after explorers Hamilton Hume and William Hovell reached the northern edge of Corio Bay, the Geelong area was named Geelong in 1827 presumably as the Aborigines called the area Corayo, the bay being called Jillong. “Geelong” was first mentioned in the first book on Port Phillip printed in Australia, Hovell and Hume's Journey of Discovery to Port Phillip, New South Wales, 1824-1825.
sealers and whalers from Tasmania frequented the south coast of Victoria in the 1820's including the Mills brothers in Port Fairy and later, Dutton who built a house in Portland in 1829 and was joined by Henty who would become a major squatter of the western districts covering large areas of land north of Portland.
in March 1836, three squatters, David Fisher, James Strachan and George Russell arrived on the Caledonia and settled in the Geelong area which was surveyed in 1838 by which time it had a population of 545.
1835 was the main start of the squatters arriving (mostly from Van Dienman's Land) and claiming large areas of grazing land and displacing and eventually decimating the Aboriginal population
in 1833, Mr. Robert Russell, surveyor, arrives in Sydney from England, and he, along with Hoddle in 1837 created the plan for Melbourne based on the site of the falls on the Yarra River at Queens St which demarcated the salt water from the fresh water.
1)in 1834, W.C. Wentworth tried to buy the entire South Island of New Zealand for £100
Oct 1834, the
Battle of Pinjarra near the Murray River - 80 Aborigines and 1 European died
2)by 1835, the 1835, the pastures through the middle of Van Dieman's Land were occupied, and additional grazing country would require labour and capital-intensive land clearing, hence a search for more grazing land looked towards Port Phillip District (Victoria)
in 1835 the Port Phillip Association headed by Vandemonians (Tasmanians) — Batman a pastoralist, Swanston a banker, Gellibrand a lawyer, and Wedge a government surveyor — ““illegally” planned to occupy land in Victoria with their sheep so that they could expand their pastoral experiences. In order to achieve their aims, Batman came over to Port Phillip and signed a treaty, or made an agreement, to purchase land from the local Aborigines. He claimed to have purchased 600,000 acres, running roughly from somewhere a little bit to the north of Melbourne round about the suburbs of Preston or Northcote down to Geelong and round into the Bellarine Peninsula, and for that he agreed to pay the ‘sellers’ an annual tribute, or rent if you like, of goods to the value of £10 a year. He hoped to be able to persuade the British government to hold the ‘treaty’ valid so that he and his partners could proceed with their pastoral activities.
October 1835: the Proclamation of Governor Bourke that Australia was terra nullius upon which British settlement was based, reinforcing the notion that the land belonged to no one prior to the British Crown taking possession of it, and that all people found occupying land without the authority of the government would be considered illegal trespassers, and that Aboriginal people therefore could not sell or assign the land, nor could an individual person acquire it, other than through distribution by the Crown.
squatting began soon after October 1836 when “overlanders” Hawdon, Gardiner and Hepburn drove the first cattle from NSW down the central corridor, roughly following Major Mitchell's line
in March 1837, Governor Bourke visited the settlement, and approved Robert Hoddle’s grid design for the township of Melbourne
by the end of 1838, according to Port Phillip’s Crown Lands Commissioner, there were 57 squatters in the Port Phillip District.
3)in 1839, NSW Govt introduces a £10 licence for each sheep grazing station (previously there were no fees), squatters could just select their own land based on loosely defined boundaries
in August 1840, the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners of the British Government decided to allow the purchase of land anywhere in Port Phillip District (Victoria)
Special Surveys could be requested to enable the purchase of 5,120 acres (2,070 ha), or eight square miles, for ₤1 per acre. This price was significantly below the value of the land at that time.
in March 1841, to restrict the sale of valuable land, Governor Gipps introduced regulations that required the land to be more than 5 miles (8.0 km) from a surveyed township, and to restrict the water-frontage to one mile (1.6 km) per four square miles of area. The regulation was rescinded in August 1841.
the drought and depression of the early 1840s was disastrous for many land speculators who experienced heavy losses
in 1848, NSW Govt introduces Pre-emptive Right on registered runs - the right to buy a square mile (640 acres) for one pound per acre.
by the time Victoria was established as a separate colony in 1851, there were 5,000,000 sheep in the District, more than were in rest of New South Wales, and there were just on 100,000 people, 90% of the population of the rural districts were male! Each shepherd looked after a flock of usually about 500 in a land with few if any fences. The aboriginal population had declined ~90%, mainly from disease and decreased birth rates, although perhaps up to 10% of the decline was due to violent conflicts with the pastoralists.
4)1851-53, George Douglas Smythe surveys the Gippsland coastline
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