eHive Object Details

Name/TitlePapers re memorials of the first settlement at Sullivan('s) Bay, 1803-04, and later settlements in the 19th century (1942-1964)

About this objectCorrespondence, memoranda and newspaper cuttings re memorials of the first settlement at Sullivan('s) Bay, 1803-04, and later settlements in the 19th century. The correspondence includes both handwritten manuscripts and typed papers.

Includes:

Reference to preservation of McCrae homestead, George Coppin's home and rotunda, interference with graves, restoration of a lime kiln, memorials at the Koonya Hotel and 'The Rocks'

Material re David Collins memorial organised by R.H.S.V., which includes correspondence with Jean Field and several newspaper cuttings; and, unveiling of monument on Australia Day, 1964.

Reference is also made to sub-division of land; Ocean Park Reserve, with correspondence between Jean Field, Lands Department, Peninsula Development Association and Shire of Flinders. Including copies of two blueprints regarding the Site of the Memorial of the 'Collins' settlement.

Material on Portsea Quarantine Station (cemetery), includes a list (compiled by Marjorie Tipping) of the Sorrento graves - 1803-04 - of the prisoners, seamen and free persons from the Collins' expedition (ships 'Ocean' and 'Calcutta') and a rough list of graves of a later settlement (deaths between 1852-1915) and comments on the condition of the cemetery by E. W. Moorhead.

Four black & white photographs (12.9x9cm each) taken 1960 of the lime kilns at Rye. (VHR number H1930) Unknown figure, woman in two out of four photographs.

History:

Sullivan Bay lies 60 km due south of Melbourne on Port Phillip, one kilometre east of Sorrento, Victoria. It was established as a short-lived convict settlement in 1803 by Lieutenant-Colonel David Collins, who named the bay after the Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, John Sullivan.

The site was chosen because of its strategic location near the entrance of Port Phillip Bay. The settlement is significant because it was the first attempt to settle Europeans permanently in what is now Victoria and was a key link in the expansion of the colony of New South Wales into Tasmania and Victoria, and the control of Bass Strait as a trade route.

In 1802, Lieutenant John Murray discovered Port Phillip Bay and claimed it for the British Crown, and Matthew Flinders further explored the area that same year. The British government was impressed with their positive reports, and were also worried that the French might try to establish colonies there.

They decided to get in first. In April 1803 HMS Calcutta and the transport ship Ocean sailed from England, via the Cape of Good Hope, carrying officers, a marine detachment, free settlers, and 301 convicts to Port Phillip, and some wives and children. They arrived on 10 October 1803.

Shortly after arriving, a party led by James Tuckey was dispatched to explore Port Phillip Bay. They reported that the land was poor and there was little fresh water even though the Yarra and Maribyrnong Rivers had been discovered on 2 January 1803 by Charles Grimes' party, months before the arrival of the Sullivans Bay colonists. They also reported that suitable timber could not be found. The treacherous entrance to the bay made the site unsuitable for whaling and with few marines, the settlement was vulnerable to attack.

Collins asked Governor King for permission to abandon the site, and was eventually given permission to do so. On 30 January 1804, Collins and some of the convicts left in Ocean and Lady Nelson for Van Diemens Land (now Tasmania,) where John Bowen had established a settlement at Risdon Cove in 1803. They were moved as two parties, the second leaving on 20 May, just over seven months after the settlement was established. Records show 30 people died at the settlement.

During the brief occupation, 21 convicts escaped. One of these was William Buckley who lived in the area around Geelong for 33 years before meeting with John Batman's party in 1835.

Little evidence of the settlement remains. Four graves on the eastern headland, and parts of barrels, leg irons, bottles and other pieces are all that exist. The Collins Settlement Historic Reserve, comprising about 2 km of coastline, is protected under the Victorian Heritage Register and the Mornington Peninsula Planning Scheme.

Colonel David Collins (3 March 1756 – 24 March 1810) was a British Marine officer who was appointed as Judge-Advocate to the new colony being established in Botany Bay. He sailed with Governor Arthur Phillip, on the First Fleet to establish a penal colony at what is now Sydney. He became secretary to the first couple of Governors, later being appointed to start a secondary colony where he founded the city of Hobart as the founding Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land (later becoming the state of Tasmania).

MakerVarious

Period1800-1810

Subject and Association KeywordsSorrento (Vic.)

Subject and Association KeywordsCollins, David, 1756-1810

Subject and Association KeywordsPortsea Quarantine Station

Subject and Association KeywordsMcCrae Homestead

Subject and Association KeywordsOcean Park Reserve

Subject and Association KeywordsCoppin, George Selth, 1819-1906.

Named CollectionManuscripts Collection

Object numberMS 000078 (Box 032 [3-4])

Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved