During his voyage along the southern coast of Australia Flinders had encountered the French explorer, Baudin, in Le Géographe. Because of the French exploratory interest in Australia and the political situation in Europe, fear of a French settlement loomed large in the minds of Australia’s early governors; several settlements outside the Sydney area, then and later, owed their existence to this fear.

This prompted Governor King, on May 21 1802 (before Grimes’ exploration), recommending this site because of the “goodness of soil and natural advantages” reported by Murray and Flinders.
Consequently, the Imperial government agreed to the formation of a colony on the northern coast of Bass Strait: Port Phillip was the area designated but Collins, as a Lieutenant-Governor, was “not positively restricted from giving the preference to another part of the said southern coast of New South Wales, or any of the islands in Bass’s Straits…“ The expedition was organised and dispatched before Grimes’ report of his exploration of Port Phillip reached England.

The expedition was transported in two ships, HMS Calcutta (Captain Daniel Woodruf ) and Ocean (a charted vessel), and left England on April 27, 1803. The Ocean arrived in Port Phillip on October 7 and the Calcutta three days later. In charge of the venture was Lieutenant-Colonel David Collins who was responsible for the welfare of 19 settlers, 26 settlers wives and children, a small detachment of 50 men, a complete civil staff, 299 male convicts, and 29 convicts wives and children, among the latter being a boy named John Pascoe Fawkner, later to play a prominent part in the history of Melbourne and Geelong.

Without bothering to explore the port thoroughly, Collins decided to set up his colony on what he named Sullivan Bay in honour of John Sullivan, Permanent Under Secretary for the colonies, near modern Sorrento. Supplies from the Ocean were landed on October 16 and were stored in the open air; some land was prepared for planting. By November 14 Collins was writing to Lord Hobart complaining about his situation:

“Here we found fresh water, and enough for my purposes, but a soil of sand only; the access to both of which was barred by water so shallow that no loaded boat could approach within a half a mile … Upon ascending the hill we found sand on its summit, and sides thinly clad with miserable stunted timber.”

“The two following days were spent in an equally unsuccessful examination of the western or lagoon side of the bay. Here we found the soil somewhat better, but entirely destitute of that great essential – fresh water.”

A little over a week after their arrival, Captain Woodruff sent Lieutenant Tuckey in the Calcutta launch to survey the harbour. Included in the party were Mr Harris, Deputy surveyor of the settlement, and Mr. Collins a settler. A small boat was used as well as the launch, and the survey took nine days. According to the Reverend Knopwood, chaplain to the settlement, Tuckey “reported having landed at several places, and found the soil bad, the trees are very small, and little water.“

The accompanying map, based on Tuckey’s own, shows the area explored but it is hard to know exactly where he landed. If every comment about the nature of the soil indicates that he was ashore, then he landed in quite a number of places. This view is supported by a “memoir” he wrote to accompany the map, for in it he describes the soil and nature of the various parts of Port Phillip in such a detail that only close observation could have made possible. The map does show that he dug for water south of Indented Head, and he also marks a native well which he could hardly have known existed without actually seeing it. As will be saying later, he was ashore on the northern side of Corio Bay, possibly near Bird Rock.

On October 21 the log of the Calcutta reported that Tuckey had “returned with launch from a surveying N.W. part of the bay, where he reports, or rather supposes, from the swell from the westward, that an opening must certainly be in that neighbourhood into the ocean on the west side of the land, possibly about Cape Bridgewater… “

On October 23 the log continued:

“Lieutenant Tuckey proceeded again to survey the reported opening in the north west at the head of the harbour.“

Tuckey thus entered Corio Bay which he described as follows in his memoir:

“… A perfectly secure and commodious Harbour, accessible to the largest ships by channel with six fathoms of water… At the head of the harbour, the land rises from abrupt cliffs to downs…“ He then proceeds to describe the nature of the soil of these down in some detail. Hence it seems most likely that Tuckey was the first European to explore the area where Geelong stands today. He also examined the northern side of the bay:

“On the north side of the harbour near its head is a snug cove, with from 6 to 4 fathoms; the western point of this cove has five fathoms within a boats length of the rocks; this is the only place in Port Phillip, where vessels can heave down in perfect security…, from the head of this cove a salt marsh and creek runs winding along the hollow for 2 miles, and ends in a pond of freshwater; on the same side of the harbour, more to the eastward, is another cove with three fathoms of water; the land here becomes a low and shrubby, running off in long stony spits…”

It was in this area, where the party stayed long enough to pitch a tent, that Tuckey encountered a party of aborigines of between 100 and 200. He gives a very full account of this incident in his memoir. Despite earlier peaceful meetings and gifts of food and blankets on this occasion, the natives showed increasing hostility so that the little group was forced to fire, killing one and injuring others. So the first aboriginal was killed by the white man in the Geelong District.

This exploration failed to show any area better than Sullivan Bay. However he does record that: “on the Eastern side of the port, 28 miles from the entrance, a stream of freshwater empties itself into the port. The stream runs through an extensive swamp, and appears to be the branch of a large river, at the northern extremity of the port, which the shortness of time and sadness of the weather prevented our examining.”

Why, when a supply of freshwater was so important, this area was not further examined seems incomprehensible, especially as the Calcutta herself appears to have been anchored in Hobsons Bay and taken on water from the river.

This report seems to have determined Collins to remove the colony from Port Phillip as soon as possible, and we find him writing to Governor King:

“The bay itself, when viewed in a commercial light, is wholly unfit for any such purpose“ (i.e. a colonial establishment).

To Lord Hobart he wrote: “every day’s experience convinces me that it (Port Phillip) cannot nor ever will be resorted to by speculative men.”

And:

“It cannot be suppose that commercial people will be very desirous of visiting Port Phillip.”
By now Governor King had read Grimes’ report on Port Phillip and was ready to agree with Collins:

“The enclosures and accompanying survey will inform you that your observations on Port Phillip have been fully anticipated… It appears, as well as by Mr Grimes and Mr Robbins’s survey as by your report that Port Phillip is totally unfit in every point of view to remain at.“

Consequently, he gave permission to move the settlement to either Port Dalrymple or the Derwent River; Collins chose the latter. (Ironically enough it was settlers from Van Diemen’s Land who came back to Port Phillip to make permanent settlement there in 1835.)

The bulk of the settlement was removed at the end of January 18 1804. During the period of the settlement’s existence there were 21 deaths, one birth and one marriage. Quite a number of convicts had escaped only to return to the camp thankful to be safe: one exception was William Buckley who remained at large, living with the aborigines for some 30 years.

The remainder of the expedition left on May 18 1804, despite an indication by King to Collins that it would be a good idea to leave some settlement there. In fact on May 15, King wrote to Lord Hobart:

“I shall also… send as a trusty a person as I can select to fix a post either at Port Phillip or at Western port, as may be deemed most expedient.“

Subsequent investigations condemned Western Port and recommended the Yarra as the most suitable for such a post but nothing was done. So for the next two decades, Port Phillip remained undisturbed by the white man.