Streets – Seabrook

Alfred Langhorne was born into a London family of merchants and stockbrokers, Alfred Langhorne longed to join his three older brothers in the new colony.
He arrived at Port Jackson in 1835 at the age of 17. He joined his brother Charles working on a rural New South Wales property, learning the skills of stockmen.
When the property was sold a year after his arrival, Alfred and Charles embarked on a career of overlanding cattle and sheep from NSW to both Melbourne and Adelaide.
Langhorne Street in Dandenong and Langhorne Creek in South Australia are named to acknowledge thedirect connections to the Langhorne brothers.
Alfred was the first person Joseph Hawdon – the first white man to settle in Dandenong – saw when he arrived in Dandenong in 1839.

While in Adelaide on one of the drives, Alfred met the young and beautiful Sarah August and they married in 1841. Mr and Mrs Alfred Langhorne were entertained for dinner by their neighbour Dr Farquhar McCrae in April 1842, indicating that Alfred stayed around the district for some time. In 1843, Alfred and Sarah moved into their homestead at Laverton and made it their principle place of residence. By this time Alfred opened an office in Bourke Street, Melbourne, and became a flour merchant.
Alfred continued to overland cattle and export sheep to Launceston, and owned various properties around Melbourne as well as property and wool stores in Williamstown.

In 1853/54, Alfred and Sarah decided to liquidate much of their assets and return to London to educate their two children, Robert and Alice. Alfred returned to Laverton Homestead in 1867 after Alice died from diphtheria at age 13, in 1861. Sarah returned the following year. Robert stayed in England to complete his schooling and start a career in the army. Sarah passed away from Parkinson’s disease in 1871 and Alfred died three years later while a resident of a private hotel in St Kilda. Sarah Langhorne is buried within the Williamstown cemetery and Alfred Langhorne is interred within the pioneers section of the Fawkner cemetery.

Research: Graeme Reilly(ALHS) 2024

Charles Grimes Place, Seabrook, was named to honour the achievements and his connection to the western area of Port Phillip Bay and the fact that he was possibly one of the first Europeans to walk and survey this area of the bay.

To learn more about Charles Grimes and his time within Australia, please follow this link – https://alhs.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Charles-Grimes-Place-Seabrook.pdf

Charles Swanston Way in Seabrook was named to recognise Captain Charles Swanston’s affiliation with the establishment of the Port Phillip Association’s settlement, which subsequently developed into Melbourne in 1835.

For more information about the life and involvement of Captain Charles Swanston within Victoria’s history, please follow this link: https://alhs.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Charles-Swanston-Way.pdf

Cotterell Way in Seabrook is located within a group of similarly themed streets named after early settlers of Melbourne, Altona, and Laverton, but also notable figures involved in the exploration of Port Phillip. Cotterell Way specifically commemorates Anthony Cottrell, a member of the Port Phillip Association whose land stretched between the Werribee and Maribyrnong Rivers, where he grazed sheep during the early years of the Port Phillip settlement.

Before we move forward and talk about Anthony Cottrell’s life, let us first deal with the spelling of the surname. In early writings about the history of Port Phillip,[1] Cottrell was spelt by historians as Cotterell, and by others as Cottrell. Records that we have located, including Anthony’s marriage and death registration, have noted the spelling of his surname as Cottrell, which is how we use it within this article.

Anthony Cottrell was born on 21 March 1806, in Passage West, County Cork, Ireland, and appears to be the youngest of ten children born to William Cottrell and Ellen Cottrell (nee Crispe). We know little of his early life in Ireland, and so, our story picks up with Anthony travelling from England to Australia aboard the ship Heroine, mastered by Captain William Ostler. The Heroine arrived in Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) on 15 April 1824, and Anthony came carrying a letter[2] from Wilmot Horton, on behalf of Lord Bathurst, authorising a grant of land.  Anthony must have been an enterprising youth, for he was only seventeen years old when he wrote to Lord Bathurst on 8 October 1823, as follows:

Being desirous of settling in Van Diemen’s Land, I beg leave most respectfully, to solicit your Lordship’s sanction for this purpose as well as the customary Grant of Land, bestowed by Government on Emigrants to that Colony. I beg to observe that the major part of my life has been spent in the agricultural pursuits in the sister Kingdom; and for information as to my character, and the extent of my capital, which I value at 1500 pounds and upwards, I beg to refer your Lordship to Mr. Thos. Barreth, of Mark Lane, Merchant, and to Mr. Corns. Leary, Merchant, of Nag’s Head Court, Gracechurch St., Merchant. Soliciting the favour of Your Lordship’s early attention, I am, etc., (Signed) Anthony Cottrell.

