A brief introduction to the Grimes story...
‘The
most eligible place for a settlement I have seen is on the freshwater
river’. Do these words sound familiar?
Perhaps the phrase, ‘This is the place for a village’, rings
a bell.
That famous statement attributed to John Batman in 1835 is credited with
identifying the current site of the City of Melbourne.
A significant statement in our most liveable city’s history.
However, the ‘eligibile place for a settlement’, mentioned in
the first phrase, written 32 years earlier in February 1803, refers to
the same site that has become Melbourne as we know it.
In January, 1803, the acting chief surveyor of New South Wales, Charles
Grimes, led an expedition to survey Port Phillip Bay. They had been mapping
the coast of the Bay from the east when they came across ‘a great
river’.
On February 3rd, 1803, a group rowed up the river in a small rowing boat
and landed two or three miles upstream.
They came to a junction of two rivers and took the left stream, now known
as the Maribyrnong River.
They rowed all day, stopping off occasionaly and making notes in a diary.
Then the crew camped overnight on the banks of the river somewhere in
Avondale Heights, then rowed back downriver the next day and up the other
stream, now known as the Yarra River, until they came to a small water
fall near what is now Queen Street.
It was just over this water fall that the Grimes’ team identified
as the ‘eligible place for a settlement’ that Batman later identified
as the ‘place for a village’. Pedantic stuff maybe but significant
and almost sacred to many of us. It is the first sentence in the story
of ‘Marvellous Melbourne’ and as such worthy of celebration
on its bicentennial.
Historical groups and others all around Port Phillip Bay celebrated this
bicentennial in a variety of ways in early February 2003. The Bicentennial
had special significance for several councils in the western suburbs of
Melbourne that adjoin the Maribyrnong River.
Melbourne’s Living Museum, in partnership with Friends of the Maribyrnong
River, organised a re-creation of the trip up the Maribyrnong and the
Yarra with a series of small events being organised in conjunction with
local councils.
Some years ago footscray College of Tafe built a replica of the 14 foot
rowing boat used by the Grimes’ team and a couple of re-enactments
have been carried out already.
The boat was donated to the City of Maribyrnong and is in the care of
the Living Museum.
The first weekend in February 2003 was a moment of glory for this little
rowing boat that was there when our wonderful city was first thought of.
The program of events was centred around the rowing re-enactment but also
involved a number of associated events in the cities of Hobson's bay,
Maribyrnong, Moonee Valley and Melbourne.
