Place Names | Coast of Victoria Place Names | Coast of Victoria

Features on the coast of Victoria are listed in a west-to-east sequence, and located by latitude and longitude, taken from the Register of Place Names in Victoria (Surveyor-General's Office, Department of Crown Lands and Survey, 1983).

The origin of each place name is then given. The list does not include purely descriptive names, such as Sandy Point, Red Bluff or Lakes Entrance, or allusive names such as the two London Bridges. Some descriptive names are misleading: there is a Fairhaven near Airey's Inlet, and another on the west coast of French Island, but neither has a good harbour.

In some cases more than one explanation has been suggested, and there is often doubt about the meanings of Aboriginal place names. Some of the explanations are vague, and some are controversial. Sources of information are related to references listed at the end.

Victorian Place Names on the Coast of Victoria

The Western District (Discovery Bay to Warrnambool) Discovery Bay (38° 18' S, 141° 20' E) -named by Major Thomas Mitchell when he came down the Glenelg River on 20 August 1836 (Mitchell 1838).

Glenelg River (38° 03' S, 141° 01' E) - named by Major Thomas Mitchell when he came down it in a boat in August 1836, after Colonial Secretary Baron Glenelg, Charles Grant (Mitchell 1838).

Nelson (38° 03' S, 141° 01' E) - adopted for a settlement on the banks of the Glenelg River in January 1852 to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Lady Nelson sailing past (Blake 1977).

Nobles Rocks (38° 22' S, 141° 07' E) - named after a local landowner, Noble Liddle (Anne Grant, Portland Family History Group).

Suttons Rocks (38° 09' S, 141° 11' E) - named after the Suttons, who held land on either side of these rocks (Anne Grant, Portland Family History Group).

Cape Montesquieu (38° 09 S, 141° 11' E) - named by Captain Nicolas Baudin when he sailed past on the Geographe on 2 April 1802 (Baudin Journal) Descartes Bay (38° 20' S, 141° 22' E) - named by Baudin when he sailed past on the Geographe on 2 April 1802. (Baudin Journal)

Cape Duquesne (38° 23' S, 141° 22' E) - named by Baudin when he sailed past on the Geographe on 2 April 1802, after the Marquis Duquesne, a 17th century French naval officer. (Baudin Journal)

Cape Bridgewater (38° 24' S, 141° 25' E) -named by Lieutenant James Grant on the Lady Nelson 4 December 1800, after the Duke of Bridgewater (1756-1829) (Grant 1803).

Bridgewater Bay (38° 23' S, 141° 27' E) - as for Cape Bridgewater (Grant 1803).

Cape Nelson (38° 26' S, 141° 32' E) - named by Lieutenant James Grant on the Lady Nelson 4 December 1800, after his ship (Grant 1803).

Nelson Bay (38° 24' S, 141° 35' E) - as for Cape Nelson.

Cape Sir William Grant (38° 24' S, 141° 37' E) - named by Lieutenant James Grant on the Lady Nelson 5 December 1800, after a relative, Sir William Grant (Grant 1803).

Lawrence Rocks (38° 24' S, 141° 41' E) - named Lawrence Islands by Lieutenant James Grant on the Lady Nelson on 5 December 1800, after Captain Lawrence, an Elder Brother of Trinity House (Grant 1803). (Baudin later called it Ile du Dragon when he sailed past on the Geographe on 1 April 1802).

2 Point Danger, Portland (38° 23' S, 141° 39' E) - probably named by whalers or early Portland settlers: this is not the Point Danger named by Grant on 7 December 1800, for that was just east of Cape Otway. (Anne Grant, Portland Family History Group).

Anderson Point (38° 20' S, 141° 37' E) - north of Whalers Point, Portland: possibly from the Anderson brothers who came to Portland from Tasmania in 1839 on the way to Mortlake or (more likely) after William Primrose Anderson, a shipping agent in 1883 (Portland Historical Society).

Dutton Way (38° 18' S, 141° 36' E) - named after Captain William Dutton, a whaler, who came to settle in Portland in 1828 (Blake 1977).

Portland Bay (38° 20' S, 141° 48' E) - named by Lieutenant James Grant on the Lady Nelson when he reached Cape Otway on 7 December 1800, after the Duke of Portland, a Secretary of State and later Prime Minister of Britain (Grant 1803). The town took its name from the bay. (Baudin called it Baie Tourville when he sailed past on the Geographe on 1 April 1802).

Surrey River (38° 12' S, 141° 35' E) - named after the English county by Major Mitchell on 30 August 1836 at the request of Edward Henty, founder of Portland (Mitchell 1838).

Narrawong (38° 16' S, 141° 42' E) - Aboriginal term for long river (Blake 1977).

Fitzroy River (38° 18' S, 141° 20' E) -named by Major Mitchell on 28 August 1836 after Lord Fitzroy Somerset (Mitchell 1838).

Lady Julia Percy Island (38° 25' S, 142° 00' E) - named Lady Julia's Island by Lieutenant James Grant on the Lady Nelson 6 December 1800, after the wife of the Duke of Northumberland (Grant 1803). Flinders gave the fuller name when he sailed past in the Investigator on 20 April 1802. Baudin had called it Ile aux Alouettes when he sailed past on the Geographe on 1 April 1802.

Shaw River (38° 19' S, 142° 03' E) - named after Sir James Shaw Kennedy, a Peninsula War veteran, by Major Mitchell on 4 September 1836. (Mitchell 1838) Lake Yambuk (38° 20' S, 142° 03' E) - named after Baxter's Yambuk (Yambuck) cattle run in 1843 (Blake 1977).

McKechnies Craigs (38° 23' S, 142° 08' E) - named after the four McKechnie brothers, who came to farm nearby at Lagoon Lodge in 1863 (Warrnambool & District Historical Society).

Cape Reamur (38° 23' S, 142° 09' E) - named Cape Reamur by Baudin when he sailed past on the Geographe on 1 April 1802, after a French scientist (1687-1757) (Baudin Journal).

Griffiths Island, Port Fairy (38° 24' S, 142° 15' E) - named after Captain Jonathan Griffiths, a whaler and shipbuilder from Launceston (Tasmania), who had a whaling station here in the 1820s (Blake 1977).

Port Fairy (38° 23' S, 142° 14' E) - the bay was named (probably in 1828) after Captain Wishart's ship The Fairy, which sought shelter from a storm here on 25 April 1810 (Reed 1973). The town was called Belfast by James Atkinson (after his home town in Northern Ireland) but it became Port Fairy in 1887 (Blake 1977).

Armstrong Bay (38° 22' S, 142° 22' E) - named after Captain Armstrong, captain of the Pelican and mate of Captain Wishart's ship The Fairy (Powling 1980).

Tower Hill (38° 19' S, 142° 22' E) - named Piton de Reconnaissance (Reconnaissance Peak) by Baudin, who stood his ship Geographe offshore here on the night of 31 March-1 April 1802. This name appears on charts later prepared by Peron and Freycinet (Baudin Journal). On 20 April 1802 Matthew Flinders sailed past in the Investigator in squally weather and recorded 'Peaked Hill, position uncertain' on his chart. Major Mitchell called it Mount Hotspur when he saw it from Mount Napier on 10 September 1836 (Mitchell, p. 253). It is uncertain who first gave the name Tower Hill, but it may have been C.J. Tyers, Government Surveyor, and his assistant T.S Townsend, when they made a trigonometrical survey of the country between Melbourne and the Glenelg River in October 1839. Alternatively it could be a rendering of an Aboriginal name for this district, Tararer (Warrnambool & District Historical Society).

3 Rutledge Cutting (38° 21' S, 142° 22' E) - named after William Rutledge, magistrate and landowner in Warrnambool in the 1850s (Warrnambool & District Historical Society).

Pickering Point (38° 24' S, 142° 28' E) - named after William Pickering, a government surveyor who in 1844 completed Tyers' survey of the country between the Moyne and the mouth of Merri Creek (Warrnambool & District Historical Society).

Thunder Point, Warrnambool (38° 24' S, 142° 28' E) - named Cap de Mont-Tabur by Baudin on 31 March 1802, and shown thus on Freycinet's chart (1808) (Baudin Journal). It was probably renamed from the roar of the surf.

Merri River (38° 20' S, 142° 28' E) - from the Aboriginal work for rocky or stony (Warrnambool & District Historical Society).