Supported by the said Mr. Barreth, who described Anthony as “a young man of character and responsibility”, his petition was met with success. Anthony soon became the master of convict servants and a 650-acre estate on the Nile River (a tributary of South Esk River), located near what is today, Evandale, just south of Launceston.   Additionally, upon his arrival, he purchased 350 sheep, 35 cattle, 2 horses, 4 oxen and farming utensils, all to the value of 820 pounds, and he still had 60 pounds in cash left over. To improve his own sheep flock and herds, Anthony also imported several pure-bred Merino sheep and a cow of a highly impressive breed.  During this time, Anthony had the guidance of Captain William Ostler[3], whose own property was nearby.

Apart from Captain Ostler, Anthony acquainted himself with the likes of surveyor John Helder Wedge, John Batman, John Charles Darke (John Wedge’s nephew), and George Augustus Robinson. Anthony Cottrell and John Batman were neighbours, so they grew to know each other well and may have partnered in commercial dealings. Around 1830, they were both involved in the ‘Black Line’[4]  when ‘every able-bodied man was required to assist in the capture and relocation of indigenous people.’  Following this event, Anthony Cottrell was appointed Chief Constable of Launceston in 1833, at the age of twenty-seven.

On 31 December 1834, John Batman and his family, the surveyor John Helder Wedge and others who would soon become founding members of the Port Phillip Association, climbed atop the mountain to watch the sun rose on the New Year. Anthony might have been among them watching the first sunrise of 1835 on the mountain, unless he was too busy preparing for his marriage which was to take place three weeks later. As noted above, he was a member of the Port Phillip Association and shared in the expenses for their upcoming expedition to mainland Australia. In fact, he had advanced John Batman £1,000 for the venture.

Anthony Cotterell married Frances Solomon, the daughter of convict Joseph Solomon at Evandale, on 21 January 1935. Joseph Solomon had received his Ticket of Leave and was operating his business within the Launceston area. Joseph Solomon was to also join the Port Phillip Association and accept land along the Maribyrnong River near what is today, Avondale Heights. Anthony Cottrell soon gave up his post as Chief Constable of Launceston and went to the Port Phillip district with the first settlers in 1835, together with his new wife, Frances. Three of their children, Ellen Lowes Cottrell (born 12 November 1835), Anthony Crispe Cottrell (born 22 November 1837), and Harriet Ann Cottrell (born 14 February 1839), were all born in the new colony of Port Phillip.

Within this new colony, Anthony accepted his land allotment which stretched from the Werribee River to the Maribyrnong River, roughly 40,000 acres on which he commenced grazing sheep.  Four years later, he sold the property to another member of the Port Phillip Association, Captain Charles Swanston. By March 1839, Anthony Cottrell was working as an auctioneer in Melbourne, operating from an office in William Street. The city block on which the office was situated was originally purchased by John Batman in June 1837 at the first legal land sales conducted by Robert Hoddle.   In early 1840, Anthony moved his business to Queen Street, but by September 1840, he and his family returned to Tasmania. The family did not return to the Cottrell’s original property on the Nile River as this had passed into other hands in 1839, whilst Anthony was still in Port Phillip. Prior to his return or just after, he acquired another smaller five-acre property near Launceston.

After settling back in Tasmania, Anthony and Frances added to their family with a further six children; Joseph William (born 4 April 1841[5]); William Ostler (born 25 March 1842); Fanny Randall (born 15 May 1843); Sarah Alicia Barbara (born 6 August 1844); Joseph Solomon (born 21 March 1846); and John Crispe born (23 October 1847). The Cottrell family remained in Launceston until 1857, when they sold their property and purchased a smaller one on Elphinstone Road in North Hobart. While Anthony would have been only 51 years of age, it appears that he had retired and was now living as a gentleman on his accumulated wealth. He died on 4 May 1860, aged 54, and was buried within the St David’s Park cemetery in Hobart. His wife, Frances, eventually moved to Christchurch, New Zealand, with several of her children and lived there until her death in February 1886[6].

[1] Robert Douglas Boys, Ralph Vincent Billis and Alfred Stephen Kenyon.

[2] Libraries Tasmania, CSO 1/153/3690, accessed 8 April 2025

[3] Interesting to note that Anthony gave his son William (born 1842) the middle name of Ostler perhaps in recognition of Capt. Ostler’s role in helping Anthony establish himself in the colony.

