Sorrento. Mornington Peninsula. The timber framed Presbyterian Church hall erected around 1910 when half hipped roofs became popular..
Sorrento. Pop 1,600.In 1803 Captain Collins established the convict settlement near present day Sorrento on Nepean Bay. Evan Nepean was the naval officer administrator in England who organised the sending of the First Fleet to Botany Bay in 1787. He was created a baronet in 1804 and made a Lord of the Admiralty the same year. He was remembered by the naming of Nepean Bay, the Nepean River in NSW and Nepean Bay on Kangaroo Island. Evans’ brother Nicholas Nepean was also in the marines but resigned from them in 1789 and joined the New South Wales Corps. In 1790 he arrived in the colony on the Neptune with the first contingent of NSW Corp officers. He did not fare well in the colony because of his temper and disagreement with John MacArthur. He left in 1793 and returned to England via a short stay at the Norfolk Island convict settlement. He remained in the navy until he retired in 1814. Over the years he was promoted to major and then lieutenant general. The convict settlement lasted only a few months from 9 October 1803 to 30 January 1804 and nothing of it remains but a memorial cairn erected at nearby Sullivan Bay. The last equipment and couple of residents left on 21 May 1804 except for escapee William Buckley who lived among the Aborigines for the next 32 years.
The district had good limestone deposits and by 1840 several lime burning kilns were established here. By 1845 there were 17 recorded lime kilns operating. The waters of the bay had plentiful fish and some fishermen camped here from around 1840 with three Scottish Watson brothers becoming major fishermen from 1850 onwards. Portsea was the first named place here in 1843 by James Ford who took up land then. Ten years later he asked to be allowed to purchase 640 acres here next to the quarantine station as he had lime kilns, houses and fencing on the land. The limit of settlement was the quarantine station which emerged in 1852 when the ship the Ticonderoga from Liverpool landed with 400 passengers ill with fever out of the almost 800 that set out on the voyage. The sick were landed at the Heads and given supplies. 70 died and were buried there and then later re-interred in Sorrento cemetery in 1952. Construction of the quarantine station began in 1854 and it was used for this purpose during the 1919 Spanish influenza pandemic. It closed in 1950 when the Australian Army established their officer cadet training program there. In 2004 it became a Victorian National Park.
The town began to emerge in the 1860s. Around that time Sir Charles Duffy took up land for a summer house. By 1871 there were 22 houses in the Portsea-Sorrento area. The Sorrento pier was erected in 1870 so that ships could bring holiday makers to Sorrento and the Post Office opened in January 1871. In 1874 an Anglican Church was built between Sorrento and Portsea on land donated by the headmaster of Geelong Grammar School. George Coppin began developing the district at his own expense before he founded a company with other investors. In 1875 Coppin’s company built baths for returning swimmers. Then Coppin built the Mornington Hotel (now the Intercontinental) opened in 1878 and established the Sorrento-Queenscliff Navigation Company. This was to bring day trippers from Melbourne to Sorrento via Geelong and Queenscliff. At this time more sandstone houses were built in Sorrento and George Coppin founded the Ocean Park Trust to develop the beaches and pathways. Coppin built his own large house called The Anchorage on the corner of Coppin Road and Point Nepean roads. It was built in local limestone in 1873. The Sorrento Mechanics Institute was built in 1884 and it opened as the town museum in 1967. Next to it is Watts Cottage. The family were lime burners one of the early Peninsula industries. The cottage was built in wattle and daub in 1869. The Athenaeum or library was built in 1894. The new Sorrento Hotel was built in the 1890s too and in 1890 the Sorrento Tramway Company started to move visitors around. The tramway operated until 1920.
George Coppin the main developer of Sorrento was a very interesting character. He was actually a comic actor and investor. He left England and arrived in Sydney in 1843. He produced shows in Melbourne, Adelaide (the old Queens Theatre off Hindley Street) in the 1840s. In 1850 he bought the Queens Theatre in Adelaide and reopened it as the Royal Victoria Theatre which he ran until 1853 along with a hotel in Port Adelaide. He returned to Melbourne where he also ran a theatre. He entered state politics in Victoria in 1858. He introduced a real property act for Victoria based on the SA Robert Torrens act. He remained in the Victorian parliament off and on until 1895. His investments in Sorrento were not financially rewarding and he lost a considerable sum on the Sorrento Tramway Company.
