Indented Head, Victoria

Last updated

Indented Head
Victoria
Ozone Shipwreck Indentead Head.jpg
The wreck of the paddle steamer, Ozone .
Australia Victoria Greater Geelong City location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Indented Head
Coordinates 38°08′17″S144°42′36″E / 38.13806°S 144.71000°E / -38.13806; 144.71000 Coordinates: 38°08′17″S144°42′36″E / 38.13806°S 144.71000°E / -38.13806; 144.71000
Population1,133 (2016 census) [1]
Postcode(s) 3223
Location
LGA(s) City of Greater Geelong
State electorate(s) Bellarine
Federal division(s) Corangamite
Localities around Indented Head:
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip
Portarlington Indented Head Port Phillip
Portarlington St Leonards Port Phillip

Indented Head is a small coastal township located on the Bellarine Peninsula, east of Geelong, in the Australian state of Victoria. The town lies on the coast of the Port Phillip bay between the towns of Portarlington and St Leonards.

Contents

Indented Head's population fluctuates throughout the year, increasing drastically during the summer months, and is very much seasonal. Its beaches attract keen fisherman, boaters and families to the area. It is appreciated by locals and tourists for its quiet and isolated nature.

History

Early European exploration

Indented Head was named by the explorer Matthew Flinders in April 1802 when he observed the shape of the Bellarine Peninsula coastline from the summit of Arthurs Seat, across Port Phillip. [2] For many years the name Indented Head was applied to the whole of the Bellarine Peninsula. Flinders was at that time in the process of completing the first circumnavigation of Australia, undertaken between December 1801 and June 1803, making a detailed survey of the coastline for the British government, sailing aboard HMS Investigator.

The Batman expedition encounters local Wathaurong (Aboriginal) people and William Buckley

The historical monument marking where John Batman landed at Indented Head in 1835. Indented Head monument.jpg
The historical monument marking where John Batman landed at Indented Head in 1835.

In 1835, the Tasmanian colonist John Batman set up his base camp for the land speculation company Port Phillip Association at Indented Head while he returned to Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land) to collect his family and additional provisions. He left the small base camp in the care of his ex-convict servants William Todd and Gumm, and 5 Aboriginal members of his party named Bullett, Bungett, Old Bull, Pigeon and Joe the Marine. [3] Some of these Aboriginal people had been brought from Sydney to Tasmania by Batman, who employed them in his bounty hunting 'roving parties' rounding up Tasmanian Aboriginal people in the island's north-east in the late 1820s. [4] [5]

The escaped convict William Buckley made contact with the men at Batman's camp in July 1835. Buckley had been living with the local Wathaurong people for over thirty years since his escape from an early settlement near Sorrento in 1803. Large numbers of local Aboriginal people frequented the small campsite, and Todd's diary records what must have been a fascinating intercultural exchange including extensive 'Corrobboring', singing, and shared hunting parties, although Todd himself generally did not participate. [6] On 3 August 1835, after the small camp's imported food supplies ran low, Todd recorded, "We have commenced eating Roots the same as the Natives do" - these were murnong or Yam Daisy roots (Microseris lanceolata) which were a staple of the Wathaurong diet [7] and would have been collected in large quantities by local women.

A monument marks the place (now in Batman Park) where Batman was believed to have landed.

Sketch by John Helder Wedge of the huts built by the expeditionary party of the Port Phillip Association, led by John Batman, at Indented Head in 1835. Batman's first huts at Indented Heads August 1835 sketch by John Helder Wedge.png
Sketch by John Helder Wedge of the huts built by the expeditionary party of the Port Phillip Association, led by John Batman, at Indented Head in 1835.

Twentieth century until today

Camping grounds were established along the Indented Head foreshore during the 1920s but it was many years before a permanent population was established, the Post Office opening in 1947. [8]

The wreck of the Ozone in 2006 Ozone Wreck at Indented Head.jpg
The wreck of the Ozone in 2006

The area is still a popular family holiday destination and facilities include a sailing club, a boat ramp, jetty, and numerous sandy beaches. The shoreline also hosts a number of historical boat sheds.

