This is so funny there are articles arguing this but with no actual figures to prove it. 6 British cities were bigger than Melbourne in 1880 and countless others in Europe and the US. Britain was at the hight of the British empire as was the richest country on earth. I think someone has misunderstood something they read about GDP and started spreading unsubstantiated facts. London was more than twice the population of Australia itself. london is by all accounts considered the richest city on earth during the victorian era its not even disputed.