[4] By 1830, a virtual state of war existed, and many settlers were demanding that something decisive be done. In response, Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur ordered thousands of able-bodied settlers to form what became known as the ‘Black Line’, a human chain that crossed the settled districts of Tasmania. The line moved south over many weeks to intimidate, capture, displace and relocate the remaining Aboriginal people. The plan failed in the short-term, but it ultimately allowed Europeans to take control of the region.

[5] Joseph William Cottrell died shortly after birth, the only one of their nine children.

[6] His name is also associated with Cottrell Street in Werribee.

Research: Graeme Reilly (ALHS 2025)

Edited: Adam Virgona

Cropley Court is named to recognise members of the Cropley family, early pioneers of the Truganina and Laverton area. There were eight siblings from the Cropley family of Swaton, Lincolnshire, England that journeyed and settled within Victoria and the western plains of Melbourne. In April 1850 came John, Henry and Samuel, then in September 1851 followed Benjamin who came of the recommendations of his brothers Henry and John. In about 1853 they were joined by their brothers George, Thomas and Effield and their sister Elizabeth. It was George who established a family holding within the area as most of his siblings gradually moved to other parts of Victoria.

For more information on the life and times of the Cropley families, follow this link – https://alhs.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Cropley-Crescent-edited.pdf

Research: Graeme Reilly (ALHS) 2024

Fawkner Way is named for John Pascoe Fawkner pioneer, newspaper owner, publican, politician, merchant and land owner.

Born in England in 1792, John Pascoe Fawkner went to Port Phillip for the first time when he was 11 years old. His father had been sentenced to 14 years transportation for receiving stolen goods, so in 1803 the family travelled to the proposed new settlement of Port Phillip Australia onboard the ship Calcutta. Due to harsh weather and poor water, the group soon left Port Phillip and founded a new settlement in Van Diemen’s Land. The Fawkner family prospered in Hobart and by 1814, John Fawkner had taken over his father’s bakery.

But in the same year, John made the mistake of helping seven convicts escape. He was caught and sentenced to 500 lashes, and three years hard labour in Newcastle. These years as a prisoner reinforced his hatred of authority and convictism. After his release, Fawkner and his new wife, Eliza Cobb, moved to Launceston to make a new start. Industrious as always, Fawkner built Launceston’s first two-storey building and pub, started a newspaper and began representing convicts and petty criminals in court.

Fawkner was interested in the reports of the southern coast of the mainland made by sealers, whalers, and bark cutters. In April 1835 he sought a vessel to take an expedition to Western Port. Although a 55-ton schooner was acquired and renamed Enterprise, several contracted voyages had to be completed before it changed hands. The day Rebecca, hired by John Batman, anchored off Indented Head, Fawkner was bound over to appear at the next General Sessions for having assaulted William Bransgrove, and was thus prevented from leaving the colony for two months. He did arrive in October 1835, and as the colony grew he wasted no time in establishing Melbourne’s first pub, hotel and newspaper.

In January 1838 he added to his trade of hotel-keeping that of newspaper proprietor. His Melbourne Advertiser was handwritten on four pages of foolscap for nine numbers until a press and type arrived from Tasmania, and it was then printed weekly until suppressed because Fawkner had no licence. In February 1839, with a licence, he began the Port Phillip Patriot and Melbourne Advertiser; this later became a daily, and he ran it in conjunction with a bookselling and stationery business. In 1839 Fawkner also added to his already considerable land holdings a 780-acre (316 ha) property known as Pascoe Vale.

John Fawkner was well versed with the indigenous people of the area and on one occasion he was warned of an impending attack by clan chief Derrimut (Derremart) and and another known as Billibellary. As a result, the whole settlement was ‘saved’ by the warning. In an attempt to learn more of their ways, Fawkner invited Derrimut and another, Betbanger, to stay with him for a period of time. Fawkner eventually purchased land in 1850 in the Parish of Truganina which encompassed the southern end of the country between the Kororoit and Skeleton Creeks. He also bought a small block in Deutgam Parish west of Skeleton Creek. The land was proposed to be given to the indigenous clans of the area, but this did not eventuate. By 1864 this land had been purchased by Alfred Langhorne and incorporated into his Laverton Run.