Warrnambool (38° 23' S, 142° 28' E) - from the Aboriginal warnimble, abundant water (Blake 1977).

La Bella Reef (shown on some maps as Annabella Reef), Warrnambool (38° 25' S, 142° 28' E) - the Norwegian barque La Bella was wrecked on the reef near Warrnambool Harbour on 10 November 1905. (Les O'Callaghan, Warrnambool & District Historical Society).

Lady Bay (38° 24' S, 142° 29' E) - named after Captain Wishart's ship Lady of the Lake in 1844. (Warrnambool & District Historical Society). The Port Campbell coast (Warrnambool to Princetown)

Hopkins River (38° 20' S, 142° 38' E) - named after Sir John Paul Hopkins by Major Mitchell in 1836 (Reed 1973).

Childers Cove (38° 30' S, 142° 40' E) - named after the barque Childers (Childons or Children), wrecked on a reef off here on 15 January 1839 (Blake 1977).

Stanhope Bay (38° 30' S, 142° 42' E) - named after the Stanhope family, who farmed locally in the 19th century (Warrnambool & District Historical Society).

Murnane(s) Bay (38° 30' S, 142° 40' E) - - named after the Murnane family, who farmed locally in the 19th century (Warrnambool & District Historical Society).

Flaxman Hill (38° 32' S, 142° 45' E) - named after John Flaxman, who was a Warrnambool land agent in 1863 (Warrnambool & District Historical Society).

Antares Reef (38° 33' S, 142° 41' E) - named after the Italian ship Antares, wrecked here in 1914 (Port Campbell Historical Society).

Bay of Martyrs (38° 36' S, 142° 50' E) - related to nearby Massacre Hill, where it is said that many Aborigines were slain (Blake 1977).

Peterborough (38° 36' S, 142° 53' E) - named after the town in eastern England (Blake 1977).

Curdies Inlet (38° 36' S, 142° 53' E) - named after Dr Daniel Curdie, who in 1840 became owner of the Tandarook Station in the shire of Camperdown. He made his way through dense bush down Curdies River from Purrumbete to the sea in 1845, and found the lagoon that bears his name (Port Campbell Historical Society).

Newfield Bay (38° 37' S, 142° 54' E) - named after the ship Newfield, wrecked here on 29 August 1892 (Port Campbell Historical Society).

Schomberg Rock (38° 37' S, 142° 53' E) - named after the wooden clipper ship Schomberg, wrecked on this reef on 27 December 1855 (Port Campbell Historical Society).

Point Hesse (38° 37' S, 142° 56' E) - named after solicitor George Hesse, who with J.T. Gellibrand was lost in the Otway Ranges in February 1837 (Port Campbell Historical Society).

4 Port Campbell (38° 37' S, 143° 00' E) - named after Captain Alexander Campbell, who settled in the Western District after being Harbourmaster in Port Phillip in 1836 (Blake 1977).

Sturgess Point (38° 37' S, 143° 00' E) - named after William George Sturgess, a marine surveyor, who lived in Port Campbell in the 1870s and campaigned for the establishment of a port there (Port Campbell Historical Society).

Loch Ard Gorge (38° 38' S, 143° 04' E) - named after the ship Loch Ard, wrecked on the reef beside Mutton Bird Island on 1 June 1878. There were only two survivors, Tom Pearce and Eva Carmichael: caves in the gorge are named after them (Port Campbell Historical Society).

Twelve Apostles (38° 42' S, 143° 08' E) - rock stacks off the cliffs east of Port Campbell, originally known as The Sow and Pigs (or Piglets), Mutton Bird Island being the Sow, and shown thus on a map used by C.J. La Trobe during his March 1864 journey to Cape Otway). It is thought that they were re-named in the 1950s, but there are several 'biblical' names hereabouts (Bay of Martyrs, Crown of Thorns Rock, The Grotto) shown on earlier maps. By August 2005 only eight Apostles were still standing (Port Campbell Historical Society).

Gibson Steps (38° 40' S, 143° 07' E) - named in 1869 after Hugh Gibson, who built the Glenample Homestead nearby (Port Campbell Historical Society).

Princetown (38° 40' S, 143° 10' E) - possibly named after Prince Alfred, a son of Queen Victoria: some say he visited the area during his stay in Australia in 1867-68; alternatively after Princetown, the site of Dartmoor Prison in Devonshire, England, but no connection has been demonstrated (Blake 1977).

Gellibrand River (38° 40' S, 143° 10' E) - named after Joseph Gellibrand, a solicitor from Van Diemens Land (Blake 1977).

Point Ronald (38° 42' S, 143° 09' E) - named on Charles Wilkinson's 1864 map, possibly after one of his geological companions. The Otways and South Bellarine Coast (Princetown to Point Lonsdale) The coast between the mouth of Gellibrand River and the mouth of Aire River was (and to some extent still is) difficult of access from the land, and it is likely that some coastal names were given by people who sailed past, notably the Henty brothers in the 1830s and Captain John Lort Stokes on HMS Beagle in 1843. Others may have been given by the geologist Charles Wilkinson in 1863-64 (Walker 1981). In 1947 George Baker wrote that: 'for purposes of concise description and accurate location it has become necessary to attach names to certain of the points, bays and gullies in the Moonlight Head area, as hitherto many of these features were unknown by name, even to local inhabitants' (Baker 1950, p. 17). However, except for the three following it is not clear which names he invented. Point Margaret (38° 43'S, 143° 10' E) - probably named by George Baker in 1947 (Baker 1950).

Buckleys Point (38° 43'S, 143° 10' E)- probably named by George Baker in 1947 (Baker 1950).

Point Pember (38° 44'S, 143° 11' E)- probably named by George Baker in 1947 (Baker 1950).

Dilwyn Bay (38° 44'S, 143° 11' E) - possibly named by the geologist Charles.S. Wilkinson during his 1863-64 survey. and taken as the type locality for the Dilwyn Clay Formation. Point Bell (38° 44'S, 143° 11' E) - possibly named by the geologist Charles.S. Wilkinson during his 1863-64 survey.

Point Lucton (38° 45'S, 143° 11' E) - possibly named by the geologist Charles.S. Wilkinson during his 1863-64 survey.

Marie Gabrielle Reef (38° 45' S, 143° 12' E) - named after the ship Marie Gabrielle, wrecked on 25 November 1869 near Moonlight Head. The adjacent beach is called Wreck Beach (Port Campbell Historical Society).

5 Cat Reef (38° 46' S, 143° 13' E)- named after a colony of wild cats that lived on the nearby cliffs (Ian Salmon 1990 'Five to Eighty-five' p. 15). It has sometimes been called Catt Reef, and some (including Charles S. Wilkinson on his 1865 map) have placed it further east, near The Gable.

Moonlight Head (38° 46' S, 143° 14' E) - assumed to be the headland seen by Matthew Flinders from the Investigator in a break in showery weather on the night of 20-21 April 1802 (Flinders 1814).

Maudes Point (38° 45' S, 143° 20' E) - probably named after a local settler

Sutherland Beach (38° 45' S, 143° 21' E) -probably named after a local settler

Freetrader Point (38° 46' S, 145° 14' E) - shown on Murray's Heytesbury map in 1877. There may be a link with a ship called Freetrader, built in Hobart in 1850, and wrecked at the mouth of Hopkins River in 1894.

Cape Volney (38° 46' S, 143° 16' E) - first shown on Freycinet's chart (1808), so probably named by Baudin when he sailed past on the Geographe on 31 March 1802 (Baudin Journal).

Point Reginald (38° 47' S, 143° 17' E) - possibly after Reginald Murray, who made a geological surveys in this area in the 1860s. It was named on a map used by C.J. La Trobe during his March 1864 journey to Cape Otway. (Author's suggestion).

Ryans Den (38° 45' S, 143° 17' E) - named after Dr Charles Ryan, who broke his leg while camping here, crawled across the ranges to the Gellibrand River and floated down to Princetown on a log (Blake 1977).

Bowker Point (38° 45' S, 143° 18' E) - named after the Bowker family, who occupied land at Wangerrip, a short way inland (Jenny Bowker, Princetown).

Milanesia (sometimes called Melanesia) Beach (38° 45' S, 143° 18' E) - named after the ship Milanesia, which was beached here in 1902 (Jane Lennon).

