John Pascoe Fawkner was an early Australian pioneer, businessman and politician of Melbourne, Australia. In 1835 he financed a party of free settlers from Van Diemen's Land, to sail to the mainland in his ship, Enterprize. Fawkner's party sailed to Port Phillip and up the Yarra River to found a settlement which became the city of Melbourne.
Portrait of John Pascoe Fawkner, founder of Melbourne, by William Strutt, 1856: oil on canvas; 61.3 x 51.2 cm. National Library of Australia.
William Strutt. Eliza Fawkner 1801–1879. State Library Victoria, Melbourne, Australia. H32027
The Enterprize, Fawkner's ship. State Library Victoria, Melbourne, Australia. H36536
Melbourne from The Falls, 1838 by Robert Russell. State Library Victoria, Melbourne, Australia. H24528.
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 km2 (750 sq mi) and the shore stretches roughly 264 km (164 mi), with the volume of water around 25 km3 (6.0 cu mi). Most of the bay is navigable, although it is extremely shallow for its size — the deepest portion is only 24 m (79 ft) and half the bay is shallower than 8 m (26 ft). Its waters and coast are home to seals, whales, dolphins, corals and many kinds of seabirds and migratory waders.
The Melbourne skyline, seen across Port Phillip.
Anthony's Nose, Dromana, 1920
The memorial at Sorrento marking the site of the first British settlement on Port Phillip in 1803
Beacon Cove beach and apartments in Port Melbourne