Point Henry – an Amazing Place

Susie Zada Shared Her Extensive Knowledge About Point Henry and the Geelong Area

Point Henry has always been an important site. For the local aborigines it was a special place for hunting, with its wetlands which attract migratory birds, and for its coastal fishing. It has also been the site for salt works and for 50 years the site of the Alcoa smelter which closed in 2014.

Following the arrival of John Batman in the Port Phillip District, the first settlers from Van Diemen’s Land landed their sheep at Indented Head and Williamstown. However as early as 1836, Point Henry became more popular. It had a high plateau area which was accessible from the shoreline in only one place and by blocking this off, the low areas became ideal for holding stock.

For the earliest overseas immigrants to Port Phillip, Point Henry was often where their journey ended. Its isolation would have been bewildering and with their luggage to carry, immigrants would have to pay to be conveyed into Geelong, a distance of 8 km. This payment was usually higher than the amount paid to travel to Australia.

Today what is called North Geelong is on the Princes Highway heading towards Melbourne, but in earlier days North Geelong was where Geelong City now sits – on Corio Bay.

Geelong’s original position was 2 km south on the fresh water Barwon River. Here the first gaol was erected and troop horses were rested on the police paddock.

Early immigrants said to have disembarked at Geelong more than likely landed at Point Henry as Corio Bay was divided into an inner and outer harbour which allowed Point Henry to be loosely called Geelong.

A sandbar across Corio Bay from Point Lillias to Point Henry prevented ships from entering the inner harbour until a channel was cut through it and at times when the tide was at its lowest it was possible to walk across the bay on this sandbar.

Eventually the North Channel was created close to Point Lillias but it was only deep enough for small vessels. After the South Channel was constructed bigger vessels could enter the inner harbour. Frequent deepening of the channel has been necessary to accommodate bigger ships. Today a channel close to Point Henry is used.

Because of the sandbars around Point Henry, ships anchored off shore. Upon arrival, bounty passengers stayed on board for a day or so, in which time prospective employers were rowed out to the ship where they could select passengers they considered appropriate. Immigrants not employed were then taken from the ship to the immigration depot in North Geelong.

By the time immigrant ships started arriving in Port Phillip from 1839, North Geelong had quite a few buildings including Mack’s Hotel (originally the Wool Pack Inn) a small house in Corio Street erected in 1838. The first police magistrate arrived in 1837 and Geelong was surveyed in 1838.

In 1841 Point Henry was given free warehousing port status but prior to that, ships had to go from the Heads to Hobsons Bay in Melbourne, be ticked off, and then go back to Point Henry. This took 3 days in each direction.

Point Henry had gained importance because of its warehouses for wool and wheat and ships coming in no longer had to return home empty. They could arrive in Point Henry, unload, take on their new load, and be back out through the Heads on their return voyage in the same time it would have taken them to get from the Heads to Hobsons Bay.

The discovery of gold caused an enormous escalation in the number of immigrants arriving, and there was rivalry between the port at Hobsons Bay and Point Henry. In Melbourne a map was produced which showed the gold fields right on its door step but migrants coming into Point Henry could walk to the goldfields in three days, and not waste time going to Melbourne.

From 1854 perishable goods could be stored at the warehouses and then transported across the world thanks to James Harrison, the owner of the “Geelong Advertiser.” He developed an ice making machine which led to the development of a refrigeration system. and not waste time going to Melbourne.

The warehouses employed many people who made their home on Point Henry. There was a thriving community with hotels, schools, houses and churches.

Beautiful tea gardens were developed from the 1840s but landing at Point Henry by steamer was very dangerous until decent piers were constructed. In 1890, during a 6-7 week period over summer, 70,000 people from Melbourne and Geelong visited the gardens with its ‘camera obscura’ and beautiful trees.

Historian and researcher, Susie Zada has studied Point Henry in great detail. Some of her research involves studying the tonnage of early ships coming into ‘Geelong’. Because of the channels and dredging she can fairly safely say which ships would not have been able to go into the Inner Harbour and therefore would have anchored at Point Henry.

She made some interesting comments about preparing government subsidised passengers for their voyage to Australia. Before boarding ship they were housed for up to 3 months in cramped conditions similar to what they would expect on board. They were assigned tasks such as cleaning, cooking, etc. As children went to school whilst on board, teachers were also chosen. Thus, passengers were ‘acclimatised’ for their long voyage.

A new stage in Point Henry’s history will begin as soon as Alcoa finishes cleaning up their site.( 

The above is a report on the address by Susie Zada at the General Meeting on 14 September 2019 Contributed by Jan Hanslow. PPPG Member No. 1057