Rotten Point (38° 46' S, 143° 24' E) - so called because of the crumbling nature of the Palaeocene rocks (Rotten Point Sand) exposed in the cliff (Baker 1950). It may have been named by Stokes from the Beagle in 1843; it was shown on Charles Wilkinsons's 1863-4 map and on a map used by C.J. La Trobe during his March 1864 journey to Cape Otway.

Johanna Beach (38° 46' S, 143° 23' E) - named after the Johanna (or Joanna), a schooner wrecked here on 21 September 1843 (Blake 1977).

Aire River (38° 42' S, 143° 29' E) - named with its tributary the Calder River by Surveyor George Smythe in 1845, after Yorkshire rivers that are headstreams of the Humber River. Point Flinders (38° 51' S, 144° 30' E) - named after Captain Matthew Flinders (Blake 1977).

Cape Otway (38° 52' S, 143° 31' E) - named Cape Albany Otway by Lieutenant James Grant on the Lady Nelson 7 December 1800, after Captain William Albany Otway, R.N. (Grant 1803). The Albany was soon omitted. Nicolas Baudin called it Cap Desaix when he sailed past on the Geographe on 31 March 1802 (Baudin Journal). Crayfish Bay (38° 51' S, 143° 32' E) - where crayfish were formerly abundant in the shore reefs, but are now quite rare. A name given by Cape Otway lighthouse men. (Apollo Bay & District Historical Society).

Point Franklin (38° 51' S, 143° 34' E) - named by Surveyor George Smythe after Sir John Franklin, Governor of Van Diemen's Land in 1841, who requested that a lighthouse be built on Cape Otway. Franklin died in 1847 on the expedition seeking a Northwest Passage through ice north of Canada. It is possible that this low headland had previously been named Point Danger by Lieutenant James Grant on the Lady Nelson 7 December 1800 (Grant 1803). There is another Point Franklin in Port Phillip Bay (see below). (Apollo Bay & District Historical Society).

Parker River (38° 49' S, 143° 32' E) - named after Mrs Amelia Parker by Surveyor George Smythe in 1846. He married her in Trinity Church, Sydney on 11 May 1847. He had previously reported 'a river as large as the Yarra about 20 miles east of Cape Otway. The Barham River (see below) is about this 6 distance, but it seems that he meant the Parker River, which is only about 3 miles from Cape Otway (Apollo Bay & District Historical Society). Point Lewis (38° 50' S, 143° 35' E) - a minor point just south of Blanket Bay probably named by Surveyor George Smythe after another surveyor, Mortimer Lewis; of after Bass Strait sailor Captain John Lewis. (Apollo Bay & District Historical Society).

Blanket Bay (38° 49' S, 143° 35' E) - probably named by Surveyor George Smythe, who camped here during his 1846 survey. The bay was later used as a landing place for supplies for the Cape Otway lighthouse. (Apollo Bay & District Historical Society). In his 1856 diary Edward Snell mentioned a Blanket Hall near Apollo Bay.

Elliott River (38° 46' S, 143° 37' E) - possibly named by Surveyor George Smythe, but Elliott has not been identified. (Apollo Bay & District Historical Society). Shelley Beach (38° 48' S, 143° 37' E) - one of several shelly beaches on the Victorian coast that were not named after the poet Shelley (there are no Keats or Browning Beaches either), but merely mis-spelt (Bird 1993)

Cape Marengo (38° 48' S, 143° 39' E) - a Cap Marengo shown on Freycinet's chart (1808) was probably named by Baudin when he sailed past on the Geographe on 30 March 1802. Napoleon won the Battle of Marengo in Italy on 14 June 1800, and Baudin would have known about it before he sailed from Le Havre on 19 October 1800. There is however some doubt on whether this name was given to the little point now known as Cape Marengo; on Freycinet's chart it looks to be Point Franklin. It is shown on some maps as Hayley Point, with Cape Marengo a minor point west of Swell Point (Baudin Journal).

Hayley Point (38° 47' S, 143° 40' E) - named by Surveyor George Smythe in 1846 after a member of his survey party. It may have been the point named Cape Danger by Lieutenant Grant in 1800. (Apollo Bay & District Historical Society).

Henty Reef and Little Henty Reef (38° 47' S, 143° 42' E) - probably named by the Henty brothers (James and Edward) from Portland, who are thought to have come here to set up a whaling sub-station on Point Bunbury. Little Henty Reef is also known as Hayley Reef and Marengo Reef. (Apollo Bay & District Historical Society). Mounts Bay (38° 46' S, 143° 40' E) - there is a Mounts Bay at Penzance in Cornwall, England, but this bay was probably so named by Surveyor George Smythe because of the rocky islets that rise from Marengo Reef offshore (Author's suggestion).

Barham River (38° 44' S, 143° 37' E) - the name is on Surveyor George Smythe's 1846 map, and probably came from an Aboriginal word Burrum, meaning stony river bed. (Apollo Bay & District Historical Society). Alternatively, according to Blake (1977), he may have derived it from the Kentish village of this name, although no connection has been recorded. Point Bunbury,

Apollo Bay (38° 46' S, 143° 41' E) - named by Surveyor George Smythe after H. Bunbury. a Magistrate in the Port Phillip District, who explored this area. (Apollo Bay & District Historical Society).

Apollo Bay (38° 46' S, 143° 40' E) - named by Captain Loutit after his schooner the Apollo, sheltering here from a south-west gale in February 1846, while on one of his trading runs between Melbourne and Portland. Briefly known as Middleton and Krambruk in 1874 (Blake 1977). When Lieutenant Grant saw this area on 7 December 1800 he thought much like the Isle of Wight. He called it Wight's Land, but this was after Captain Wight of the Royal Navy rather than the English island ((Grant 1803): the name has not persisted. (Apollo Bay & District Historical Society).

Skenes Creek (38° 43' S, 143° 43' E) - named by George Smythe after a fellow surveyor A. J. Skene, who became Surveyor General in 1868. (Apollo Bay & District Historical Society). Wongarra (38° 42' S, 143° 46' E) - Aboriginal term for wild pigeon (Blake 1977).

Cape Patton (38° 18' S, 143° 20' E) - named after Vice-Admiral Phillip Patten by Lieutenant James Grant on the Lady Nelson 7 December 1800 (Grant 1803). It is not certain that the headland now known as Cape Patton was the one named by Grant. Baudin had called it Cap de Representations when he sailed 7 past on the Geographe on 30 March 1802, but it is shown as Cap Suffren on Freycinet's chart in 1808 (Baudin Journal).

Addis Bay (38° 41' S, 143° 51' E) - named after Lieutenant Edward Brown Addis, an early Crown Lands Commissioner (Blake 1977).

Mount Meuron (38° 40' S, 143° 51' E) - named after Adolphe de Meuron, a friend of C. J. La Trobe. (Apollo Bay & District Historical Society).

Point Hawdon (38° 40' S, 143° 52' E) - named after Joseph Hawdon, squatter, in 1836. (Apollo Bay & District Historical Society).

Kennet River (38° 40' S, 143° 52' E) - named by Surveyor George Smythe after the river in Berkshire, England. (Apollo Bay & District Historical Society).

Point Sturt (38° 38' S, 143° 54' E) - named by Surveyor George Smythe after Charles Sturt, the explorer of the Murray River. (Apollo Bay & District Historical Society).

Wye River (38° 38' S, 143° 51' E) - named by Surveyor George Smythe, probably after the river that flows from Wales through Monmouthshire, England; there are also Wye Rivers in Derbyshire and Buckinghamshire (Author's suggestion).

Separation Creek (38° 37' S, 143° 52' E) - probably named when the Shire of Winchelsea was separated from the Shire of Otway (Author's suggestion).

Artillery Rocks (38° 36' S, 143° 55' E) - named from the cannon-ball concretions in the Cretaceous sandstones that outcrop here (Author's suggestion).

Mount Defiance (38° 35' S, 143° 56' E) - named by the Great Ocean Road Trust, which also gave names to camp sites such as Hitchcock Gully and Monash Gully on the Otway coast. (Apollo Bay & District Historical Society).

Cumberland River (38° 34' S, 143° 54' E) - probably named by Surveyor George Smythe in 1846, either after the Duke of Cumberland or after the schooner Cumberland in which Charles Grimes explored Port Phillip and King Island in 1802-3 (Blake 1977).

Point Grey, Lorne (38° 33' S, 143° 59' E) - named by Surveyor George Smythe after George Grey, Governor of South Australia 1841-45. (Apollo Bay & District Historical Society).

Lorne (38° 33' S, 143° 58' E) - named after the Marquis of Lorne (a town in Argyllshire, Scotland) in 1869 (Blake 1977).

Loutit Bay, Lorne (38° 29' S, 144° 02' E) - named after Captain Loutit, captain of the first ship to carry wool from Geelong to London; he sheltered here on the schooner Apollo in 1846 (Blake 1977).

Cinema Point (38° 28' S, 144° 02' E)- named because of the panoramic views from here, probably in honour of the cinematographer Charles Chevalier, of the Great Ocean Road Trust. (Apollo Bay & District Historical Society).

Aireys Inlet (38° 28' S, 144° 06' E) - named after either G. S. Airey, a Crimean war veteran (Reed 1973), or after Lieutenant J. M. C Airey, an early settler in 1839 (Blake 1977).

Split Point (38° 45' S, 144° 46' E) - named by Captain John Lort Stokes on HMS Beagle in 1843 (Stokes 1840). Urquhart Bluff (38° 26' S, 144° 08' E) - named by Surveyor George Smythe after a fellow surveyor William S. Urquhart. (Apollo Bay & District Historical Society).

Point Roadknight (38° 26' S, 144° 11' E) - named after William Roadknight, a squatter who landed sheep at Williamstown. (Blake 1977) Anglesea (38° 25' S, 144° 11' E) - named after Anglesey, an island in NW Wales, with a modified spelling. Previously Swampy Creek (Blake 1977).

8 Point Addis (38° 23' S, 144° 15' E) - named after Lieutenant E. B. Addis, an early Crown Lands Commissioner (Blake 1977).

Bells Beach (38° 22' S, 144° 17' E) - named after John Calvert Bell of Addiscot, former holder of nearby Woolbrook Station (Blake 1977). Disputed wikipedia.org

The National Library of Australia (NLA) has records of the original land sales and maps showing Bell's Beach was named long before John Calvert Bell bought grazing land near Bell's Beach from William Bell in 1905. The titles to the property also show William Bell as the original owner, however copies are difficult to obtain nowadays.

However, there are several references to the area being called Bell's Beach long before John Calvert Bell bought there: newspaper articles Geelong Advertiser (Vic.) Sat 29 June 1889 Page 3 THE PROPOSED RAILWAY FROM GEELONG TO LORNE.

Another newspaper entry clearly shows that John Calvert Bell was still a resident at Calder Park, Mount Duneed, in 1901; The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic.) Sat 21 Sep 1901 Page 55 Family Notices.


Point Danger, Torquay (38° 21' S, 144° 20' E) - probably named by Surveyor George Smythe in 1846. It was not the Point Danger named by Lieutenant James Grant on the Lady Nelson in 1801, which was close to Cape Otway (Author's suggestion).

Puebla Point (38° 20' S, 144° 19' E) - Puebla was an early name for Torquay (Baines 1977).

Torquay (38° 20' S, 144° 19' E) - Previously called Spring Creek, it was named Puebla in the Victorian Municipal Directory (1882). James Follett, who settled here in 1871, came from Torquay, the seaside resort in Devonshire, England, and at his suggestion the name Torquay was officially adopted in 1892 (Apollo Bay & District Historical Society).

Zeally Point (38° 20' S, 144° 20' E) - named after Robert Zeally, who took up land here in 1851 (Blake 1977).

Breamlea (38° 18' S, 144° 23' E) - named after adjacent Bream Creek (formerly Thompson Creek), which had large numbers of this estuarine fish in its waters (Blake 1977). Point Flinders (38° 17' S, 144° 30' E) - near Barwon Heads, named after Matthew Flinders, probably by Surveyor George Smythe (Blake 1977).

Barwon Heads (Barwon, formerly Burwan, River) (38° 17' S, 144° 30' E) - named by surveyor John Wedge in 1835 from the Aboriginal term burwan, meaning wide and deep water (Saxton 1907).

Ocean Grove (38° 16' S, 144° 31' E) - named by American methodist missionaries, who founded a temperance town called Ocean Grove in New Jersey, and set up a camp of the same name here in 1882 (Blake 1977). They gave up and went home soon afterwards.

King Bay (38° 20' S, 145° 20' E) - named Governor King Bay by James Grant in December 1800 (Grant 1803). Baudin later called it Baie Talleyrand when he sailed through it on the Geographe on 30 March 1802 (Baudin Journal).

Port Phillip Bay (38° 05' S, 144° 55' E) - named by Lieutenant John Murray to honour Captain Arthur Phillip, Governor-in-Chief of New South Wales. Murray had first suggested naming it after Governor King, but he declined this honour (Blake 1977).

Point Lonsdale (38° 17' S, 144° 37' E) - named in 1837 by Captain William Hobson after Captain William Lonsdale, 4th Kings Own Regiment and first police magistrate for Port Phillip (Reed 1973).

Port Phillip Bay (Point Lonsdale to Point Nepean) Shortland Bluff (38° 17' S, 144° 39' E) - named in 1837 by Lieutenant Thomas Symonds after the Master Gunner, P. F. Shortland, on the surveying ship HMS Rattlesnake (Blake 1977).

Queenscliff (38° 16' S, 144° 39' E) - named by Lieutenant Governor La Trobe to honour Queen Victoria (Blake 1977).

Swan Bay (38° 14' S, 144° 40' E) - named Swan Pond by Lieutenant John Murray on the Lady Nelson in February 1802, and shown as such on Matthew Flinders' Plan of Port Phillip Bay (Blake 1977).

Edwards Point (38° 13' S, 144° 42' E) - named after the ship Edward(s) which carried sheep from Tasmania to Melbourne after 1836, and was eventually wrecked in Corio Bay in 1881 (Geelong Historical Society) St Leonards (38° 10' S, 144° 43' E) - named after the English seaside resort (Blake 1977).

9 Indented Head (38° 09' S, 144° 43' E) - named from is appearance by Matthew Flinders on 27 April 1802, when he saw it across the bay from Arthurs Seat (Blake 1977).

Point George (38° 08' S, 144° 43' E) - possibly named after the revenue cutter, Prince George, in 1837, or the Royal George, which arrived with convicts from England in November 1844 (Geelong Historical Society).

Portarlington (38° 07' S, 144° 39' E) - named in 1851 after a town in Ireland (Blake 1977). This is not on the coast but on the River Barrow, 40 miles inland from Dublin, and was founded by Henry Bennett (Lord Arlington) in the 17th century.

Point Richards (38° 06' S, 144° 38' E) - named in 1837 by Captain William Hobson after Lieutenant Charles Richards on the surveying ship HMS Rattlesnake (Blake 1977) Clifton Springs (38° 09' S, 144° 34' E) - discovered by Thomas Bales in 1870 and named after his property, known as Clifton. There may be a link with Clifton, the spa town near Bristol in England (Blake 1977).

Point Henry (38° 08' S, 144° 25' E) - a low promontory named by Captain Edwin Whiting in 1836 after his ketch Henry, which he anchored here during his survey of Geelong Harbour. The ship carried colonists and livestock from Launceston to Melbourne (Blake 1977, Kennedy 2006).

Hopetoun Channel (38° 07' S, 144° 25' E) - named after Lord Hopetoun, Governor of Victoria in 1888 when it was dredged to allow ships through a sand bar to the port of Geelong (Blake 1977). Previously ships had anchored off Point Henry.

Stingaree Bay (38° 09' S, 144° 24' E) - probably from stingray, abundant here (Author's suggestion).

Limeburners Point (38° 09' S, 144° 23' E) - four lime kilns were operating here in 1866, using limestone that outcrops in the cliff (Blake 1977) Geelong (38° 09' S, 144° 22' E) - Aboriginal term jillong was used for this district, meaning uncertain (Blake 1977).

Corio Bay (38° 07' S, 144° 24' E) - from Aboriginal coraiyo, possibly meaning sandy cliffs (Reed 1973).

Limeburners Bay (38° 04' S, 144° 25' E) - used to ship lime obtained from freshwater limestone outcrops at Duck Ponds, near Lara, in the 19th century (Geelong Historical Society).

Point Lillias (38° 06' S, 144° 27' E) - named after the schooner Lillias, owned by J. Strachan, a pioneer woolbroker in Geelong. Lillias was his wife's name (Blake 1977).

Point Wilson (38° 06' S, 144° 30' E) -named in 1837 after Midshipman John Wilson on the surveying ship HMS Rattlesnake (Blake 1977).

Kirk Point (38° 02' S, 144° 33' E) - named after a squatter in this area in 1839. It had been the landing place for Matthew Flinders when he walked to the You Yang Ranges and named their highest summit Station Peak on 1 May 1802: this later became known as Flinders Peak (Geelong Historical Society).

Werribee River (37° 58' S, 144° 41' E) - named Weriby (probably of aboriginal derivation) in 1837 by Daniel King, surgeon on the surveying ship HMS Rattlesnake. It had previously been called the Peel, the Arndell, the Tweed and the Exe (Reed 1973).

Campbell Cove (37° 57' S, 144° 44' E) - named after Captain Alexander Campbell, who was Harbourmaster in Port Phillip in 1836 (Williamstown Historical Society).

Point Cook (37° 56' S, 144° 47' E) - named in 1837 after John Cook(e), mate on the surveying ship HMS Rattlesnake. (Reed 1973). Altona (37° 52' S, 144° 50' E) - named after the seaport near Hamburg, Germany (Blake 1977).

Point Gellibrand (37° 52' S, 144° 54' E) - named after J T. Gellibrand, Hobart lawyer and member of the Port Phillip Association in 1835 (Blake 1977)

Williamstown (37° 52' S, 144° 53' E) - named on 10 April 1837 by Governor Sir Richard Bourke to honour King William IV (Blake 1977).

Hobsons Bay (37° 51' S, 144° 56' E) - named in 1837 after Captain Hobson, commander of HMS Rattlesnake (Blake 1977).

Yarra River (37° 50' S, 144° 54' E) - named by John Helder Wedge, a surveyor from Tasmania, in 1835 when he asked a native boy the name and was told 'Yarra Yarra', which is said to mean 'always-flowing water' (Blake 1977).

Port Melbourne (37° 50' S, 144° 55' E) - previously Sandridge, and before that Liardet's Beach, named after an early settler (Blake 1977)..

St Kilda (37° 52' S, 144° 58' E) - named by Captain Lonsdale after the yacht Lady of St Kilda (Reed 1973).

Point Ormond (37° 53' S, 144° 58' E) - named after Captain Ormond of the ship Glenhuntly, which was wrecked here (Blake 1977).

Elwood (37° 53' S, 144° 58' E) - named after a little known 17th century English poet, Thomas Ellwood, a friend of John Milton (Blake 1977).

Brighton (37° 55' S, 144° 59' E) - named after the seaside resort in Sussex, England (Blake 1977).

Hampton (37° 56' S, 145° 60' E) - named after D. B. Hampton, a pioneer settler who came here in 1842 (Blake 1977).

Sandringham (37° 57' S, 145° 01' E) - named in 1865 after the Prince of Wales' Sandringham House in Norfolk, England (Blake 1977); previously Gipsy Village, founded and named by Josiah Morris Holloway in 1852 (Sandringham Historical Society).

Black Rock 3193 (37° 59' S, 145° 01' E) - named after Black Rock House, the name of which came from Black Rock near Dublin Sandringham Historical Society).

Ricketts Point (38° 00' S, 145° 01' E) - named after Captain Thomas Ricketts, an early settler who had a house nearby. Some 19th century maps show it as Rickards Point, but it is unclear whether this was a variation in the spelling of Ricketts, or whether there was an association with the Rickards family (Sandringham Historical Society).

Watkins Bay (38° 00' S, 145° 02' E) - named after John Watkins (1832-1911), a fisherman who had a shack on Ricketts Point in the 1860s (Sandringham Historical Society).

Beaumaris (37° 59' S, 145° 03' E) - James Bickford Moysey and his wife Susanna, the first local residents (1845), called their property Beaumaris Park, after the seaside resort on the island of Anglesey in NW Wales. Beaumaris Bay was formerly Moyes Bay, named after the Moyseys (Sandringham Historical Society).

Mentone (37° 59' S, 145° 04' E) - named after the seaside resort of Menton, near Nice in France, spelling modified (Reed 1973).

Mordialloc (38° 00' S, 145° 05' E) - named from the Aboriginal moordy yallock, meaning little sea (lagoon) (Blake 1977).

Aspendale (38° 01' S, 145° 06' E) - named after the successful racing mare Aspen in 1882 (Blake 1977). Carrum (38° 05' S, 145° 07' E) - named after the ancient English settlement mentioned in Arthurian legends, but the station was called Garem Gam, Aboriginal for boomerang (Blake 1977).

Seaford (38° 06' S, 145° 08' E) - named after the seaside resort in Sussex, England, or possibly Sleaford, Lincolnshire, birthplace of a local councillor (Blake 1977).

Frankston (38° 10' S, 145° 08' E) - some say that it took its name from the hotel run by Frank Stone beside Kananook Creek in the 1880s; others that it was named after Charles Franks, who was killed by aborigines in 1856 (Blake 1977).

Olivers Hill (38° 9' S, 145° 06' E) - named after James Oliver, a fisherman, who used it as a lookout for fish shoals (Blake 1977).

Woolley's (Wooley's) Reef (38° 09' S, 145° 5' E) - named after William Woolley, an early settler in Frankston and member of the Mount Eliza District Road Board, who bought land near Olivers Hill in the 1850s (Valda Cole, Hastings Historical Society).

Davey Point, Davey(s) Bay (38° 10' S, 145° 06' E) - named after James Davey, who held the Mount Eliza pre-emptive right in 1851 (Blake 1977).

Mount Eliza (38° 11' S, 145° 05' E) - named by Captain William Hobson of HMS Rattlesnake in 1836 after the wife of John Batman (Blake 1977).

Canadian Bay (38° 10' S, 143° 55' E)- named after three Canadians who operated a sawmill here (Blake 1977).

Moondah (38° 11' S, 145° 04' E) - from the Aboriginal term for a black snake.

Schnapper Point (38° 12' S, 145° 02' E) - named by Matthew Flinders on 29 April 1802 from its resemblance to the head of a fish (Blake 1977).

Mornington (38° 13' S, 145° 02' E) - named in 1864 after the Earl of Mornington, then Governor-General of India (Blake 1977).

Linley Point (38° 14' S, 145° 01' E) - named after Frederick M. Linley, President of the Progress Association in 1914 and a Shire on Mornington Councillor in the 1920s. Previously Fishermans Point (Rosebud & District Historical Society).

Balcombe Bay (38° 15' S, 145° 01' E) - named in 1846 after Alexander Balcome, owner of Chechingurk (The Briars) station (Rosebud & District Historical Society).

Martha Point (38° 17' S, 144° 39' E) - from adjacent Mount Martha, which was named after Mrs Lonsdale, wife of the first police magistrate in Melbourne (Reed 1973).

Dromana Bay (38° 18' S, 144° 59' E) - said to have been named from an Irish town, presumably Dromina in County Cork (Blake 1977)

Arthurs Seat (38° 21' S, 144° 57' E) - named by Lieutenant John Murray on the Lady Nelson, 15 February 1802, 'from its resemblance to a mountain of that name a few miles from Edinburgh' (Blake 1977).

McCrae (38° 21' S, 144° 55' E) - named after Scottish lawyer Andrew McCrae (Blake 1977).

Rosebud (38° 21' S, 144° 55' E) - named after the Hobson's schooner Rosebud, wrecked on a shoal offshore in 1851 (Blake 1977).

Tootgarook (38° 22' S, 144° 51' E) - Aboriginal term for the croaking of frogs (Blake 1977).

Rye (38° 23' S, 144° 50' E) - named in 1884 after the English cinque port in Sussex (Blake 1977).

Blairgowrie (38° 22' S, 144° 46' E) - named by Dr John Blair in 1878; formerly Villa Maria (Rosebud & District Historical Society).

Camerons Bight (38° 21' S, 144° 46' E) - named after H. G. Cameron, land licensee 1840-57 (Hollinshed et al. 1982).

The Sisters (38° 21' S, 144° 46' E) - named in 1844 after Niel Black's station near Noorat in Western Victoria (Hollinshed et al. 1982).

12 Sullivan Bay (38° 21' S, 144° 46' E) - named by Lieutenant Colonel David Collins after John Sullivan, Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, London, at the time of the first settlement in 1803. By coincidence there was Patrick Sullivan, a lime burner, living in this area some years later (Hollinshed et al. 1982).

Sorrento (38° 21' S, 144° 44' E) - named by Sir Charles Duffy, parliamentarian, after the Italian coastal town near Naples. (Blake 1977).

Point King (38° 20' S, 144° 44' E) - named in 1837 after Daniel King, surgeon on the surveying ship HMS Rattlesnake (Blake 1977).

Point McArthur (38° 19' S, 144° 43' E) - named after John McArthur of the NSW Corps (Sorrento Historical Society).

Point Franklin (38° 19' S, 144° 43' E) - named after Sir John Franklin, Governor of Tasmania in 1841 (Sorrento Historical Society).

Weeroona Bay (38° 19' S, 144° 43' E) - probably named after the cutter Weeroona, which was wrecked at St Kilda in 1878, but it is also an Aboriginal term for resting place (Blake 1977).

Portsea (38° 19' S, 144° 43' E) - named in 1840 by James Sandle Ford after his native town near Portsmouth, England (Blake 1977).

Ticonderoga Bay (38° 19' S, 144° 42' E) - named after the emigrant ship Ticonderogah which arrived from England with an outbreak of typhoid fever, and anchored off the Quarantine Station here in November 1852 (Sorrento Historical Society).

Observatory Point (38° 18' S, 144° 41' E) - named in 1837 from the surveying ship HMS Rattlesnake (Blake 1977).

Point Nepean (38° 18' S, 144° 39' E) - named in 1802 by Lieutenant Murray on the Lady Nelson after Sir Evan Nepean (1751-1822), Secretary to the Admiralty (Blake 1977). The Nepean and Flinders Coast (Point Nepean to Flinders)

Cheviot Beach (38° 22' S, 144° 44' E) - named after the ship Cheviot, wrecked here on 19 October 1897. On 17 December 1967 Australian prime minister Harold Holt disappeared into the sea here (Sorrento Historical Society)..

Jubilee Point (38° 21' S, 144° 44' E) - named in 1887 to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee (Blake 1977).

Diamond Point, Diamond Bay (38° 22' S, 144° 44' E) - also to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee (Blake 1977).

Boag Rocks (38° 27' S, 144° 51' E) - origin uncertain: James Robertson Boag had a dairy and probably a guest house in Dromana in the 1870s, but there is no evidence of a link between him or his family and this rocky headland beside Gunnamatta Beach (Janet South, Nepean Historical Society).

Gunnamatta Beach (38° 27' S, 144° 52' E) - from the Aboriginal term for sandhills (Sorrento Historical Society).

Rowley Cove (38° 29' S, 144° 53' E) - named after Robert Rowley, pioneer settler in 1839 (Hollinshed et al. 1982).

Cape Schanck (38° 30' S, 144° 53' E) - named in 1800 after Captain John Schanck, R.N., designer of the sliding centreboard keel on Lieutenant Grant's ship Lady Nelson (Grant 1803). Nicolas Baudin called it Cap Richelieu when he sailed past on the Geographe on 30 March 1802 (Baudin Journal).

Bushrangers Bay (38° 30' S, 144° 54' E) - named after the Irish outlaws Henry Bradley and Patrick O'Connor who landed here after hijacking the schooner Sophia in Van Diemens Land and forcing the captain to take them across Bass Strait and land them here (Sorrento Historical Society).

13 Cairns Bay (38° 29' S, 144° 57' E) - named after David Cairns from Boneo, who took up land near here in 1888 (Rosebud & District Historical Society)

Western Port Bay (38° 27' S, 145° 10' E) - named by its discoverer George Bass in 1798 because of its 'relative position to every other known harbour on the coast' (Blake 1977). Sometimes Westernport is used.

Flinders (38° 29' S, 145° 01' E) - named after Matthew Flinders, explorer and navigator (Reed 1973).

Kennon Cove (38° 29' S, 145° 01' E) - named after William Kennon, an early settler, who used to load cattle at Flinders. (Ken Lacey, Flinders Historical Society).

Westernport Bay with French Island and Phillip Island Shoreham (38° 26' S, 145° 03' E) - named in 1881 after the coastal village in Sussex, England (Blake 1977).

Point Leo (38° 26' S, 145° 05' E) - possibly named after Leo Hemingway, who ran his tobacco van between Hastings and Flinders in the 1930s, but the link between him and the fishermen who had galvanised iron huts on the point at this time has not been established. Alternatively, some consider that the headland has the shape of a lion's face. The Aboriginal name was Bobbanarring. (Balnarring Historical Society).

Merricks Beach (38° 24' S, 145° 06' E) - named after Alfred Meyricks, holder of Boniyong Station, who lived at Coolart between 1840 and 1845. It was known as Cole or Coles Beach after local settlers who arrived in 1874, and this name was still in use until the 1960s. (Valda Cole, Hastings Historical Society).

Palmer Bluff (38° 25' S, 145° 07' E) - named after J. Palmer, a local resident, who had a house on the headland in 1879. (Balnarring Historical Society).

Balnarring Beach (38° 24' S, 145° 07' E) - based on the name of a local Aboriginal tribe, the Boonwurrung, applied first to the creek, now known as Merricks Creek. Blake (1977) suggested an alternative origin from the Irish Ballymerang, but the link is obscure. Previously Tulum Beach, Tulum being an Aboriginal word for wild duck (Balnarring Historical Society).

Somers (38° 24' S, 145° 09' E) - named after the Lord Somers Boys Camp here. Lord Somers was Governor of Victoria in 1926-31 (Blake 1977).

Hanns Inlet (38° 22' S, 145° 12' E) - named after J and R Hann who settled nearby in 1853 (Blake 1977).

Crib Point (38° 21' S, 145° 13' E) - named after a hut built here by J and R Hann (Blake 1977).

Woodleys Beach (38° 21' S, 145° 13' E) - named after Bill Woodley, who kept a cool room here to store fish in the early 1900s (Hastings Historical Society).

Hastings (38° 18' S, 145° 11' E) - named after the seaside resort in Sussex, England (Blake 1977).

Denham Beach (38° 17' S, 145° 13' E) - a beach (no longer accessible because of the Lysaght Industrial Site) at the eastern end of Denham Road, named after a local orchardist. Clarkes Beach, a little to the north and also now inaccessible, was named after another orchardist. (Valda Cole, Hastings Historical Society).

Watson Inlet (38° 14' S, 145° 16' E) - named by hydrographer Henry Cox after James H. Watson, who wrote about Quail Island. (Valda Cole, Hastings Historical Society).

Warneet (38° 13' S, 145° 18' E) - Aboriginal term for river (Blake 1977).

Chinamans Island (38° 14' S, 145° 19' E) - presumably a Chinaman lived on it (Author's suggestion).

Sawtells Inlet (38° 13' S, 145° 23' E) - named in 1840 after Melbourne merchant Edwin Sawtell (Blake 1977).

Tooradin (38° 13' S, 145° 23' E) - Aboriginal term for swamp monster (cf. Bunyip) that lived in Sawtells Inlet (Blake 1977).

Bourchier Channel (38° 16' S, 145° 26' E) - a tidal channel in Western Port Bay south of Tooradin, named after the Master of the ship that took hydrographer Henry Cox on surveying cruises. (Valda Cole, Hastings Historical Society).

Boulton Channel (38° 17' S, 145° 26' E) - a tidal channel in Western Port Bay south of the Bourchier Channel, named after Acting 2nd Master J. G. Boulton, who served with Captain Bourchier on the ship that took hydrographer Henry Cox on surveying cruises. (Valda Cole, Hastings Historical Society).

Koo-wee-rup Swamp (38° 12' S, 145° 27' E) - Aboriginal term for blackfish (Reed 1973).

Lang Lang (38° 18' S, 145° 31' E) - possibly named after Mr Lang, a local pioneer (Reed 1973), but it may be derived from an Aboriginal term for a group of trees (Blake 1977).

Grantville Bay (38° 25' S, 144° 30' E) - Grantville was probably named by surveyor Edmund Colbert in 1870 after James McPherson Grant, MLA, a lawyer who was a Member of Parliament from 1855 to 1885. It was not named after Lieutenant James Grant, who had sailed the Lady Nelson into Western Port Bay in 1801. (Elizabeth Skidmore, Bass Valley Historical Society).

Tenby Point (38° 24' S, 145° 29' E) - named after Tenby in Wales by an early settler James Cuthbert in 1840. (Elizabeth Skidmore, Bass Valley Historical Society).

