ANNUAL REPORT 2007-2008 CITY OF GREATER GEELONG

OUR HISTORY - FROM JILLONG TO GEELONG
Geelong has a long and proud history dating
back well before white settlement.
The Wathaurong people lived in the Geelong region for
more than 25,000 years before white settlers arrived with
various clans established in the area. White settlement
from the early 1800s had a devastating effect on the
Aboriginal people. Sheep destroyed much of the root
crops which the Wathaurong depended on, and
introduced diseases that cut a swathe through their
people causing birth rates and clan numbers to fall.
The significant level of activity of the Wathaurong people
is evident through approximately 140 archaeological sites
that have been found in the region.
The name Geelong itself comes from the term Jillong.
When the explorers Hume and Hovell arrived in the area
in 1824, they approached the Wathaurong people and
asked for the name of the area. They were informed that
the bay was called Jillong and the land Corio, or at least
this is how they construed the conversation.
The actual meaning of these two words has been subject
of much speculation over the years. There is a belief that
the Europeans had made a mistake in ascribing Corio to
the sea and Geelong to the land, when it should have
been the other way around. The debate goes on!
Following is a short chronological history of Geelong,
from the early 1800s through to today.
1802 - Lieut. John Murray from the Lady Nelson
discovered and explored Corio Bay.
1802 - Commander Matthew Flinders entered Port Phillip
Bay onboard the Investigator and climbed Station
Peak (now known as Flinders Peak at the
You Yangs).
1824 - Explorers Hume and Hovell reached the shore
of Corio Bay (close to the present Duck
Ponds Bridge).
1837 - Capt Foster Fyans arrived at Geelong as Police
Magistrate.
1837 - David Fisher built the first house in Geelong.
1838 - Geelong surveyed.
1838 - Geelong gazetted as a town.
1838 - First land sale held.
1840 - First issue of the “Geelong Advertiser” published.
1849 - Town of Geelong incorporated by special Act of
the New South Wales Legislative Council.
1850 - First meeting of Geelong Town Council held.
1853 - Geelong-Melbourne Railway commenced.
1857 - Post Office built at corner of Ryrie and
Gheringhap Streets.
1858 - Geelong Gas Company incorporated.
1859 - Geelong Yacht Club formed.
1861 - Geelong College founded.
1862 - Geelong- Ballarat railway opened.
1872 - Johnstone Park opened.
1872 - National Wool Museum built.
1877 - Geelong Railway Station building commenced.
1887 - Gordon Institute of Technology opened.
1890 - Cheetham Salt Works established.
1899 - Geelong Electric Syndicate granted consent to
install electric lights and power.
1905 - Harbour Trust for the Geelong Port passed
by Parliament.
1905 - New Racecourse and Agricultural Show
Grounds gazetted.
1908 - Geelong Waterworks and Sewerage Trust formed.
1908 - Geelong’s first car constructed by Humble
and Sons.
1910 - Ratepayer approval secured to develop Market
Square for retailing purposes.
1910 - Geelong declared a city.
1912 - Geelong Electric Tramway Service opened.
1912 - First automatic telephone exchange in
Australia opened at Geelong.
1914 - Geelong Grammar School opened in Corio.
1915 - Geelong High School officially opened.
1915 - Woollen Mills at North Geelong opened.
1917 - New City Hall, Geelong, officially opened.
1924 - Wards at Kitchener Memorial Hospital officially
opened.
1925 - Geelong Football Club won its first VFL Premiership.
1925 - Ford Motor Company commenced operations.
1926 - The ‘Palais’ opened in Moorabool Street.
1926 - Concrete Barwon Bridge officially opened.
1927 - Eastern Beach improvements commenced.
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