GeelongThe following is a collection of information on the settlers and early important figures in the

Geelong district (plus some of H.W.H. Smythe’s mates!).

All of my information has been gathered using the following:Wathaurong: the people that said no (prepared by Bruce Pascoe)

Geelong: The Pivot (by Ian Wynd)Australian Dictionary of Biography Online www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/

and various records from the Geelong Heritage CentrePictures: Geelong Mural at the State Government Offices, Geelong Bollards & street signs.

1

The Wathaurong were and still are the local aboriginal people of the Geelong district. They are the ones that John Batman made the supposed “deals” with, and also the people who allowed the escaped convict - William Buckley - into their tribe.

2

William Buckley (1780-1856) was a convict who escaped from Lt Collins’ convict settlement in Sorrento in 1803 and eventually lived in close proximity to the Wathaurong people for 32 years. He acted as interpretor for John Batman, and for Foster Fyans. He died in Hobart aged 75.

3

Balliang street was named after a Wathaurong man who lived around 1840. The word itself

means ‘insect bat’.

4

H.W.H. Smythe was Victorian surveyor from 1837-1841 and surveyed the original town of Geelong.

5

Governor Sir Charles FitzRoy (1796-1858) was the last

Governor of NSW before Victoria became a separate

colony. He served from 1846-1855.

6

Charles Swanston (1789-1850) was a key person in the formation of the Port Phillip Association. Along with John Batman & John Pascoe Fawkner, Swanston’s aim in establishing the Port Phillip Association was to gain land in the Port Phillip district for running sheep. His role was to obtain the necessary finance and to act as the association’s commercial manager.

7

According to Ian Wynd, Bellerine/

Bellarine is a Wathaurong word that was spelt Balla-Wein. Balla means

elbow

8

Foster Fyans (1790-1870) was the first police magistrate for Geelong, and Geelong’s first appointed Mayor. He is remembered for the building of the breakwater and for his cruel policies against the Wathaurong Aborigines

9

Barwon, or Barre Warre is an Wathaurong word meaning ‘river from mountains to sea’. The

Barwon River flows from the Otways into Bass Strait through Geelong. In the early days it was the

primary source of water for the small town.

10

William Lonsdale (1799-1864) was was stationed in the Port

Phillip district as police magistrate. Lonsdale

Street, Geelong; Lonsdale Street,

Melbourne, and Point Lonsdale are named

after him.

11

‘Gheringhap’ is a

Wathaurong word meaning

‘yellow blossom on the black wattle’.

12

Charles Latrobe (1801-1875) was

Superintendent of the Port Phillip District until it became the colony of Victoria in

1851. He then became the first Governor of

the Colony of Victoria.

13

Nicholas Fenwick was the second police

magistrate of Geelong. He served between Foster Fyans’ two

periods of duty as Police Magistrate. Fenwick

undertook the building of the Yarra St Pier.

14

McKillop St was originally called

Fisher St. (after David Fisher, a early

Geelong settler who farmed near Ceres). The name was

changed by 1854 but no one seems to

know why.

15

‘Yarra’ is an Wathaurong word meaning ‘flowing’. There is an alternative explanation: an early map shows Yarra st as ‘Yarrow’, that may refer to the river or district of that name in Scotland.

16

Dr Myers was the personal physician to C.J. LaTrobe and was one of four doctors who opened

the first hospital in Melbourne in 1840.

17

‘Malop’ is the road leading to ‘Moolap’, and is a contraction of Wathaurong word for the area that was renamed Point Henry. “Maloppio” is a Wathaurong word which means ‘good place to fish’.

18

‘Corio’ is an Wathaurong word

meaning ‘sandy bay’. Corio Bay, the bay on which Geelong built its wool industry, is

really a small part of the larger Port Phillip Bay (named

after Arthur Phillip).

19

Ryrie street is named after the Ryrie pastoral family. Stewart and possibly his son William were great sportsmen and associated with H.W.H. Smythe in the early days of the Melbourne Club.

20

Governor Sir Richard Bourke (1777-1855)

was theGovernor of NSW

after Macquarie from 1831-1837

21

Maud Street was named after Joshua Maud Woolley. He owned land in one part of this street.

22

Dr James Kilgour (1811-1879) was an early Geelong doctor. He was associated with the committee formed to sponsor the Flinders National Grammar School (1856), now Matthew Flinders Girls Secondary College.

23

Lt Alfred Miller Mundy (1809-1877), was associated with HWH Smythe in founding the Melbourne Club and the first cricket club in Melbourne. His name was added by Smythe in 1838 to those of Ryrie, Verner etc who had little if any association with Geelong. Mundy married the daughter of Rear Admiral Governor Sir John Hindmarsh, the first Governor of South Australia, and was also a member of the British House of Commons.

24

Garden St was shown on an early map as Gardens Street because it formed the western boundary of the

gardens

25

‘Moorabool’ is a Wathaurong word meaning

‘Mussel’.

26

William Verner was the Chief

Commissioner of Insolvent Estates, Melbourne, and a friend of H.W.H

Smythe.

27

Anne Drysdale (1793-1853) & Caroline Elizabeth Newcomb (1812-1874) were female squatters on the Bellarine Peninsula. Their first hut was at the end of what is now Leather St & Boundary Rd, Breakwater. Later they lived at ‘Coryule’ near Drysdale. The town and suburb of Drysdale and Newcomb named after them.

28

J.A Cowie (1808-1875) & David Stead (1797-1886) were pioneer squatters who landed sheep at Cowie’s Creek and their run extended from the Moorabool River to Corio Bay.

29

Alexander Thomson (1800-1866) was a doctor in early Geelong. He was an early member of the Legislative Assembly and Geelong’s first Elected Mayor. Thomson also controlled the “Corio Chronicle” (the competing newspaper with the ‘Geelong Advertiser’ run by James Harrison). The suburb of Thomson is named after him,

30

James Harrison (1816-1893) was the founder of the ʻGeelong Advertiserʼ (Victoriaʼs first morning paper). He also invented refrigeration. The James Harrison Bridge at the end of La Trobe Tce (crossing the Barwon) and James Harrison Secondary College are named after him.

31