Dame Nellie Melba was one of the world’s greatest opera singers’ hailing from Richmond Victoria Australia.
Dame Nellie Melba was born Helen Porter Mitchell on May 19, 1861 at “Doonside” in Richmond. She changed her name to Melba, a condensed version of Melbourne because she liked it’s association with her hometown of Melbourne and Australia.
She grew up with her parents Isabella and David Mitchell, and her seven younger brothers and sisters at their country home in Lilydale. It was a very musical family which Nellie continued becoming the most famous Diva in the operatic world.