White men first saw the Yarra in 1803. That year Charles Grimes had been sent to Port Phillip to survey the harbour with instruction, “to walk around Port Phillip Bay.” Grimes surveyed the coastline and James Flemming recorded the nature of the country, herbage and soil, as they moved around the bay. The exploration party had walked along the beach (now known as Port Melbourne), when they were stopped by a river quietly flowing into the Bay (Source: James Fleming Diary).
They were excited, for previously they had met only small creeks; anxious to see more of this river they walked along its bank for a short distance. A river was important, for it could be the site for a town, but was the ground suitable? The authorities would want to know that, so Flemming took out his notebook to record details. He carefully noted that the land was swampy on one side but higher on the other; also he saw many swans, pelicans and ducks. By this time the men were tired, they had been walking all day having started at the beach, (now called Carrum), in the morning so they went only about a mile, then returned to the bay and the welcome sight of their ship. The captain had followed them and had anchored the ship close to the shore, but the long day ended with the party having to wade up to their waists to get aboard.
Next day, Thursday 3rd. February 1803, anxious to explore this “great river”, Grimes, Captain Robbins, Flemming and five seamen set out at six O’clock on a drizzling wet morning, this time in a small boat. It was an historic moment. They were the first Europeans to enter the River Yarra.
Two miles upstream, they came to a fork in the river and landed on the bank. Flemming took a spade to test the soil and found it was 10 to 15 inches deep and reddish brown. Grimes had to decide which way to go? After climbing a hill to view the area he thought the left branch looked like the main river and off they went - but he had chosen the smaller river (the Maribyrnong), the right branch was the main river (the Yarra). They camped on the bank overnight and on the second day came to a barrier of rock with shallow water flowing over it, so they returned to the fork and rowed up the Yarra a few miles. Here at a low waterfall they found fresh water suitable for drinking so the men called this the Freshwater River and the other, the Saltwater River. At high tide salt water flowed up both the rivers but when the tide receded the greater flow of water in the Yarra flushed out most of the salt water leaving the Yarra fresher.
The party landed near these falls and walked up a hill, (later known as Batman’s Hill), to view the land. They were unaware of the significance of the area spread out before them, for this was to be the site of Melbourne. Two miles farther upstream, Flemming went ashore at a place where they saw two native huts and a canoe. (Possibly the site of the Botanical Gardens.) Flemming found the soil 15 inches deep and the timber larger than downstream. By that time, it was late so the men, wet and tired, returned to the comfort of their ship.
On Monday7th, Grimes led another expedition to explore the Freshwater River. Again, the men climbed the same hill, (at the site of Melbourne), and stopped for breakfast. Possibly salt pork and hard tack biscuits (Source: Roger Morris, Pacific Sail; page 103). Then rowed on several miles to a creek (later known as Gardiners Creek), where they had lunch. From marks on the trees, Flemming observed that the water had, at times of flood, risen six to ten feet higher, but most of the land here was above this flood level. At sunset they had reached some high land (now Studley Park), where they camped in an empty native hut. Now they would have had time to light a fire to make a warm meal of broth from dried beef and broken biscuits or lima beans with ale or refreshing hot tea.
The next morning the boat was stopped by a small waterfall (Dights Falls) where Flemming landed and walked up a hill to view the country. He could see from ten to fifteen miles looking across unexplored, unknown, bush land to the bay. He felt a glow of warmth to see, in the distance, the friendly sight of his ship riding at anchor on the water.
When Charles Grimes had completed his survey, he returned to Sydney and gave a discouraging report about Port Phillip Bay and the Yarra. Flemming gave a different report. He was enthusiastic:
“The most eligible place for settlement is on the Freshwater River. In several places there are small tracts of good land. In most places, there is fine clay for bricks, and abundance of stone. I saw what is called Ash on the banks of the Freshwater River, and the hills appear to be clothed with wood.”