In 1851, Fawkner became one of Victoria’s first Members of Parliament. He fought tirelessly for the rights of disadvantaged people, especially in relation to the problem of squatters monopolising the land. With advancing years Fawkner’s health declined but he continued to attend every session, wearing always a velvet smoking cap and wrapped in an old-fashioned cloak. He had grown to be regarded as an institution, and became more conservative in his views. In his last parliamentary sessions he opposed manhood suffrage, the secret ballot, and payment for members, yet retained very advanced notions on the rights of married women and deserted wives, and the divorce laws. John Pascoe Fawkner died on 4 September 1869 at his home in Smith Street, Collingwood, the grand old man of contemporary Victoria. He is buried with the Melbourne General Cemetery, Carlton North.

Research: Graeme Reilly (ALHS (2024)

Fleming Avenue is in Seabrook and extends northward from John August Walk to Truganina Avenue. The streets surrounding Fleming Avenue are named after early settlers of Melbourne, Altona, and Laverton, but also notable figures involved in the exploration of Port Phillip.  Fleming Avenue specifically commemorates James Fleming[1] and his role in the early exploration of Port Phillip by both land and sea.  But who precisely was James Fleming, and when did he first visit Port Phillip?

The earliest record that we found for James Fleming is from 1798 in the Court Proceedings for the County of Middlesex in London, England, held at the Old Bailey Courthouse (also known as Justice Hall). James was charged with theft of a quantity of clover seed from the property of Charles and William Minier, and he pleaded guilty. As a result, he was sentenced to transportation for a period of seven years. He was forty-two years of age. James Fleming embarked aboard the Royal Admiral in March 1800 and arrived in Port Jackson, New South Wales, on 22 November 1800. He carried with him some letters of his introduction to Governor Phillip Gidley King, who consequently employed him as a gardener in Parramatta.

Before we go further, it is interesting to note two things about James Fleming. One is that he plead guilty to the theft, which was unusual for the time, and secondly, that he carries letters of introduction to the Governor of New South Wales. It would almost seem that his prospects in England looked grim, and so, he elected to commit a crime that would guarantee his transportation to where his skills and knowledge would be well suited within the still struggling colony. Therefore, was James Fleming a convict by his choosing? He did take a large risk as 43 convicts died during the voyage, and many others were in such a weak state that they were unable to work for some time after their arrival. For James the potential reward must have justified this risk.

On 23 November 1802, the Acting Surveyor General of New South Wales, Charles Grimes, was instructed by Governor Philip Gidley King to make a detailed survey of Port Phillip. King sent acting Lieutenant Charles Robbins in the Colonial Schooner Cumberland from Sydney. Alongside Robbins and Grimes, the crew included the surgeon McCallum and gardener, James Fleming.  James maintained a handwritten account of their survey. Within his report, James described the gum, oak, and Banksia at what today is called Dight’s Falls in Abbotsford, Victoria.  It was here that he sowed the first European seeds, most likely an assortment of wheat, corn, radish, cress and mustard. He describes the vegetation, soils and rocks that they found as they both sailed and walked around Port Phillip. The crew also traversed several local rivers, including the Yarra and Maribyrnong rivers.

In summing up his findings on Port Phillip Bay, Fleming wrote:

The most eligible place for a settlement that I have seen is on the Freshwater River. In several places there are small tracts of good land, but they are without wood and water. I have every reason to think that there is not often so great a scarcity of water as at present from the appearance of the Herbage. The country in general is excellent pasture and thin of timber, which is mostly low and crooked. In most places there is fine clay for bricks, and abundance of stone. I am of the opinion that the timber is better both in quality and size further up the country, as I saw some what is called Ash on the banks of the Freshwater River, and the hills appear to be clothed with wood. As to the quantity of good land at the different places, I shall be better able to describe when I am favoured with a sight of a chart, as I have not been permitted to see one since I came out[2]. There is plenty of fish in Port King[3]. The country in general is newly burnt.

Among the interesting observations that were made by Fleming are that the country was all newly burnt, and that he writes about meetings with the aboriginals: Two of them appeared to be marked with Smallpox (18 February 1803). This latter comment indicates early interactions with Europeans, which may have been sealers, who were known to have entered the bay. The fact that sealers had been present was that James noted on finding two huts, apparently built by Europeans in the Portsea-Sorrento area on 22 January 1803[4].

