Pastoral Pioneers of Port Phillip, by R.V. Billis and A.S. Kenyon, 1932

In 1932 authors R.V. Billis and A.S. Kenyon put together an almanac listing the early squatters of the colony of Port Phillip, now known as the State of Victoria. The data they collected included station (or run) names, ownership and occupancy, the number of cattle and sheep, acreage of the station and any subdivisions that may have occurred to the property. A copy of the Pastoral Pioneers of Port Phillip can be found on the National Library of Australia website.

The Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) stores many of the the original maps and plans of these stations, some are loosely drawn sketches, whilst others are carefully surveyed and drafted renditions of the station’s boundaries. Consequently, the quality of mapping these early stations is fraught with inaccuracy. The web map above draws from many of these early maps and sketches and has attempted to ‘piece together’ the early settlement of Victoria and connected the station boundaries with the data from Billis and Kenyon.

To search for station information simply click on a station polygon to see a pop up with detailed information about the station. Where available, links have been provided to the original station maps hosted by PROV. Note that not all stations have been mapped.

Whilst every care has been taken in the creation of this web map, it is worth noting that due to the various quality of the original station maps, the boundaries shown above should be treated as an indicative guide only and NOT as empirical evidence of an historical boundary.