During the next thirty-two years, two attempts were made to form a settlement at Port Phillip but neither of these were on the Yarra. The first at Sorrento in 1803 and later in 1826 at Corinella in Westernport. The Yarra was not explored again until 1835 when John Batman came to Port Phillip with plans to purchase a large area of land from the natives for the Port Phillip Association. They intended to form a pastoral empire on the land north of the Yarra. Batman sailed his ship ‘Rebecca’ into Port Phillip Bay and camped at Indented Head. On the second of June, he sailed to the mouth of the river but could not enter as the water was only one fathom deep and the day too wet and foggy to look for a channel. On the shore, the crew saw great numbers of pelicans, swans, ducks and teal. The next morning Batman left his ship the ‘Rebecca’ at the mouth of the river to explore the land on foot (Source: G.M.H.Clark A history of Australia part lll). Batman made the same mistake as Grimes (Source: J Bonwick (Port Phillip Settlement, John Batmans Journal), for he led his group up the west bank of the Saltwater River visiting the country to the north for several days. On the return, they came down the east of the river passing through thick ti-tree scrub. Batman wrote: “We expected, on getting through this, to make the vessel in an hour or two, but to our great surprise, when we got through the scrub we found ourselves on a much larger river than the one we went up and had just come down.” He had found the Yarra.
Batman would have returned to the camp at Indented Head that day, but unfavorable winds prevented the ship sailing, instead, not wanting to waste the time, he sent the whale boat to explore the Freshwater River. In his report he wrote: “glad to state, about six miles up found the river all good water, and very deep. This will be the place for a village.”
If Batman had been able to return to his camp that day he would not have surveyed the Yarra and would not have written the famous words, “this will be the place for a Village.”
At the beginning of August, John Wedge, a surveyor from Van Diemens Land, came to Port Phillip to make a plan of the Port Phillip Association’s land. He was an enthusiastic man excited to see the country. At the site of the future town Wedge stood on the bank of the river with two natives. They “pointed to the river at the falls and called out ‘Yarra Yarra’.” Wedge believed that was the name of the river but later he found out they were talking about the falls. Wedge spelt the name, ‘Yarrow Yarrow’. Later it was spelt ‘Yarra Yarra’. The words Yarrow Yarrow meant ‘flowing’. In the Woewurung language, the Yarra was called Birrarrung (Source: R.D.Boys, First Years at Port Phillip, page 45).
Almost three months later, John Fawkner’s schooner ‘Enterprise’ entered Port Phillip Bay but Fawkner was not on board, he had stayed in Launceston to complete some financial business. After hearing news of Batmans plans for a settlement at Port Phillip, Fawkner also decided to lead a settlement to this land. In his absence, Fawkner left Captain Lancey in charge of the expedition. His instructions from Fawkner were, to select a site for their settlement at Westernport. Lancey found Westernport unsuitable, there was no river to provide fresh water, so moved to Port Phillip Bay to settle on the river discovered by Grimes. Fawkner had not realised that a river to provide fresh water is essential for a town.
At the entrance to the river he spent several days of careful exploration then decided to enter the Freshwater River (Source: Fawkner). The Yarra was shallow in places, narrow in others, also the channel was not straight and was blocked by branches growing out from trees on the banks. Both Grimes and Batman rowed up the river in small boats, but Fawkner’s ‘Enterprise’ was a 55 ton schooner. With these problems Lancey knew that sailing up the river would be difficult, so he spent several days with Hunter, the skipper of the ship, sounding the river and the sand banks at the entrance, driving in stakes to mark the channel through the sand banks at the entrance Then they warped the ‘Enterprise’ up the Yarra, often having to stop, while the crew chopped branches from overhanging trees (Source: Garryowan, Selections by Margaret Weidenhofer, Page 3,4).
At the site of the present Queens Bridge they came to the low water fall; here the river had formed a basin wide enough to swing a ship, with water deep enough to come alongside the bank. They cleared away branches and tied up the ‘Enterprise’ to gum trees on the bank where later Queens Wharf was built.
Lancey prepared to build a settlement. He first built a hut to store the goods and supplies that Fawkner had sent Batman’s party still at Indented Head, heard that a group had landed on the Yarra, the site John Batman had previously selected for his village. Henry Batman, who had been left in charge of the party sailed the ‘Rebecca’ up the river to protect their claim, Lancey’s party ignored their claim so Batman’s group build huts for their village.