The Cumberland arrived back in Port Jackson on 7 March 1803. A few days later, on 9 May 1803, Governor King wrote to Sir Joseph Banks of his disappointment with the unfavourable report about Port Phillip Bay but praised ‘the very good man a gardener’. At the same time, the HMS Glatton commanded by James Colnett arrived in Port Jackson, from London via Rio de Janeiro, on 11 March 1803. After discharging her cargo, and male and female convicts, she prepared for her return journey to England in May 1803. Governor King proposed to send live plants, samples of timber, stones, and some of Matthew Flinders’s charts to Sir Joseph Banks, on board the Glatton. Captain Colnett asked for a gardener to oversee the live plants. Governor King had earlier mentioned that he would reward James Fleming for his service, and true to his word, he granted him an absolute pardon on 5 May 1803.  He then requested   James to deliver the plants to Sir Joseph Banks.

Samuel Marsden also wrote to Banks, praising the knowledge and experience that James Fleming possessed in the fields of agriculture, botany, and gardening. James also took with him a list of the introduced plants that had prospered in the colony so that more might be shipped to New South Wales. The Glatton arrived in England on 26 November 1803, and Fleming went to see Banks and delivered the plants. However, he did not see him because Banks was sick in bed.

This is where the trail of James Fleming goes cold. There was a letter written by James to Sir Joseph Banks, written on Christmas Eve 1803, which appears to be the last recorded news of him. We do not know what happened to James after this; whether he obtained a position in a garden belonging to Banks, or perhaps worked in another garden in England. There was a rumour that he had gone to the West Indies, but there is no official record of this happening.

As an addendum to Fleming’s story, we know a few details about the next ship crews to explore the Port Phillip Bay area. About a month after Cumberland returned to Sydney from Port Phillip, Calcutta and Ocean sailed from Spithead, England, with a party of marines, free settlers, and convicts to establish a settlement at Port Phillip to be commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel David Collins. They arrived in October 1803, knowing nothing of Cumberland’s survey or of the discovery of the Yarra River.  Like all their predecessors, they anchored off the site of present-day Sorrento and established their settlement there. James Tuckey, First Lieutenant of Calcutta, was given the task of revising Murray’s chart of the Bay, but appears to have performed this duty hurriedly. He failed to investigate the mouth of the Yarra, though he appears to have seen it. The settlement moved on to Van Dieman’s Land, giving up the Port Phillip settlement. The fact that he is not listed among Matthew Flinders’s ‘selected authorities’ suggests that he added nothing to the ‘minute investigation’ jointly made by Robbins, Grimes and Fleming.

[1] In a number of publications, Fleming is spelt Flemming, and this mistake has then been perpetuated in subsequent writings about James.

[2] This remark appears to indicate that as a convict James was not allowed to peruse maps.

[3] ‘Port King’ here refers to Port Phillip Bay. The embayment outside Port Phillip heads was named

Governor King’s Bay by Grant (1803). Fleming is extending the name inside the heads.

[4] It has been recorded that sealers had been visiting the islands at the entrance to Bass Strait since 1798, and by 1802 were operating from King Island.

Gellibrand Close in Seabrook is located within a group of similarly themed streets named after early settlers of Melbourne, Altona, and Laverton, but also notable figures involved in the exploration of Port Phillip. Gellibrand Close specifically acknowledges the contributions made by Joseph Tice Gellibrand[1] in establishing the Port Phillip Association, as well as his travels to the districts of Geelong and Colac.

Joseph Tice Gellibrand was born in Brentford, Greater London, England on 8 September 1792, the youngest child and second son of the Reverend William Gellibrand of London and Sophia Louisa Gellibrand (née Hynde). Joseph had two siblings: Sophia Louise Gellibrand (1789-1841), and William Clark Gellibrand (1791-1884).

Joseph Gellibrand was admitted as an attorney in London in 1816, where he practised until travelling half a globe away to Van Diemen’s Land (later renamed Tasmania in 1856). In 1819, Joseph married Anne Isabella Kerby of Lewes, England, at All Saints church, in Edmonton, London, and together they had nine children. The eldest two were born in England, while their third child, William St Paul Gellibrand, was born at sea whilst the family was travelling to Tasmania[2].  The following six children were born after their arrival in Tasmania.

Joseph was appointed Attorney-General of Van Diemen’s Land by a warrant on 1 August 1823, and ultimately arrived in Hobart Town[3] on 15 March 1824, aboard the ship Hibernia[4]. He was sworn in on 7 May that same year, with the first Supreme Court session opening on 24 May, presided over by  Judge John Lewes Pedder, the newly appointed Chief Justice. Around the same time, George Arthur was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen’s Land in 1823 and took office on 14 May 1824.

