Editing History of Victoria (section)

==1803 British settlement==
With Britain involved in the [[Napoleonic Wars|French revolutionary wars]], Governor King was concerned that Bass Strait could harbour enemy raiders, and that in peace time it could provide an important trade route and trading base. The appearance of Baudin's ships served to reinforce the concern that France was interested in the area. King was also looking for an alternative settlement for the increasing number of [[convicts]] in Sydney and to reduce the pressure on food resources. Port Phillip, with a favourable climate and rich fishing and sealing resources, seemed an ideal location for another settlement.

A full description of Murray's and Flinders' discoveries, together with King's thoughts on settlement, but not Grimes' report, reached England just as {{HMS|Calcutta|1795|6}} was being prepared to send a shipload of convicts to Sydney. In February 1803, [[Robert Hobart, 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire|Lord Hobart]] the [[Secretary of State for War and the Colonies|Secretary of State]] changed the destination to Port Phillip. On 24 April 1803 HMS ''Calcutta'', commanded by Captain [[Daniel Woodriff]], with Lieutenant-Colonel [[David Collins (lieutenant governor)|David Collins]] as commander of the expedition, left England accompanied by the store-ship ''[[Ocean (1794 ship)|Ocean]]''. The expedition consisted of 402 people: 5 Government officials, 9 officers of marines, 2 drummers, and 39 privates, 5 soldiers' wives, and a child, 307 convicts, 17 convicts' wives, and 7 children.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4890461|title=CORRESPONDENCE. |newspaper=The Advertiser|location=Adelaide |date=14 October 1901 |access-date=17 January 2012 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> One of the children was the eleven-year-old [[John Pascoe Fawkner]], later a founder of Melbourne, who accompanied his convicted father and mother.

[[Image:Sullivanbig.png|thumb|right|350px|Map of [[Sullivan Bay, Victoria]]]]

The party entered Port Phillip on 9 October 1803 and chose a site at [[Sullivan Bay, Victoria|Sullivan Bay]] near present-day [[Sorrento, Victoria|Sorrento]].

Collins was soon disappointed with the area. Reports from exploring parties led by Lieutenant [[James Hingston Tuckey|James Tuckey]] and surveyor [[George Prideaux Robert Harris|George Harris]] described strong currents, sandy soil, poor timber, swampy land and scarce fresh water. They also clashed with the [[Wathaurung]] people near Corio Bay, killing their leader – the first Aborigines known to have been killed by settlers in Victoria.

Collins reported his criticisms to Governor King, who supported him and recommended moving the settlement. On 18 December ''Calcutta'' departed for [[Port Jackson]], and the party was prepared for evacuation. This was achieved in two voyages of ''Ocean'' in January and May 1804, assisted by {{HMS|Lady Nelson|1798|6}} which had been surveying [[Port Dalrymple]] on the north coast of [[Van Diemens Land]]. The party was transferred to the fledgling settlement of [[Hobart]], founded by Lieutenant [[John Bowen (colonist)|John Bowen]] as a penal colony at [[Risdon Cove]] in September 1803.

The brief settlement at Sorrento achieved little and left only a few relics for modern tourists to observe. Collins has been criticised for not investigating the bay thoroughly, in particular, the northern head with its fresh-water river, and for being too hasty in his condemnation of the bay. The site of the settlement is now a reserve incorporating four graves from the period.<ref name=PN>{{Citation
    | title = Collins Settlement Historic Site, Sorrento
    | work = Park Notes
    | publisher = [[Parks Victoria]]
    | date = July 2003
    | url = http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/314537/Park-note-Collins-Settlement-Historic-Site.pdf
    | access-date = 2011-11-01
    | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120501201129/http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/314537/Park-note-Collins-Settlement-Historic-Site.pdf
    | archive-date = 1 May 2012
    | url-status = dead
    }}</ref><ref name=VHD>
  {{cite VHD|4653|Collins Settlement Site|hr=1050|ho=255}}
</ref>

When Collins departed, several convicts – who had escaped when they heard the colony was leaving for Van Diemen's Land – were left behind. They were presumed killed by Aboriginal people. However, [[William Buckley (convict)|William Buckley]] survived, meeting Wathaurong people on the [[Bellarine Peninsula]] and living with them for the next 32 years. (In 1835 he became aware of [[John Batman]]'s [[Port Phillip Association]] camp and reintroduced himself to Europeans.)<ref>
{{citation
 | first = John | last = Morgan
 | title = The life and adventures of William Buckley thirty-two years a wanderer amongst the aborigines of then unexplored country round Port Phillip, now the province of Victoria.
 | year = 1852
 | publisher = A. Macdougall
 | place = Hobart
 | oclc = 5345532| ol = 6571577M
 }}
</ref>

For the next thirty years a few sealers and whalers rested on the southern coast of New South Wales.