1830s

The Henty family establish a settlement in south-western Victoria in 1834.

In 1835, John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner travel across Bass Strait to claim land beside the Yarra River.

Batman signs 'treaties' with Aboriginal leaders from the Port Phillip area and takes almost 250,000 hectares of land.

Convicts are sent from Sydney to work on government projects.

In 1837, Melbourne is named and laid out.

The first immigrants to sail direct to Port Phillip from Britain arrive in 1839.

Land sale revenue is used to finance the Bounty Scheme which pays shipowners to bring labourers from Britain. Terrible conditions and overcrowding on the ships leads to the eventual abandonment of the scheme.

Aus Pop (1835): 113,354
Vic Pop: No census

Figures taken from Colonial and Commonwealth censuses and exclude Aborigines until 1971.

Emigrants Leaving the Ship

Emigrants Leaving the Ship
Artist: Thomas Picken, lithographer
Source: By permission of the National Library of Australia. Rex Nan Kivell Collection. Accession number PIC U2587 NK6089