Almost immediately, Joseph Gellibrand and George Arthur had clashing opinions when the former refused to comply with court actions that the latter wanted. So infuriated was George that he exercised his power as Lieutenant Governor to dismiss Joseph as Attorney-General for what he considered to be unprofessional conduct. While Joseph’s actions were vindicated by the practice of the English bar, George continued to assert his power within the colony, adding to his already unpopularity.

After the incident, Joseph continued practising as a barrister in Van Diemen’s Land. He later acquired property at Swanport, Lawrenny, Sorell and Tasman Peninsula, and made his home at Derwent Park. In 1827, he also became editor of the newspaper ‘The Tasmanian’ that was published in Hobart Town.

Meanwhile, news of pastureland across Bass Strait, around the areas of Westernport and Port Phillip, from William Hovell and Hamilton Hume’s 1824 expedition excited both the New South Wales Government and the free settlors of Van Dieman’s Land. However, the New South Wales Government also had fears that the French were already planning to establish themselves in the region, given their presence surveying that part of the continent some twenty years earlier. For this reason, New South Wales’s interest in settlement waned, but John Batman, John Helder Wedge and Joseph Tice Gellibrand were not deterred by this possibility.

In 1834, these three men soon became founding members of the Port Phillip Association. They were later joined Thomas Bannister, James and William Robertson, Henry Arthur (nephew of Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur), J. Sinclair, J. T. Collicott, A. Cotterill, M. Connolly, W. G. Sams, James Simpson, Charles Swanston and the Scottish capitalist George Mercer.

The following year, the Association fitted out an expedition to Port Phillip. Their goals were to confirm whether the grazing lands lived up to their expectations, and to discover means of preventing conflict with local tribes. The Association had conceived the idea of obtaining cession of land from the natives of the area. Batman sailed from Launceston in a small vessel, the Rebecca, in May 1835. He was accompanied on the Rebecca by Captain A B Harwood, Robson, four white men, and seven Aboriginals from New South Wales. Batman returned to Van Dieman’s Land in June after obtaining the cession of 500,000 acres at Port Phillip.

On 17 January 1836, Joseph Gellibrand, accompanied by his son Thomas and five others, set out from Launceston aboard the Norval. However, rough weather saw 70 of the 1,200 sheep on board lost, and three shepherds tragically drowned before reaching Westernport, Victoria. After much hardship, Joseph and the main party reached what is now Melbourne on foot. Here, John Pascoe Fawkner and his followers, disregarding the claims of the Port Phillip Association, had established themselves. “About a dozen huts, built with turf, on the left bank of the Yarra,” was the unflattering description given of the area by Joseph in a letter sent back home. His letter further stated that there were fewer than 50 whites camped in the valley of what was to become Elizabeth Street, and on the wooded slopes beyond.

Natural obstacles were not all the Port Phillip Association had to contend with. Technically, the Port Phillip region belonged to New South Wales, and on hearing of the Association’s venture, the Governor (Sir Richard Bourke) promptly issued a proclamation, declaring null and void the charter by which the Association had acquired the land. The next year, Joseph left Launceston once more to confer in person with the Governor, with his vessel, the Henry, arriving in Corio Bay on 21 February 1837.  While the stock was being landed, Joseph and his friend, a young lawyer named George Hesse, set out from Point Henry with the idea of visiting the properties of members of the Association. They then planned to ride across the Western Plains to the settlement at the Yarra River, which in two months’ time would officially be named Melbourne.  Joseph and George also had a guide with them a shepherd named Acres (or Akers), whom they had borrowed from Dr. Thompson, of Geelong.

Then came the first fatal mistake. Instead of picking up the Barwon’s tributary, the Leight, the riding party followed the mainstream to the west, and Acres, feeling convinced that they had missed their way, declined to go on. But Joseph refused to turn back, declaring that the peaks he observed in the distance were the You Yangs, and that he would reach them. He offered to share his last biscuits with Acres, but the guide refused to take them, stating that if they persisted on their intended route, it would be the last food they would have in this world. Joseph and George, undeterred, pressed on into the unknown wilderness, never to been seen again.