The retired Port Phillip paddle steamer, Ozone , was sunk at Indented Head in 1925 to form a breakwater. [9] The wreck remains a distinctive landmark visible offshore from the main beach. One of the Ozone's anchors has also been incorporated into a monument located on the cliff-top beside the Taylor Reserve camping ground.

The 1970s and 1980s saw an increase in construction of holiday homes, and a larger permanent population. The Harvey estate began construction in 2007, and has been the largest housing development to date within Indented Head.

In late 2008 a new Post Office and General Store was constructed on The Esplanade, the only business operating in Indented Head.

Tourist destinations

The historic Ozone wreck, the Indented Head Yacht Club, and the long stretches of clear sandy beaches that line The Esplanade, all attract visitors to the area.

Related Research Articles

History of Victoria History of the Australian state of Victoria

This article describes the history of the Australian colony and state of Victoria.

Port Phillip Bay in Australia

Port Phillip , or Port Phillip Bay, is a horsehead-shaped enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, narrow channel known as The Rip, and is completely surrounded by localities of Victoria's two largest cities — metropolitan Greater Melbourne in the bay's main eastern portion north of the Mornington Peninsula, and the city of Greater Geelong in the much smaller western portion north of the Bellarine Peninsula. Geographically, the bay covers 1,930 square kilometres and the shore stretches roughly 264 km (164 mi), with the volume of water around 25 cubic kilometres (6.0 cu mi). Most of the bay is navigable, although it is extremely shallow for its size — the deepest portion is only 24 metres (79 ft) and half the bay is shallower than 8 m (26 ft).

William Buckley (convict)

William Buckley was an English convict who was transported to Australia, escaped, and was given up for dead while he lived in an Aboriginal community for many years.

Mornington Peninsula

The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geographically, the peninsula begins its protrusion from the mainland in the area between Pearcedale and an area north of Frankston. The area was originally home to the Mayone-bulluk and Boonwurrung-Balluk clans and formed part of the Boonwurrung nation's territory prior to European settlement.

Queenscliff, Victoria Town in Victoria, Australia

Queenscliff is a small town on the Bellarine Peninsula in southern Victoria, Australia, south of Swan Bay at the entrance to Port Phillip. It is the administrative centre for the Borough of Queenscliffe. At the 2016 census, Queenscliff had a population of 1,315.

John Batman Australian settler and explorer

John Batman was an Australian grazier, entrepreneur and explorer, best known for his role in the founding of Melbourne.

Barwon Heads, Victoria Town in Victoria, Australia

Barwon Heads is a coastal township on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It is situated on the west bank of the mouth of the Barwon River below Lake Connewarre, while it is bounded to the west by farmland, golf courses and the ephemeral saline wetland Murtnaghurt Lagoon. At the 2016 census, Barwon Heads had a population of 3,875.

Portarlington, Victoria Town in Victoria, Australia

Portarlington is a historic coastal township located on the Bellarine Peninsula, 28 km from the city of Geelong, in the state of Victoria, Australia. It has a diverse population which includes a wide range of ethnic backgrounds, a high proportion of retirees, and a large seasonal holiday influx. The gently rising hills behind the town feature vineyards and olive groves, and offer spectacular panoramic views across Port Phillip Bay. Portarlington is a popular family holiday destination and a centre of fishing and aquaculture (mussels). At one time the town claimed the largest Caravan Park in the Southern Hemisphere, although the size has reduced considerably in recent decades. With direct ferry links to the city of Melbourne Portarlington also serves as a gateway to the historic towns and surf beaches of the Bellarine Peninsula.

St Leonards, Victoria Town in Victoria, Australia

St Leonards is a coastal township near Geelong, Victoria, Australia, at the eastern end of the Bellarine Peninsula and the northern end of Swan Bay. Situated 33 kilometres (21 mi) east of Geelong, St Leonards was a filming location for the Australian television series SeaChange.