Sorrento. Mornington Peninsula. The timber framed Presbyterian Church hall erected around 1910 when half hipped roofs became popular..
Sorrento. Pop 1,600.In 1803 Captain Collins established the convict settlement near present day Sorrento on Nepean Bay. Evan Nepean was the naval officer administrator in England who organised the sending of the First Fleet to Botany Bay in 1787. He was created a baronet in 1804 and made a Lord of the Admiralty the same year. He was remembered by the naming of Nepean Bay, the Nepean River in NSW and Nepean Bay on Kangaroo Island. Evans’ brother Nicholas Nepean was also in the marines but resigned from them in 1789 and joined the New South Wales Corps. In 1790 he arrived in the colony on the Neptune with the first contingent of NSW Corp officers. He did not fare well in the colony because of his temper and disagreement with John MacArthur. He left in 1793 and returned to England via a short stay at the Norfolk Island convict settlement. He remained in the navy until he retired in 1814. Over the years he was promoted to major and then lieutenant general. The convict settlement lasted only a few months from 9 October 1803 to 30 January 1804 and nothing of it remains but a memorial cairn erected at nearby Sullivan Bay. The last equipment and couple of residents left on 21 May 1804 except for escapee William Buckley who lived among the Aborigines for the next 32 years.
The district had good limestone deposits and by 1840 several lime burning kilns were established here. By 1845 there were 17 recorded lime kilns operating. The waters of the bay had plentiful fish and some fishermen camped here from around 1840 with three Scottish Watson brothers becoming major fishermen from 1850 onwards. Portsea was the first named place here in 1843 by James Ford who took up land then. Ten years later he asked to be allowed to purchase 640 acres here next to the quarantine station as he had lime kilns, houses and fencing on the land. The limit of settlement was the quarantine station which emerged in 1852 when the ship the Ticonderoga from Liverpool landed with 400 passengers ill with fever out of the almost 800 that set out on the voyage. The sick were landed at the Heads and given supplies. 70 died and were buried there and then later re-interred in Sorrento cemetery in 1952. Construction of the quarantine station began in 1854 and it was used for this purpose during the 1919 Spanish influenza pandemic. It closed in 1950 when the Australian Army established their officer cadet training program there. In 2004 it became a Victorian National Park.
The town began to emerge in the 1860s. Around that time Sir Charles Duffy took up land for a summer house. By 1871 there were 22 houses in the Portsea-Sorrento area. The Sorrento pier was erected in 1870 so that ships could bring holiday makers to Sorrento and the Post Office opened in January 1871. In 1874 an Anglican Church was built between Sorrento and Portsea on land donated by the headmaster of Geelong Grammar School. George Coppin began developing the district at his own expense before he founded a company with other investors. In 1875 Coppin’s company built baths for returning swimmers. Then Coppin built the Mornington Hotel (now the Intercontinental) opened in 1878 and established the Sorrento-Queenscliff Navigation Company. This was to bring day trippers from Melbourne to Sorrento via Geelong and Queenscliff. At this time more sandstone houses were built in Sorrento and George Coppin founded the Ocean Park Trust to develop the beaches and pathways. Coppin built his own large house called The Anchorage on the corner of Coppin Road and Point Nepean roads. It was built in local limestone in 1873. The Sorrento Mechanics Institute was built in 1884 and it opened as the town museum in 1967. Next to it is Watts Cottage. The family were lime burners one of the early Peninsula industries. The cottage was built in wattle and daub in 1869. The Athenaeum or library was built in 1894. The new Sorrento Hotel was built in the 1890s too and in 1890 the Sorrento Tramway Company started to move visitors around. The tramway operated until 1920.
George Coppin the main developer of Sorrento was a very interesting character. He was actually a comic actor and investor. He left England and arrived in Sydney in 1843. He produced shows in Melbourne, Adelaide (the old Queens Theatre off Hindley Street) in the 1840s. In 1850 he bought the Queens Theatre in Adelaide and reopened it as the Royal Victoria Theatre which he ran until 1853 along with a hotel in Port Adelaide. He returned to Melbourne where he also ran a theatre. He entered state politics in Victoria in 1858. He introduced a real property act for Victoria based on the SA Robert Torrens act. He remained in the Victorian parliament off and on until 1895. His investments in Sorrento were not financially rewarding and he lost a considerable sum on the Sorrento Tramway Company.