When it became known that the luckless pair were lost, a search party was promptly organised. After 10 days’ travelling, the searchers returned dispirited. But Joseph’s family and friends refused to give up hope, sending another strong search from Van Diemen’s Land, which arrived in Geelong on 18 April. On the same day, a native came in from the west with a story that two while men had been killed by the Karnkoi tribe on the shores of Lake Colac. This, though the most probable, is not the only account of the deaths of Jospeh Gellibrand and George Hesse. Other natives tell how two white men on foot staggered into their camp one evening, and died, despite attention, a day or two later. Joseph’s family long cherished hopes that he would be found, and for three years the company with which his life had been insured for £11,000, refused to pay. A substantial reward was also offered for definitive information about the pair’s disappearance, and although various legends gained currency, the truth remains a secret to this day.

Of Joseph’s sons, Walter Angus Bethune Gellibrand (1832-1909) was a member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council from 1871-1901, and its president from 1884-89.  Thomas Lloyd Gellibrand (1820-1874) was a member of the House of Assembly from 1856 to 1861. William St Paul Gellibrand (1823-1905) was a member of the House of Assembly from 1871-72, and again from 1874-86. Reverend Joseph Tice Gellibrand (1826-1887) held several posts in Tasmania before becoming the editor of the ‘Tasmanian News’ in 1886. Mary Selina Gellibrand (1837-1903), Joseph’s youngest child, played an important part in the Tasmanian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and was its honorary secretary at the time of her death. Joseph’s wife, Anne Isabella Gellibrand, died on 8 January 1863 in Hobart Town, one month short of her sixty-sixth birthday.

[1] Point Gellibrand, Williamstown and the township of Gellibrand, within the Otway ranges, were also named after Joseph Gellibrand.

[2] Given his middle name is St Paul, it is believed that his birth took place somewhere between St Paul in Africa and Australia.

[3] Hobart was originally named Hobart Town in 1803 when the first penal colony was established in Tasmania or Van Diemen’s Land, as it was then known.

[4] Accompanying the Gellibrand family on this voyage from Plymouth were Joseph Gellibrand’s father, as well as John Pedder and his wife.  (Hobart Town Gazette and Van Diemen’s Land Advertiser, 19 March 1824, p 2.

John August Walk is named for John Samuel August (1827-1858), brother-in-law of Alfred Langhorne who was the Overseer of Alfred and Sarah’s Laverton Estate/Run.

John Samuel August was born at Belize, British Honduras, during 1827, to John Samuel August Snr (1773-1839) and Sarah August nee Maskell (1792-1844). Sarah had previously been married to Joseph Byron, who died in 1821.  In March of the same year, she married John Samuel August who was 48 years old. John and Sarah then had six children, but only four survived to adulthood and of three children to her marriage to Joseph Byron, only her daughter, Mary Byron, survived to reach adulthood.

The family left Honduras for England on March 1838 and a year later John Samuel August Snr passed away. The family already had plans to migrate to Adelaide, Australia and so in March 1840 they arrived there where they established a merchant business with Sarah’s son-in-law, William Cooke.

When John August’s sister married Alfred Langhorne, the August family moved across to Melbourne as well, Sarah August wishing to be close to her daughter and Robert August as he was Alfred’s station overseer and assisted with his cattle and sheep overlanding. On the death of his brother, Robert, the then 17-year-old John took his place as overseer of Laverton Run. He was in charge when the bushfire of February 1851 raged through the County of Truganina which destroyed fencing and pastureland on the property. John would have also assisted Alfred in converting the buildings, on Laverton, from timber to bluestone.

He married Maria Antoinette Lewens in 1853, and when Alfred and Sarah revealed their intention to travel and reside in England John sought, and gained, the position of Clerk of the Petty Sessions at Seymour. By 1857 he was Clerk to the Bench, and Receiver of Gold at Mount Blackwood (known also as Myrniong).

John died, aged 30 years, on Thursday, January 21, 1858, at The Camp, Mount Blackwood. He was survived by his wife and son. It has been quoted that his remains were interred to the Langhorne vault (GPS, 179) in the Old Cemetery, Melbourne. If this is so then he was not transferred to the new grave in Fawkner cemetery nor is his name inscribed on the gravestone.

Research: Graeme Reilly (ALHS) 2024

John Cooke Terrace was named in 1995 to commemorate one of the crew of the English survey ship HMS Rattlesnake, that surveyed Port Phillip Bay in 1836, after whom the landmark, and later the suburb, of Point Cook(e) was named – John Murray Cooke. To learn more about life, times and achievements of John Murray Cooke, follow this link – https://alhs.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/John-Murray-Cooke.pdf

Our Society examines the history and individuals associated with various street names within the Hobsons Bay area. John Phelps Court was named by developers, to acknowledge John Lecky Phelps’ contributions to Melbourne and the Altona/Laverton area.