Corinella (38° 25' S, 145° 25' E) - an Aboriginal term for running water. A settlement was established by Captain Wright near Red Point on 12 December 1826, after the evacuation of Rhyll (Blake 1977).

Cobb Bluff (38° 27' S, 145° 25' E) - shown as Watsons Bluff on an 1850 map. (Elizabeth Skidmore, Bass Valley Historical Society). However, it appeared on Stokes' 1843 chart of Western Port - it was not mentioned in his Discoveries, and there is no indication that anyone of this name was in his team (Valda Cole, Hastings Historical Society).

Coronet Bay (38° 26' S, 145° 26' E)- named by developer David Wise in 1959 when an estate subdivision was initiated. (Elizabeth Skidmore, Bass Valley Historical Society).

Bass River (38° 30' S, 145° 26' E) - named in 1798 by George Bass, discoverer of Western Port Bay (Bass 1798).

French Island (38° 20' S, 145° 20' E) - named in 1802 as Ile des Francais by the French explorer Brevedent, with Milis and Faure from Jacques Hamelin's ship the Naturaliste (Blake 1977). They then called Phillip Island Ile des Anglais.

Tankerton (38° 23' S, 145° 17' E) - from a village on the north coast of Kent, England (Blake 1977).

Fairhaven (38° 21' S, 145° 17' E) - presumably descriptive.

Chilcott Rocks (38° 21' S, 145° 16' E)- a rock outcrop on the west coast of French Island, 3 km north of Tankerton Pier, named after a family from the nearby Callanan Settlement in 1895 (Valda Cole, Hastings Historical Society).

Barrallier Island (37° 17' S, 145 19' E) - an islet off the NW coast of French Island, surveyed and named by Ensign Francis Barrallier during Lieutenant James Grant's expedition to Western Port on the Lady Nelson in 1801 (Bird 1975a). There was confusion because barilla was produced in this area by the burning of mangroves to form soda ash for soap making (Bird 1975b), and the island was shown as Brilla on Henry Cox's chart in 1865, and subsequently as Barriliar. (Valda Cole, Hastings Historical Society).

Palmer Point (38° 18' S, 145° 27' E) - named after a local settler on the north coast of French Island Jane Lennon).

Freeman Point (38° 22' S, 145° 27' E) - named after Edward Freeman of Lang Lang. (Valda Cole, Hastings Historical Society)

Peck Point (38° 25' S, 145° 19' E) - a headland on the south coast of French Island named after a local settler in the 1890s. (Valda Cole, Hastings Historical Society)

Elizabeth Island (38° 25' S, 145° 22' E) - named in April 1801 by Lieutenant James Grant after the daughter of Governor Phillip King (Grant 1803). He initially called it Margaret Island (after Governor King's wife).

Phillip Island (38° 29' S, 145° 15' E) - discovered in 1798 by George Bass, but first shown on Governor King's chart of the Lady Nelson voyage in 1802, named after Captain Arthur Phillip (Phillip Island Historical Society). Cape Woolamai

(38° 34' S, 145° 22' E) - named in 1798 by George Bass from its resemblance to the head of a snapper (for which the Aboriginal term is wollamai) (Bass 1798)

Forrest Caves (38° 31' S, 145° 18' E) - named after James Forrest, who lived in a nearby homestead (Phillip Island Historical Society).

Sunderland Bluff (38° 31' S, 145° 16' E) - named after the James Sunderland, who lived nearby, and became a Shire Councillor (Phillip Island Historical Society).

Barry Beach (38° 31' S, 145° 12' E) named after W. Baragwanath, a director of the Geological Survey (Phillip Island Historical Society).

Helens Head (38° 31' S, 145° 11' E)- named after Helen Stevens (nee Watt), daughter of James Michie Watt and Jane (Douglas) Watt, who were farmers on the island near Watts Road. She was the sister to William Alexander Watt, who became Premier of Victoria in 1912, and later was Acting Prime Minister in 1918.

Watt Point (38° 31' S, 145° 10' E) - named after William Watt of Cowes, who became a federal Member of Parliament, Cabinet minister and Acting Prime Minister of Australia in 1917. The Speke was wrecked here on 22 February 1906 (Phillip Island Historical Society).

Kitty Miller Bay (38° 31' S, 145° 10' E) - named after the daughter of a Phillip Island settler (Phillip Island Historical Society).

Kennon Head (38° 31' S, 145° 10' E) - probably named after Stanley Kennon, a Cowes seafarer and son of William Kennon (see Kennon Cove, above) who collected oil from seals on Seal Rocks in the 1890s, but some think that it commemorates his son, Captain James Kennon, who became a member of the first Phillip Island Shire Council in 1928 (Phillip Island Historical Society).

Phelan Bluff (38° 31' S, 145° 08' E) - named after Pat Phelan, an Irishman who settled locally and worked for the McHaffies (Phillip Island Historical Society).

The Nobbies (38° 31' S, 145° 06' E) - named by J. D. McHaffie, nobby meaning native (Phillip Island Historical Society).

Point Grant (38° 31' S, 145° 07' E) - named by Matthew Flinders in 1802 after Lieutenant James Grant, captain of the Lady Nelson (Phillip Island Historical Society).

Point Sambell (38° 30' S, 145° 08' E) - named after A. K. T. Sambell, a civil engineer who founded the Phillip Island Shire Council in 1926 (Phillip Island Historical Society).

Cat Bay (38° 30' S, 145° 08' E) - named by George Bass in January 1798 because he lost his cat here (Phillip Island Historical Society).

Grossard Point (38° 28' S, 145° 10' E) - named for the burial place of Captain William Grossard, accidentally shot while visiting Phillip Island in December 1868 (Phillip Island Historical Society).

McHaffie Reef (38° 28' S, 145° 09' E) - named after John McHaffie, the first landholder on Phillip Island in 1842 (Phillip Island Historical Society).

Elizabeth Cove (38° 28' S, 145° 10' E) - named in April 1801 by Lieutenant James Grant after the daughter of Governor Phillip King (Grant 1803).

16 Cowes (38° 27' S, 145° 14' E) - named by Commander Henry Cox in 1865 on his chart of Western Port, from its geographical similarity to Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Previously called Mussel Rocks by J. D. McHaffie (Blake 1977).

Erehwon Point (38° 27' S, 145° 14' E) - formerly Smith Point, then named after a local guesthouse: Now Here or Nowhere spelt backwards (Phillip Island Foreshore Committee of Management, 1985)

Rhyll (38° 28' S, 145° 18' E) - named after Rhyl, a seaside resort on the coast of north Wales (Blake 1977)..

Rhyll Inlet (38° 27' S, 145° 18' E) - called Crique des Mangliers (Mangrove Creek) by Dumont D'Urville when he anchored his ship Astrolabe here in November 1826 (D'Urville 1835).

Lady Nelson Point (38° 27' S, 145° 18' E) - named by Lieutenant James Grant in March 1801 when the Lady Nelson anchored near the bluff south of Rhyll (Grant 1803).

Denne Bight (38° 29' S, 145° 18' E) -named after an early settler (Phillip Island Foreshore Committee of Management, 1985).

Chambers Point (38° 30' S, 145° 18' E) - named after early settlers (Phillip Island Foreshore Committee of Management, 1985).

Churchill Island (38° 30' S, 145° 20' E) - named in March 1801 by Lieutenant James Grant after John Churchill of Dawlish, Devonshire, England, who supplied fruit and vegetable seeds to the expedition. These were planted here (Reed 1973).

Newhaven (38° 31' S, 145° 21' E) - named after the seaport in Sussex, England. Previously called Woody Point by J. D. McHaffie (Phillip Island Historical Society).

Cleeland Bight (38° 32' S, 145° 20' E) - named after local settler John Cleeland who lived in Wollamai House on Homestead Point in 1869 (Phillip Island Historical Society). South Gippsland, Wilsons Promontory and Corner Inlet (San Remo to Corner Inlet) Gippsland - a province in eastern Victoria named after Sir George Gipps, Governor-General of New South Wales by Count Strzelecki after he crossed it from the Tambo River to Western Port Bay in May 1840. Mitchell had called it Caledonia Australis (Blake 1977).

San Remo (38° 32' S, 145° 22' E) - named after the resort on the Italian Riviera in 1889, formerly Griffiths Point (Blake 1977).