The ships, `Endeavour’ and `Rebecca’ returned to Van Diemans Land with tales of the new village on the banks of the Yarra. Soon both vessels returned bringing prospective land owners, they found that the village they had come to was merely a collection of tents surrounded by a large group of curious natives (Source: Batman).
The arrivals looked around their new home. In the centre they saw a valley (later to become Elizabeth Street} with a creek winding its way through matted growth as it flowed to the Yarra. A gum and wattle forest covered the hill to the east, to the west a thick she-oak forest grew and to the north tall grass covered a wide plain (Source: Garryowen page 37).
The stream that their vessel had negotiated was described by Garryowen, the pioneer Irish journalist in his book ‘The Chronicles Of Early Melbourne’.
“...The Yarra Yarra flowed through low, marshy flats, densely garbed with tea-tree, sedge, and scrub. Large trees, like lines of foliaged sentinels, guarded both sides, and their branches protruded so far river wise as to more than half shadow the stream. The waters were bright and sparkling; and wooded by the fragrant acacias shaking their blossom-curls ...”
The ground was covered with rich green grass, emus ran among the trees, and bell birds, parrots and magpies flew overhead. On the south bank kangaroos searching for pastures found lush grass in the swamps among scattered bushes. Opposite the end of Queens Street, the river ran over a rocky ledge that they called ‘The Falls’. It had a clear space in the centre where a small boat could pass up stream where the river flowed through dense bushland with graceful gums on the banks (Source: Garryowen page 38).
‘The Falls’ were most important to the future Melbourne as they held back salt water that came in with the tide. Because of the abundance of fresh drinking water above the falls both Batman and Fawkner’s party selected this place as the site for the Village. This was not the first time the site had been chosen for occupation; for centuries, aborigines, attracted by the fresh water, used the site for camps and corroborees (Source: Garry Presland, “Land of the Kulin” page 32).
By the end of the year, the infant town consisted of two weatherboard houses with brick chimneys and about a dozen turf or wattle and daub huts occupied by about fifty people. Six acres had been planted with wheat and there were 100 head of cattle, 1,400 sheep, six horses, some poultry and dogs, a few rabbits and one cat.
The village was now firmly established and not only had the first ships entered the Yarra but the river had been marked for navigation. The Yarra at Melbourne had become a port!
Source: Tales of the Yarra River - Irvine Heber Green. Unpublished Manuscript.
They were excited, for previously they had met only small creeks; anxious to see more of this river they walked along its bank for a short distance. A river was important, for it could be the site for a town, but was the ground suitable? The authorities would want to know that, so Flemming took out his notebook to record details. He carefully noted that the land was swampy on one side but higher on the other; also he saw many swans, pelicans and ducks. By this time the men were tired, they had been walking all day having started at the beach, (now called Carrum), in the morning so they went only about a mile, then returned to the bay and the welcome sight of their ship. The captain had followed them and had anchored the ship close to the shore, but the long day ended with the party having to wade up to their waists to get aboard.
Next day, Thursday 3rd. February 1803, anxious to explore this “great river”, Grimes, Captain Robbins, Flemming and five seamen set out at six O’clock on a drizzling wet morning, this time in a small boat. It was an historic moment. They were the first Europeans to enter the River Yarra.
Two miles upstream, they came to a fork in the river and landed on the bank. Flemming took a spade to test the soil and found it was 10 to 15 inches deep and reddish brown. Grimes had to decide which way to go? After climbing a hill to view the area he thought the left branch looked like the main river and off they went - but he had chosen the smaller river (the Maribyrnong), the right branch was the main river (the Yarra). They camped on the bank overnight and on the second day came to a barrier of rock with shallow water flowing over it, so they returned to the fork and rowed up the Yarra a few miles. Here at a low waterfall they found fresh water suitable for drinking so the men called this the Freshwater River and the other, the Saltwater River. At high tide salt water flowed up both the rivers but when the tide receded the greater flow of water in the Yarra flushed out most of the salt water leaving the Yarra fresher.
The party landed near these falls and walked up a hill, (later known as Batman’s Hill), to view the land. They were unaware of the significance of the area spread out before them, for this was to be the site of Melbourne. Two miles farther upstream, Flemming went ashore at a place where they saw two native huts and a canoe. (Possibly the site of the Botanical Gardens.) Flemming found the soil 15 inches deep and the timber larger than downstream. By that time, it was late so the men, wet and tired, returned to the comfort of their ship.