John Lecky Phelps and his brother, Joseph James Phelps, acquired Langhorne’s Laverton Estate through a private sale for £15,900 on 5 February 1874. This acquisition included the areas now known as Altona, Altona Meadows, and a portion of Laverton. The brothers, who were experienced pastoralists, have acquired and developed several stations in western New South Wales. They purchased Laverton Estate for the purpose of grazing sheep.

John Lecky Phelps was born at Waterpark and Broadford, county Clare, Ireland on 15 October 1815 to parents James Phelps and Anne Phelps (nee Lecky). The Phelps family were considered ‘landed gentry’ of Ireland having been granted land in the counties of Tipperary, Kerry and Down in recognition of their support to Oliver Cromwell during the revolution of 1645.

John Phelps married Rosetta Anne Vandeleur on 4 May 1864, and they had five children. John and his brothers, Joseph James, and Robert Lecky Phelps, moved to New South Wales to increase their wealth and land holdings. Though most of their property was in New South Wales, John and Joseph bought Langhorne’s Laverton Estate and John moved to Port Phillip for its initial setup. By late 1874, John and his family returned to Waterpark Castle, leaving Laverton Estate under the management of their overseer, William McPherson.

John Lecky Phelps passed away on 27 May 1881 while vacationing in Florence, Italy, where John is buried. His wife, Rosetta Anne Phelps, continued to reside in Ireland until her passing in Dublin on 28 October 1911. Following John’s death, ownership of the Laverton Estate was acquired by his brother, Joseph James Phelps.

Our Society delves into the fascinating stories and personalities behind some of the city’s best-known and sometimes little known street names. John Wedge Place is so named to recognise the life and contribution of John Helder Wedge to this area of Melbourne and Hobsons Bay.

The first of the Wedge family arrived in the fledgling colony of Australia in 1824. Edward Davey Wedge (1777-1852) and John Helder Wedge (1793-1872) were the sons of a Cambridgeshire family. They sailed for Van Diemen’s Land on the Heroine, arriving in April 1824. They were accompanied by two nephews, Charles Wedge and John Charles Dark. The brothers bought with them a complete sawmill, which they intended to operate in Tasmania. However, the enterprise quickly failed for they hadn’t taken into account the hardness of the Australian timber.

John Helder Wedge was a surveyor by profession and was appointed assistant second surveyor of Van Diemen’s Land. The Wedges were with John Batman and his small party who arrived in Port Phillip and founded what is today Melbourne in 1835. It was John Helder Wedge who was responsible for allocating 40,000 acres of land to seventeen members of the Port Phillip Association. A map showing the allocation of land records the Wedge name against block number thirteen. Number one is in the name of Charles Swanston. The land of the two Wedge brothers, John and Edward, began at the mouth of the Maribyrnong River, ran south to Williamstown and round the coast to Werribee. John was one of the first to bring over sheep from Tasmania, to his station at Werribee. He also reported to Lieutenant-Governor (Sir) George Arthur on the wild white man, William Buckley, whose pardon he recommended, and on outrages against the Aboriginals, for whose hopeless condition he had much compassion.

John Wedge visited England in 1838-43. On the death of his father he returned to Tasmania to find his circumstances much reduced by economic depression. In 1843 he married Maria Medland Wills, who had been governess to Bishop Francis Nixon’s children, but within a year she died in childbirth. He was then appointed by Nixon to manage (1846-51) his farming properties.

He died on 22 November 1872 at Medlands, Tasmania, a home he had built on the River Forth back in 1865.

Research: Graeme Reilly (ALHS) 2024

Samuel Evans Court is named for early Laverton/Truganina pioneer Samuel Evans and his family. Samuel Evans was born on 8 September 1810, in Clapham, Surrey (a district in south west London) to parents Samuel Evans and Mary Evans (nee Clarke). Samuel appears to have grown up within a large family. Samuel took up the trade of a carpenter, and on 1 August 1832, he married Marianne Payne, the daughter of William Payne and Susanna Payne (nee Mitchell). Marianne was also a native of London, being born in All Hallows London Wall. Samuel Evans arrived at the settlement of Port Phillip in 1849 and purchased land in Truganina in 1852.

To read more about Samuel Evans, please follow this link – https://alhs.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Evans-Crescent-edited.pdf

Research: Graeme Reilly (ALHS) 2024