View source for Sullivan Bay, Victoria

{{Short description|Early penal settlement in Australia}}
{{further|topic=the 1803 British settlement|History of Victoria}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
[[Image:Sullivanbig.png|thumb|right|Map of Sullivan Bay, Victoria]]
[[Image:Sullivanbaymap2.png|thumb|right|Map of Sullivan Bay, Victoria]]
[[File:Sullivan Bay, first British settlement in Victoria.jpg|thumb|right|Sullivan Bay, Victoria]]

'''Sullivan Bay''' lies {{cvt|60|km}} due south of [[Melbourne]] on [[Port Phillip]], {{convert|1|km||1|spell=in}} east of [[Sorrento, Victoria]]. It was established as a short-lived convict settlement in 1803 by Lieutenant-Colonel [[David Collins (lieutenant governor)|David Collins]],<ref name=ADB/> who named the bay after the [[Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies]], John Sullivan.

The site was chosen because of its strategic location near the entrance of Port Phillip Bay. The settlement is significant because it was the first attempt to settle Europeans permanently in what is now [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] and was a key link in the expansion of the colony of [[New South Wales]] into [[Tasmania]] and Victoria, and the control of [[Bass Strait]] as a trade route.

==History==
In 1802, Lieutenant [[John Murray (Australian explorer)|John Murray]] discovered Port Phillip Bay and claimed it for the British Crown, and [[Matthew Flinders]] further explored the area that same year. The British government was impressed with their positive reports, and were also worried that the French might try to establish colonies there.

They decided to get in first. In April 1803 {{HMS|Calcutta|1795|6}} and the transport ship ''[[Ocean (1794 ship)|Ocean]]'' sailed from England, via the [[Cape of Good Hope]], carrying officers, a marine detachment, free settlers, and 301 convicts to Port Phillip, and some wives and children. They arrived on 10 October 1803.

Shortly after arriving, a party led by [[James Hingston Tuckey|James Tuckey]] was dispatched to explore Port Phillip Bay. They reported that the land was poor and there was little fresh water even though the Yarra and Marybyrnong Rivers had been discovered on 2 January 1803 by [[Charles Grimes (surveyor)|Charles Grimes']] party,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livingmuseum.org.au/download%20pdf/Flemings%20Journal.pdf|access-date=15 April 2023|website=Living Museum|title=Flemings Museum}}</ref> months before the arrival of the Sullivans Bay colonists. They also reported that suitable timber could not be found. The treacherous entrance to the bay made the site unsuitable for whaling and with few marines, the settlement was vulnerable to attack.

Collins asked Governor [[Philip Gidley King|King]] for permission to abandon the site, and was eventually given permission to do so. On 30 January 1804, Collins and some of the convicts left in ''Ocean'' and ''Lady Nelson'' for [[Van Diemens Land]] (now [[Tasmania]],) where [[John Bowen (colonist)|John Bowen]] had established a settlement at [[Risdon Cove]] in 1803. They were moved as two parties, the second leaving on 20 May, just over seven months after the settlement was established. Records show 30 people died at the settlement.

During the brief occupation, 21 convicts escaped.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63549795 |title=Escape From Prison To Join The Blacks. |newspaper=[[Townsville Daily Bulletin]] |location=Qld. |date=19 August 1952 |accessdate=18 January 2012 |page=2 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>  One of these was [[William Buckley (convict)|William Buckley]] who lived in the area around [[Geelong]] for 33 years before meeting with [[John Batman]]'s party in 1835.

Little evidence of the settlement remains. Four graves on the eastern headland, and parts of barrels, leg irons, bottles and other pieces are all that exist.<ref name=PN/> The Collins Settlement Historic Reserve, comprising about {{convert|2|km||1|spell=in}} of coastline, is protected under the [[Victorian Heritage Register]] and the [[Mornington Peninsula]] Planning Scheme.<ref name=VHD/>

==References==
<references>
<ref name=ADB>{{cite Australian Dictionary of Biography |id=A010226b 
 |title=Collins, David (1756–1810) 
 |accessdate=6 June 2008 
 |author= 
  |volume=1 |year=1966 
 |pages=236–240}}
</ref>
<ref name=VHD>{{cite VHD|4653|Collins Settlement Site|hr=1050|ho=255}}</ref>
<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
    | accessdate = 2011-11-01 
 }}</ref>
</references>

==Further reading==
*Marjorie Tipping. ''Convicts unbound : the story of the Calcutta convicts and their settlement in Australia'' South Yarra, Vic. Viking O'Neil, 1988
*Crook, William Pascoe, (1983), ''An Account of the Settlement at Sullivan Bay, Port Phillip 1803'',(ed John Currey) The Colony Press, Melbourne.
*Bonwick, James, (1883), ''Port Phillip Settlement'', Samson, Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington Publishing, London.
*Angell, B, (1984), ''Voyage to Port Phillip 1803'', Neapean Historical Society, Sorrento.
*Cotter, Richard (2001) ''No place for a colony: Sullivan Bay, Sorrento & the Collins Settlement''.
*Coutts, J. F. (1981) ''Victoria's first official settlement: Sullivan Bay, Port Phillip''. Victoria Archaeological Survey, Ministry for Conservation.

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[[Category:Port Phillip]]
[[Category:History of Victoria (state)]]
[[Category:1803 establishments in Australia]]