Davis Point, San Remo (38° 32' S, 145° 22' E) - probably named after Richard Davis, a local settler who discovered coal at Cape Paterson in 1852 (Norm Deacon, Wonthaggi). This may have been the sandy point called Pointe des Philedons (Honeyeater Point) by D'Urville in 1826 (D'Urville 1835).

Griffiths Point (38° 32' S, 145° 23' E) - named after the Van Diemens Land merchant John Griffiths who sent wattlebark strippers here in 1835 (Blake 1977).

Powlett River (38° 36' S, 145° 30' E) - named after Frederick Powlett, Commissioner of the Western Port District in 1840 (Blake 1977).

Harmers Haven (38° 39' S, 145° 35' E) - named after the Harmers Haven Estate, a 1959 subdivision. (Catherine Watson, Wonthaggi).

Cape Paterson (38° 40' S, 145° 39' E) - named in April 1801 by Lieutenant James Grant after Lieutenant-Colonel William Paterson of the NSW Corps (Grant 1803).

Wreck Beach (38° 40' S, 145° 39' E) - named from the wreck of the Artisan here in 1901 (Loney 1971).

Venus Bay (38° 39' S, 145° 45' E) - named Baie de La Venus by Baudin when he sailed past on the Geographe on 29 March 1802, after the evening star (Baudin Journal).

17 Inverloch (38° 37' S, 145° 44' E) - named after Loch Inver in Scotland in 1889. The date may indicate a link with Sir Henry Brougham Loch, Governor of Victoria from 1884 to 1889 (Blake 1977).

Andersons Inlet (38° 39' S, 145° 48' E) - named after the explorer Samuel Anderson, who settled in this area in 1837 (Blake 1977).

Tarwin River(38° 42' S, 145° 50' E) - named from an Aboriginal term, darwhin (Blake 1977).

Point Smythe (38° 39' S, 145° 44' E) - named after Surveyor George D. Smythe. Previously Cormorant Point (Inverloch Historical Society).

Morgan Beach (38° 52' S, 145° 55' E) - probably named after a local landowner (Foster Historical Society).

Cape Liptrap (38° 54' S, 145° 56' E) - named on 9 December 1800 by Lieutenant James Grant after John Liptrap, a London friend (Grant 1803).

Grinder Point (38° 53' S, 145° 58' E) - named by Lieutenant H. J. Stanley during his coastal survey of South Gippsland in 1868 from the noise of waves breaking on large boulders here (Inverloch Historical Society).

Maitland Beach (38° 53' S, 145° 59' E) - The S.S. Maitland was stranded briefly on the Glennie Islands in August 1890 (Loney 1968).

Bell Point (38° 53' S, 146° 00' E) - named after Captain William Bell, captain of the ship Waratah (Inverloch Historical Society).

Waratah Bay (38° 53' S, 146° 04' E) - named after Captain William Bell's ship Waratah, which anchored here in 1854 (Blake 1977).

Walkerville (38° 52' S, 146° 00' E) - named after William F. Walker, part owner of the Waratah Lime, Marble and Cement Company, who became Commissioner for Customs in 1878; previously known as Waratah (Inverloch Historical Society).

Wilsons Promontory (39° 00' S, 146° 22' E) - named by Governor Hunter on the recommendation of George Bass and Matthew Flinders, after London merchant Thomas Wilson, a friend of Matthew Flinders (Blake 1977). There was sometimes confusion with South Cape, which was the name for the southern point, not the mountainous peninsula.

Whisky Bay (39° 01' S, 146° 18' E) - named after Whisky Creek, where two bullock drovers broached a case of whisky and camped overnight (Inverloch Historical Society).

Leonard Point, Leonard Bay (39° 02' S, 146° 18' E) - origin unknown.

Squeaky Beach (39° 02' S, 146° 18' E) - named from the beach sand, which consists of well-rounded quartz grains that squeak when walked upon (Bird 1993, p. 246).

Norman Island (39° 01' S, 146° 15' E) - named after Captain William Norman, see Norman Point, Norman Bay.

Norman Point, Norman Bay (39° 02' S, 146° 19' E) - named after Captain William Norman, who brought Sir Charles Hotham to Melbourne in his ship Queen of the South in 1854. (Norm Deacon, Wonthaggi). Another suggestion is that Captain Norman's ship was the Victoria, which sailed in these waters in the 1860s (D. Foster)

Oberon Point, Oberon Bay (39° 05' S, 146° 20' E) - named by Lieutanant H. J. Stanley during his 1868 survey, after the S.S. Oberon, which was owned by the Port Albert Steam Navigations Company and sailed in coastal waters in the 1850s and 1860s (J. Whelan, Parks Victoria; Eulalie Brewster, Inverloch).

Glennie Islands (39° 06' S, 146° 14' E) - named by Lieutenant James Grant on the Lady Nelson in December 1800, after George Glennie, a London friend of Captain Schanck (Grant 1803).

18 Anser Islands (39° 08' S, 146° 19' E) - probably named after the Cape Barren Geese (Family Anserinae) that frequent this island by Lieutenant H. J. Stanley, who surveyed the islands west and south of Wilsons Promontory in 1868 (J. Whelan, D. Foster, Parks Victoria).

Carpentaria Rock (39° 08' S, 146° 19' E) - named after the S.S. Carpentaria which struck this rock (then uncharted) and sank in 1878 (David Foster, Parks Victoria).

Rodondo (39° 14' S, 146° 23' E) - a steep-sided rock with a large cavern, named by Lieutenant James Grant on the Lady Nelson in December 1800 from its resemblance to the volcanic island of Redonda, north of Montserrat in the Leeward Islands, West Indies (Grant 1803).

Sir Roger Curtis Island (39° 30' S, 146° 36' E) - named by Lieutenant James Grant on the Lady Nelson in December 1800, after Sir Roger Curtis, who was Governor of the Cape of Good Hope (Grant 1803).

Fenwick Bight (39° 08' S, 146° 23' E) - named after Frederick Fenwick, an early settler (Inverloch Historical Society).

Waterloo Bay (39° 05' S, 146° 27' E) - named by Captain John Lort Stokes in 1842 when he sailed HMS Beagle into the bay on the anniversary of this battle (Stokes 1840).

Cape Wellington (39° 04' S, 146° 28' E) - named by Captain John Lort Stokes in 1842 when he anchored HMS Beagle here on the anniversary of Wellington's defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo (Stokes 1840).

Refuge Cove (39° 02' S, 146° 28' E) - named by Captain John Lort Stokes in 1841 when he sheltered HMS Beagle in this bay (Stokes 1840).

Hobbs Head (39° 02' S, 146° 28' E) - possibly named by Lieutenant H. J. Stanley during his coastal survey in 1868 after James Hobbs, who had circumnavigated Tasmania in a whaleboat in 1824 (J. Whelan, Parks Victoria).

Sealers Cove (39° 01' S, 146° 26' E) - named by George Bass in January 1798 because it was used by sealers (Bass 1798).

Seal Island (38° 56' S, 146° 40' E) - named by Lieutenant James Grant on the Lady Nelson in March 1801, when he caught seals here (Grant 1803).

Miranda Bay (38° 55' S, 146° 29' E) - named after a Tasmanian schooner that traded livestock from Port Albert and was wrecked here in 1852 (Jane Lennon).

Rabbit Island (38° 55' S, 146° 31' E) - named in 1842 by Captain John Lort Stokes because of the numerous rabbits, descendants of those left here by Captain Wishart from the Wallaby in 1836 to provide a food supply for sailors (Stokes 1840). There were plenty of rabbits when it was visited by the Gippsland Company's ship Singapore in 1841.

Johnny Souey (on some maps Johnnie Sussie; also spelt Suey) Point (38° 54' S, 146° 29' E) - named after a Chinese fish curing operator here in the early 1860s. (Jane Lennon)

Hunter Point (38° 49' S, 146° 28' E) - named by George Bass in 1798 after Governor Hunter of New South Wales (Bass 1798).

Corner Inlet (38° 45' S, 146° 15' E)- named by Matthew Flinders in 1798, after George Bass had described Wilson's Promontory as 'the corner-stone of New Holland'. Shown as Corner Basin on John Lort Stokes' chart of 1842 (Reed 1973).

Mount Singapore (38° 47' S, 146° 27' E) - at the northern end of Wilsons Promontory, named after the Gippsland Company's ship Singapore, which arrived in Corner Inlet on 13 February 184

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