Early history: The Victorian upper house seat of Evelyn goes back to the commencement of the Parliament of Victoria in 1851, when we just had the Legislative Council. In 1856, when the Legislative Assembly was established, Evelyn became a lower house seat. Evelyn County in Victoria got it's name from William J Evelyn, who served as MP for Surrey West, in the House of Commons, England, from 1849 -1857. Evelyn County was in similar proximity to the current seat of Evelyn. The original Evelyn railway station was 27.5 miles from Melbourne, and was part of the Lilydale to Warburton line.
Population: The Evelyn electorate strikes a perfect balance between urban and rural communities. According to recent census figures, 52,532 people live in Evelyn and 37,452 are eligible to vote. Generally considered a younger electorate, the average age of Evelyn citizens is 33 years.
Around 7.2% of the people living in Evelyn were born in the United Kingdom. Evelyn has a very small population of Asian, African and Eastern European migrants.
Area and suburbs: Covers 276.7 sq km on the outer north-eastern fringe of Melbourne. The suburbs of Evelyn are Chirnside Park, Coldstream, Gruyere, Lilydale, Mooroolbark, Mount Evelyn, Seville, Wandin, Wonga Park and Yering.
History/trivia: In 120 years, this seat has only been held by the Labor Party three times. It was won by Labor in 1952 when John Cain Sr led Labor to majority government for the first time in its history. It was again won by Labor in 1982 when John Cain Jr led Labor to its second majority government. The third victory was in 2002 as part of the landslide victory for Steve Bracks.
Industries of area: wineries, orchards, nurseries, tourism, light manufacturing and retail.
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