Port
Campbell was named after a whaler, Captain Alexander Campbell, who sheltered
in the bay during a storm in the 1840’s. Whalers were to visit this
region for many years before the first permanent settlers arrived in the
early 1870’s.
Port
Campbell was named after a whaler, Captain Alexander Campbell, who sheltered
in the bay during a storm in the 1840’s. Whalers were to visit this
region for many years before the first permanent settlers arrived in the
early 1870’s. Port Campbell was surveyed and laid out in 1875 by Horace
Walker, and the port was established a few years later.
In
1879-80 a jetty was built and trade started with Warrnambool, soon after
this trade with Port Phillip Bay was established. The postal service
commenced in 1874, buildings were erected and in 1892 a rail link to Timboon
was made.
.
The
most well known shipwreck along this part of the coast is the iron clipper
"Loch Ard" whose tragedy unfolded in june 1878. There were 36 crew and
17 passengers on board of which only two survived, Eva Carmichael who lost
seven members of her family and Tom Pearce, the bodies of only two of
Eva Carmichael’s family were recovered. They and two members of the crew
lie in the cliff top cemetery above the gorge. The story of the wreck is
told on a plaque above the gorge.
Several days after the Loch Ard sank, a wooden crate was found amongst the debris. Inside was a life sized porcelain peacock which was to be exhibited in Melbourne. It is now on exhibition at the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in Warrnambool.
Princetown
Princetown
is situated close to the mouth of the Gellibrand River, Princetown was
named after Prince Alfred. People started to settle in Princetown around
1878 when news of the Loch Ard shipping disaster, and the Schomberg
shipwreck attracted people to the area. Today Princetown forms the western
boundary of the Otway National Park and the eastern boundary of the Port
campbell National Park.