On Monday7th, Grimes led another expedition to explore the Freshwater River. Again, the men climbed the same hill, (at the site of Melbourne), and stopped for breakfast. Possibly salt pork and hard tack biscuits (Source: Roger Morris, Pacific Sail; page 103). Then rowed on several miles to a creek (later known as Gardiners Creek), where they had lunch. From marks on the trees, Flemming observed that the water had, at times of flood, risen six to ten feet higher, but most of the land here was above this flood level. At sunset they had reached some high land (now Studley Park), where they camped in an empty native hut. Now they would have had time to light a fire to make a warm meal of broth from dried beef and broken biscuits or lima beans with ale or refreshing hot tea.
The next morning the boat was stopped by a small waterfall (Dights Falls) where Flemming landed and walked up a hill to view the country. He could see from ten to fifteen miles looking across unexplored, unknown, bush land to the bay. He felt a glow of warmth to see, in the distance, the friendly sight of his ship riding at anchor on the water.
When Charles Grimes had completed his survey, he returned to Sydney and gave a discouraging report about Port Phillip Bay and the Yarra. Flemming gave a different report. He was enthusiastic:
“The most eligible place for settlement is on the Freshwater River. In several places there are small tracts of good land. In most places, there is fine clay for bricks, and abundance of stone. I saw what is called Ash on the banks of the Freshwater River, and the hills appear to be clothed with wood.”
During the next thirty-two years, two attempts were made to form a settlement at Port Phillip but neither of these were on the Yarra. The first at Sorrento in 1803 and later in 1826 at Corinella in Westernport. The Yarra was not explored again until 1835 when John Batman came to Port Phillip with plans to purchase a large area of land from the natives for the Port Phillip Association. They intended to form a pastoral empire on the land north of the Yarra. Batman sailed his ship ‘Rebecca’ into Port Phillip Bay and camped at Indented Head. On the second of June, he sailed to the mouth of the river but could not enter as the water was only one fathom deep and the day too wet and foggy to look for a channel. On the shore, the crew saw great numbers of pelicans, swans, ducks and teal. The next morning Batman left his ship the ‘Rebecca’ at the mouth of the river to explore the land on foot (Source: G.M.H.Clark A history of Australia part lll). Batman made the same mistake as Grimes (Source: J Bonwick (Port Phillip Settlement, John Batmans Journal), for he led his group up the west bank of the Saltwater River visiting the country to the north for several days. On the return, they came down the east of the river passing through thick ti-tree scrub. Batman wrote: “We expected, on getting through this, to make the vessel in an hour or two, but to our great surprise, when we got through the scrub we found ourselves on a much larger river than the one we went up and had just come down.” He had found the Yarra.
Batman would have returned to the camp at Indented Head that day, but unfavorable winds prevented the ship sailing, instead, not wanting to waste the time, he sent the whale boat to explore the Freshwater River. In his report he wrote: “glad to state, about six miles up found the river all good water, and very deep. This will be the place for a village.”
If Batman had been able to return to his camp that day he would not have surveyed the Yarra and would not have written the famous words, “this will be the place for a Village.”
At the beginning of August, John Wedge, a surveyor from Van Diemens Land, came to Port Phillip to make a plan of the Port Phillip Association’s land. He was an enthusiastic man excited to see the country. At the site of the future town Wedge stood on the bank of the river with two natives. They “pointed to the river at the falls and called out ‘Yarra Yarra’.” Wedge believed that was the name of the river but later he found out they were talking about the falls. Wedge spelt the name, ‘Yarrow Yarrow’. Later it was spelt ‘Yarra Yarra’. The words Yarrow Yarrow meant ‘flowing’. In the Woewurung language, the Yarra was called Birrarrung (Source: R.D.Boys, First Years at Port Phillip, page 45).
