Corinella is a town in

Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in ...

, located 114 km south-east of Melbourne via the M1 and the Bass Highway, on the eastern shore of Western Port. The town serves as a holiday destination, with a focus on recreational fishing, and has a pier and boat ramp. Limited vehicular access is also provided to French Island from Corinella, via a privately operated barge.

History

Just to the east of the present town, a settlement was founded in 1826 from

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

in response to a concern for possible French territorial claims. In that year Dumont d'Urville in command of the corvette ''Astrolabe'' examined Western Port during his scientific voyage, arousing some suspicion. Authorities in Sydney had also recently received reports from explorers Hamilton Hume and William Hovell, who mistakenly believed they had reached Western Port in 1824, when in fact they had arrived at Corio Bay many kilometres to the west. A contingent of soldiers and 21 convicts under the command of Captain Wright, accompanied by Hovell, was dispatched to forestall any French incursion. A small military settlement called Fort Dumaresq was established near the present-day site of Rhyll on the north coast of Phillip Island. Lack of fresh water proved a problem and the outpost was moved to Corinella, then called Settlement Point. Hovell's subsequent report claiming Western Port was unsuitable for agriculture, owing to poor soil and lack of fresh water, and the absence of any French, led to the abandonment of the settlements in 1828. The buildings were burnt to prevent use by escaped convicts. A memorial cairn in Jamieson Street marks the site of the original settlement, and another monument at the end of Smythe Street commemorates

Paul Edmund de Strzelecki Paul may refer to: * Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

's exploration in 1840. The 1826-8 Corinella was subject to extensive archaeological investigations in the late 1970s by the

Victoria Archaeological Survey The Victorian state government established the Archaeological and Aboriginal Relics Office under the Chief Secretary's Department, following the enactment of the Archaeological and Aboriginal Relics Preservation Act 1972. One of the original aims o ...

led by

Peter Coutts Peter John Frazer Coutts was an Australian archaeologist who was first director of the Victoria Archaeological Survey (VAS), the precursor to the Heritage Branch of Aboriginal Affairs Victoria. Early life and education Peter Coutts was educa ...

. Although equivocal in its conclusions about the location and remains of the settlement, the dig established the importance of the site to Victoria's history of European settlement. In 1851, the township of Corinella, at "Corinella, Settlement Point, Western Port Bay", was officially proclaimed.

References

*''Corinella, a forgotten episode in Victoria's history''. Part 1. History and description of the settlement by P.J.F. Coutts, Records of the Victorian Archaeological Survey ; no. 15 1983

External links

Visit Corinella Township Information website (new) http://www.visitcorinella.com {{authority control Coastal towns in Victoria (Australia) Western Port Towns in Victoria (Australia) Towns in South Gippsland Bass Coast Shire