The Port Phillip District was an administrative division of the

Colony of New South Wales The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of ...

from 9 September 1836 until 1 July 1851, when it was separated from New South Wales and became the

Colony of Victoria In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

. In September 1836, NSW Colonial Secretary

Alexander Macleay Alexander Macleay (also spelt McLeay) MLC FLS FRS (24 June 1767 – 18 July 1848) was a leading member of the Linnean Society, a fellow of the Royal Society and member of the New South Wales Legislative Council. Life Macleay was born on Ros ...

declared Captain William Lonsdale the "Police Magistrate" of "the location of Settlers on the vacant Crown Lands adjacent to the shores of Port Phillip." This position was someone "of which all persons concerned are hereby required to take notice." In May 1839, Governor George Gipps defined the "Port Phillip District" as "The whole of the Lands comprised in the District lying to the south of the main range, between the Rivers Ovens and Goulburn, and adjacent to Port Phillip." In July that year, Colonial Secretary E Deas Thomson announced that

Charles La Trobe Charles la Trobe, CB (20 March 18014 December 1875), commonly Latrobe, was appointed in 1839 superintendent of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales and, after the establishment in 1851 of the colony of Victoria (now a state of Austra ...

was the District's "Superintendent", (which was later said by Governor Gipps "to have the powers of a Lieutenant Governor"). On September 10, the District was announced in a government notice to be "all that part of the Territory of New South Wales which is bounded on the north by the thirty-sixth degree of south latitude; on the east by the one hundred and forty-sixth degree of east longitude, measuring from the meridian of Greenwich; on the south by the waters of Bass's Straits and the Pacific Ocean, and on the west by the one hundred and forty-first degree of east longitude, from the said meridian of Greenwich." ( 141°E was the border with South Australia.) In December 1840, for the purposes of government land sales, the northern border of the "Southern or Port Phillip District" was defined to follow the course of the

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...

and Murrumbidgee Rivers, and from its source to the mouth of the

Moruya River The Moruya River is an open and trained mature wave dominated barrier estuary or tidal river is located in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. In its upper freshwater reaches, the river is known as the Deua River. Course a ...

. This coincided with the introduction of a fixed-price land sale scheme. This did not change the boundaries of La Trobe's jurisdiction, though all the Crown Land sold at that time was within that smaller area. After extensive opposition in

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 ...

, including from the Legislative Council, thoughts about the bounds of the district that should be administered from Melbourne were retracted south to follow the

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...

alone. On 30 July 1842, "An Act for the Government of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land" was passed, which defined electorates within those colonies. It included "that for the purposes of this Act the boundary of the District of Port Phillip on the North and North-east shall be a straight line drawn from

Cape Howe Cape Howe is a coastal headland in eastern Australia, forming the south-eastern end of the Black-Allan Line, a portion of the border between New South Wales and Victoria. History Cape Howe was named by Captain Cook when he passed it on 20 A ...

to the nearest source of the River Murray, and thence the course of that River to the Eastern boundary of the Province of South Australia." In January 1843, it was announced that the Town of Melbourne would have 1 representative in the soon-to-be formed

NSW Parliament The Parliament of New South Wales is a bicameral legislature in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New South Wales Legislative Council (upper house). Eac ...

, while the remainder of the District of Port Phillip would have 5. The polling places were to be in Melbourne, Geelong and Portland. On 28 February 1843, Governor Gipps proclaimed that the "Southern or Port Phillip District" for land disposal would now be defined as being the Counties of Bourke (Melbourne),

Grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom * Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama * Grant, Inyo County, ...

(Geelong) and Normanby (Portland). These were the places within La Trobe's territory adjacent to the existing European settlement, and the location of any Crown Land to be sold. On 1 July 1843, Governor Gipps proclaimed that La Trobe's jurisdiction was now the same as the newly formed electorate. On 1 July 1851, the District was separated from New South Wales under provisions of the ''Australian Colonies Government Act 1850'', and became the Colony of Victoria. This day would be celebrated for many years as "Separation Day."

References

Further reading