Almost three months later, John Fawkner’s schooner ‘Enterprise’ entered Port Phillip Bay but Fawkner was not on board, he had stayed in Launceston to complete some financial business. After hearing news of Batmans plans for a settlement at Port Phillip, Fawkner also decided to lead a settlement to this land. In his absence, Fawkner left Captain Lancey in charge of the expedition. His instructions from Fawkner were, to select a site for their settlement at Westernport. Lancey found Westernport unsuitable, there was no river to provide fresh water, so moved to Port Phillip Bay to settle on the river discovered by Grimes. Fawkner had not realised that a river to provide fresh water is essential for a town.
At the entrance to the river he spent several days of careful exploration then decided to enter the Freshwater River (Source: Fawkner). The Yarra was shallow in places, narrow in others, also the channel was not straight and was blocked by branches growing out from trees on the banks. Both Grimes and Batman rowed up the river in small boats, but Fawkner’s ‘Enterprise’ was a 55 ton schooner. With these problems Lancey knew that sailing up the river would be difficult, so he spent several days with Hunter, the skipper of the ship, sounding the river and the sand banks at the entrance, driving in stakes to mark the channel through the sand banks at the entrance Then they warped the ‘Enterprise’ up the Yarra, often having to stop, while the crew chopped branches from overhanging trees (Source: Garryowan, Selections by Margaret Weidenhofer, Page 3,4).
At the site of the present Queens Bridge they came to the low water fall; here the river had formed a basin wide enough to swing a ship, with water deep enough to come alongside the bank. They cleared away branches and tied up the ‘Enterprise’ to gum trees on the bank where later Queens Wharf was built.
Lancey prepared to build a settlement. He first built a hut to store the goods and supplies that Fawkner had sent Batman’s party still at Indented Head, heard that a group had landed on the Yarra, the site John Batman had previously selected for his village. Henry Batman, who had been left in charge of the party sailed the ‘Rebecca’ up the river to protect their claim, Lancey’s party ignored their claim so Batman’s group build huts for their village.
The ships, `Endeavour’ and `Rebecca’ returned to Van Diemans Land with tales of the new village on the banks of the Yarra. Soon both vessels returned bringing prospective land owners, they found that the village they had come to was merely a collection of tents surrounded by a large group of curious natives (Source: Batman).
The arrivals looked around their new home. In the centre they saw a valley (later to become Elizabeth Street} with a creek winding its way through matted growth as it flowed to the Yarra. A gum and wattle forest covered the hill to the east, to the west a thick she-oak forest grew and to the north tall grass covered a wide plain (Source: Garryowen page 37).
The stream that their vessel had negotiated was described by Garryowen, the pioneer Irish journalist in his book ‘The Chronicles Of Early Melbourne’.
“...The Yarra Yarra flowed through low, marshy flats, densely garbed with tea-tree, sedge, and scrub. Large trees, like lines of foliaged sentinels, guarded both sides, and their branches protruded so far river wise as to more than half shadow the stream. The waters were bright and sparkling; and wooded by the fragrant acacias shaking their blossom-curls ...”
The ground was covered with rich green grass, emus ran among the trees, and bell birds, parrots and magpies flew overhead. On the south bank kangaroos searching for pastures found lush grass in the swamps among scattered bushes. Opposite the end of Queens Street, the river ran over a rocky ledge that they called ‘The Falls’. It had a clear space in the centre where a small boat could pass up stream where the river flowed through dense bushland with graceful gums on the banks (Source: Garryowen page 38).
‘The Falls’ were most important to the future Melbourne as they held back salt water that came in with the tide. Because of the abundance of fresh drinking water above the falls both Batman and Fawkner’s party selected this place as the site for the Village. This was not the first time the site had been chosen for occupation; for centuries, aborigines, attracted by the fresh water, used the site for camps and corroborees (Source: Garry Presland, “Land of the Kulin” page 32).
By the end of the year, the infant town consisted of two weatherboard houses with brick chimneys and about a dozen turf or wattle and daub huts occupied by about fifty people. Six acres had been planted with wheat and there were 100 head of cattle, 1,400 sheep, six horses, some poultry and dogs, a few rabbits and one cat.
The village was now firmly established and not only had the first ships entered the Yarra but the river had been marked for navigation. The Yarra at Melbourne had become a port!
Source: Tales of the Yarra River - Irvine Heber Green. Unpublished Manuscript.
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