirties. It’s not necessarily people who come from the region. They come from Montreal, Sherbrooke or elsewhere. Strangers like us! » launches Mme Samson, who specifies that his customers are mainly these “new inhabitants” in search of less “traditional” agricultural products.
In addition to the proximity to nature and the “calm” of the place, it is also its central aspect that attracts residents of large cities, notes Samuel Desaulniers. An opinion shared by Mr. LeBlond-Fontaine, whose clients come both from Montreal, an hour and a half away, and from Drummondville and Sherbrooke, about thirty minutes away by car. “We are also a small community that sticks together a lot,” notes the entrepreneur, who appreciates this close bond with other residents.
“It’s a special life. Not everyone wants that. But once they arrive, they don’t want to leave. They want to stay for generations, ”says Mayor James Johnston, who does not lack good words for his village with great attractive power. “I may be too biased, but in Quebec and in Canada, the Eastern Townships is the best place to stay in the world. And I travel a lot! »