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Port Fairy

Port Fairy is a historic port town at the mouth of the Moyne River in south-west Victoria. The area, known as Pyipkil, was home to the Pyipkil gunditj clan, who spoke Peek Whurrong. A bay whaling station was set up here in the 1830s, and the town, named Belfast from 1843 until 1887, grew into a busy port whose 19th-century stone buildings and 1859 lighthouse still stand.

Dated events and their evidence

• 1828 CE disputed
  The crew of the sealing cutter Fairy reportedly name the bay; the name was in general use by 1835 source
• 1835 CE mainstream
  John Griffiths sets up a bay whaling station; whaling there ends by about 1843 source
• 1842 CE mainstream
  Squatters near Port Fairy petition Superintendent La Trobe during the frontier conflict later called the Eumeralla Wars source
• 1843 CE mainstream
  James Atkinson buys the town site by special survey and names it Belfast source
• 1859 CE mainstream
  Basalt lighthouse built on Rabbit Island (now part of Griffiths Island) to mark the river entrance source
• 1887 CE mainstream
  An Act of Parliament renames the town Port Fairy source

Where

38.3850° S, 142.2360° E

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Fairy
• https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/2711

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