The Story of Geelong

from its earliest times

The Geelong Historical Society is collating stories of Geelong and its origins: from the Wadawurrung times, from the first European contacts and through to subsequent early developments. We begin the stories with the earliest written accounts of the region, and intend to regularly build upon that base to include a variety of voices and perspectives.

The starting point for this collation is the first volume of the Investigator. Under the editorship of Ian Wynd, it published a regular series it called ‘The Story of Geelong’ and I have opted to use that name too. The writer of these small histories is unrecorded and I have credited the writing to the magazine and its editor. Included also are some articles published earlier on the website that focus on Lt Grant and later Matthew Flinders.

Readers, especially those from Aboriginal and Torres Strait communities, should be warned that the content may be culturally sensitive and that some of the language choices of the writers or authors may be inappropriate today and reflect the attitudes of the period when they were written.

A History of Geelong

Port Phillip Map based on Lt. Murray's exploration in1802

1800s Lt. John Murray Port Phillip Swan Bay The Investigator The Story of Geelong Wadawurrung

Murray in the Lady Nelson – Investigator Vol 1 No 1

The Story of Geelong. The first edition of Investigator, the Geelong Historical Society magazine, was published in September of 1965 and it included a series of articles it described as ‘the story of Geelong’. The aim was to chronicle the earliest European exploration of Port Phillip Bay and the greater Geelong area. No author is …

Port Phillip Shipping News Video

Grant’s Secret Discovery

In this well researched and produced video, GHS member Harry Roberts, provides the viewer with the background and intrigue behind the secret discovery of Port Phillip in the early 1800s …

1800s George Bass Indented Head Matthew Flinders Port Phillip The Investigator The Story of Geelong

Flinders in the Investigator – Investigator Vol 1 No 2

Flinders in the Investigator. This article on Matthew Flinders was the second in a series called ‘The Story of Geelong’ and originally published in the first volume of the Geelong Historical Society’s magazine ‘Investigator’. It provides some context for and a brief snapshot and chronology of Matthew Flinders’ activities in Port Phillip during 1802. Of …

1800s Indented Head Latest News Notable People Port Phillip Video Wadawurrung You Yangs

Flinders and Port 16

Port 16 … is this Matthew Flinder’s most important discovery? In 1802 when Matthew Flinders began his journey that resulted in the first circumnavigation of our continent he made one discovery that he prosaically labelled as Port 16. We know it better as Port Phillip. Following maps and guides provided by George Bass, Flinders at …

1800s Charles Grimes James Flemming Port Phillip The Investigator The Story of Geelong

Grimes and Flemming – Investigator Vol 1 No 3

Grimes and Flemming – the Story of Geelong. In the May edition of 1966 the Investigator magazine continued its ‘Story of Geelong’ with the following account of the five week expedition to Port Phillip mounted by Charles Grimes and James Flemming in early 1803. Despatched from Sydney, Grimes’ party completed a thorough survey of Port …

Port Phillip map based on Tuckey's survey

1800s David Collins Indented Head Lieutenant Tuckey Port Phillip Sullivan Bay Swan Bay The Investigator The Story of Geelong Wadawurrung William Buckley

Collins and the Sullivan Bay Settlement – Investigator Vol 1 No 4

David Collins and the Sullivan Bay Settlement In the fourth issue of Investigator magazine in 1966, the Story of Geelong featured an account of the ill-fated settlement at Sullivan Bay in 1803. The article focused on the survey work done by Lieutenant Tuckey as he explored Port Phillip Bay. It touches on, but does not …

Port Phillip Bay as depicted by Hume & Hovell

1820s Geelong Hamilton Hume Port Phillip The Investigator The Story of Geelong Wadawurrung William Hovell You Yangs

Hume and Hovell – Investigator Vol 1 No 5

Hume and Hovell The fifth instalment of The Story of Geelong was published in the Investigator magazine during November 1966. It covers the overland exploration undertaken by Hume & Hovell during 1824 and it provides interesting detail on their journey and their interactions with the Wadawurrung, which included the names of important natural features such …

Port Phillip map showing Wedge's explorations

1830s Geelong Barwon Heads Indented Head John Helder Wedge Port Phillip The Investigator The Story of Geelong Torquay Wadawurrung William Buckley

Wedge, Thomson and William Buckley – Investigator Vol 2 No 2

This is the seventh instalment of the Investigator’s series ‘The Story of Geelong’, published in May 1967. Using John Wedge’s journals and a subsequent map of his explorations the writer takes the reader along on that first recorded exploration of our region. Included amongst his party was William Buckley and some other Wadawurrung men, and …

Steam Packet Wharf, Macks Hotel, Geelong. Date: C1857 Artist: Samuel Thomas Gill (1818 - 1880)

1830s Geelong 1840s Geelong Newspapers The Investigator

Geelong’s Early Development: 1839-1841 – Investigator – Vol 3 No 1

Geelong 1839-1841: its early development. In the first issue of 1968 the Ian Wynd, the editor of the Investigator magazine, continued his ‘Story of Geelong’. His focus in the February edition was the early development of the township of Geelong between 1839 and 1841. He begins his account with the sale of the first lots …

1830s Geelong 1840s Geelong 1850s Geelong Foster Fyans Letters The Story of Geelong Wadawurrung William Buckley

Letters from Victorian Pioneers to Governor La Trobe, 1853: No 18

Foster Fyans (1790-1870) played a significant role in the European settlement of Victoria and the dispossession of its Aboriginal people. This article examines a letter he wrote in 1853 about his experiences at that time. Fyans joined the British Army. He served in Crimea, Spain and in India. In 1833 he was transferred to Sydney …