Bellarine Peninsula

The Bellarine Peninsula is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Mornington Peninsula, separates Port Phillip Bay from Bass Strait. The peninsula itself was originally occupied by Indigenous Australian clans of the Wathaurong nation, prior to European settlement in the early 19th century. Early European settlements were initially centred on wheat and grain agriculture, before the area became a popular tourist destination with most visitors arriving by paddle steamer on Port Phillip in the late 19th century.

Batmans Treaty 1835 treaty between John Batman and Aboriginal Australians

Batman's Treaty was an agreement between John Batman, an Australian grazier, businessman and coloniser, and a group of Wurundjeri elders, for the purchase of land around Port Phillip, near the present site of Melbourne. The document came to be known as Batman's Treaty and is considered significant as it was the first and only documented time when Europeans negotiated their presence and occupation of Aboriginal lands directly with the traditional owners. The so-called treaty was implicitly declared void on 26 August 1835 by the Governor of New South Wales, Richard Bourke.

Foundation of Melbourne

The city of Melbourne was founded in 1835. The exact circumstances of the foundation of Melbourne, and the question of who should take credit, have long been matters of dispute.

The Wathaurong nation, also called the Wathaurung,Wadawurrung and Wadda Wurrung, are an Aboriginal Australian people living in the area near Melbourne, Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula in the state of Victoria. They are part of the Kulin alliance. The Wathaurung language was spoken by 25 clans south of the Werribee River and the Bellarine Peninsula to Streatham. The area they inhabit has been occupied for at least the last 25,000 years.

Joseph Gellibrand Australian politician

Joseph Tice Gellibrand was the first Attorney-General of the British colony of Van Diemen's Land where he gained notoriety with his attempts to establish full rights of trial by jury. He became an integral part of the Port Phillip Association, producing the Batman Treaty in an attempt to obtain extensive land-holdings from the local Aboriginal people around Port Phillip. He was also later part of an ill-fated expedition into the region west of Geelong where he disappeared and was assumed to have been killed by Aboriginal people in the Otway Range.

The Port Phillip Association was formally formed in June 1835 to settle land in what would become Melbourne, which the association believed had been acquired by John Batman for the association from Wurundjeri elders after he had obtained their marks to a document, which came to be known as Batman's Treaty.

The 30-ton sloop Rebecca was launched in 1834, built by Captain George Plummer at his boatyard on the banks of the Tamar River at Rosevears, Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania).

The murnong or yam daisy is any of the plants Microseris walteri, Microseris lanceolata and Microseris scapigera, which are an important food source for Indigenous people in Australia.

Melbourne Day is an annual celebration to mark the founding of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, on 30 August 1835.

Powlett River

The Powlett River is a perennial river of the Western Port catchment, located in the West Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria.

The Mount Cottrell massacre involved the murder of an estimated 10 Wathaurong people near Mount Cottrell in the colony of Victoria in 1836, in retaliation for the killing of two European settlers.

References

  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Indented Head (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 16 November 2017. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  2. Flinders, Matthew (1814), A Voyage to Terra Australis, 1, London: G. and W. Nicol, p. 213, entry for 27 April 1802
  3. James Boyce (2011) 1835: the Founding of Melbourne and the Conquest of Australia, Black Inc., Melbourne, pp.68-69.
  4. Henry Reynolds, (1995) Fate of a Free People: A Radical Re-examination of the Tasmanian Wars, Penguin, Melbourne, p.78
  5. Bill Gammage, (2011) The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, p.40
  6. James Boyce (2011) 1835: the Founding of Melbourne and the Conquest of Australia, Black Inc., Melbourne, p.69
  7. James Boyce (2011) 1835: the Founding of Melbourne and the Conquest of Australia, Black Inc., Melbourne, p.95
  8. Phoenix Auctions History, Post Office List , retrieved 30 January 2021
  9. "Ozone Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) Number S511". Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria.