The area known as Port Phillip Bay and  Hobsons Bay was inhabited by the Yalukit-Willam tribe of the Kulin Nation for thousands of years.

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John Murray first sailed into the bay area known by local Indigenous tribes as Narm-Narm, in February 1802, aboard the ‘H.M. Lady Nelson’. He named it Port King in honour of the current Governor of New South Wales, Philip King. Shortly after, explorer Mathew Flinders on the ‘The Investigator’, arrived and completed an initial survey of the area and bay. Their encouraging findings during these visits and ongoing concerns about French explorers establishing a claim to the land led to an unsuccessful attempt to create a new settlement at Sullivans Bay near Sorrento in 1803.

In February 1803, Charles Grimes, acting as Surveyor General of New South Wales was tasked to complete the first full survey of the bay, to identify possible sites for a new settlement. An exploration party from the schooner 'Cumberland', discovered the river known as the Yarra Yarra travelling upstream as far as Digit Falls. They found suitable safe anchorage but the lack of fresh water was a deterrent. 

Port King, was renamed Port Phillip Bay in 1805, after Governor Arthur Phillip, however, the idea of a new settlement in the bay area was abandoned for the next twenty years.

Explorers Hamilton Hume and Captain William Hovall’s, successful 1824-25 overland expedition from Gunning in New South Wales, to what they believed to be ‘Western Port’, (later identified as Corio Bay), spurred a second attempt by the Colonial Government in 1826 to establish a new penal settlement. The report of rivers, fertile agricultural lands, and concerns the French would lay claim to the area, once again led to another unsuccessful attempt to establish a settlement, this time at ‘Western Port’. Due to mistakes in identifying their original location and a lack of natural resources at the chosen site, the settlement was also abandoned.

The bay was mostly left to the local tribes for many more years

June

2 Jun - John Batman arrived at the mouth of Yarra River in the schooner 'Rebecca'. He named the new settlement 'Point Harwood'. It was renamed  'Williams Town' after the reigning monarch.

August

29 Aug - Schooner 'Enterprize' arrived at the site of Melbourne

November

 Captain Roberson Coltish on barque "Norval sailed from Launceston and unloaded 500 sheep and 50 Hereford cattle.

Governor Bourke and surveyor Robert Hoddle arrived to inspect the new settlement. Hoddle proposed the locations for piers, a lighthouse, streets and government buildings. 

March

29 Mar - The two towns were officially named during this visit and notified in the Government Gazette (N.S.W.)  They were named Melbourne in honour of Lord Melbourne, Prime Minister of England and the port of William's Town, named in honour of King William IV. 

April

10 Apr - Hobson's Bay named by proclamation.

June

1 Jun - The streets were laid out for the first sale of Crown Land held in Melbourne and William's Town.

Streets of William's Town were named for naval heroes: Nelson, Pasco, and Governor Bourke's married daughter Ann (Ann Street), and son-in-law  (Thomson, now Thompson) Street.

A ferry service was established between Melbourne and Williamstown, operated by Fire Fly

The first pier on Port Phillip Bay was built in William's Town on the site of the current Gem Pier by NSW convicts, using blue stone quarried at nearby Point Gellibrand.

The colony has become home to 55000 sheep, 7000 horses,  and over 2000 passengers have arrived with hopes of a better life in the fledgling colony.

March

18 Mar - The first census of Williams Town was taken

January

3 Jan - The first government immigrants arrived from Sydney aboard the barque 'Hope'.

March

17 Mar - The first religious (non-denominational) service was held at Williams Town.

23 Mar - The first stone jetty in Port Phillip was completed at Williams Town

April

4 Apr - George Tobin was appointed the first pilot for Melbourne.

May

6 May - John Batman died, aged 39.

June

17 Jun - George Tobin granted first Port Phillip Pilots Licence.

The first water police superintendent was appointed.

A census attempted in 1840, recorded that the fledgling settlement now hosted about 100 buildings, including two hotels, eight to ten mercantile stores, one or two retail shops and offices for the Harbour Master and Customs Office.

March

29 Mar - First ferry service to Melbourne commenced by Jenkins & Mackellar with a whaleboat.

April

29 Apr - Frederick Manton granted permission to build the first steamer in Port Phillip - the 'Fairy Queen'.

May

12 May - Langhorne's Wool Stores (later The Stockade), opened for business.

June

23 Jun - William Hall and family arrived at Williamstown.

August

1 Aug - A timber lighthouse was erected on Point Gellibrand by convict labour.

The first shipbuilding begins in Port Phillip with small ships and whaleboats.

March

16 Mar - A great meteorite was reported to have fallen in the sea off the mouth of Kororoit Creek.

April

3 Apr - The first steamer built in Port Philip - the 'Fairy Queen' is launched.

June

3 Jun - The first direct mail from England arrived by the barque 'Duchess of Northumberland'.

July

8 Jul - James Gordon appointed first Superintendent of Water Police.

January

26 Jan - Fire swept across the great grass plains of Altona, killing stock and wildlife.

February

14 Feb - The Fever ship 'Manlius' under the command of Captain Forbes arrived off Point Gellibrand.

January

The population of Williamstown has grown to 366 persons.

A  'Timeball Tower' was built on Point Gellibrand, replacing the original timber building and constructed of local bluestone, quarried nearby.

May

29 May - The great metropolitan flood occurred.

May 

21 May - Captain Charles Ferguson, master of ship 'Rajah' arrived in Williamstown.

Gold discovery in Ballarat sparked Victoria's famous gold rush with an estimated 6000 miners arriving each week to seek their fortunes in the goldfields.

The colony of Victoria was founded, after separation from New South Wales.

February

28 Feb - The Williamstown Volunteer Fire Brigade was inaugurated.

March

The first post office opened

May

27 May - Two houses collapse due to an earthquake.

The allure of riches to be found in the Victorian Goldfields resulted in entire ship crews deserting their posts, to seek their fortunes on the goldfields.

April 

1 Apr - The Barque 'Nelson' was pirated of 8,183 ounces of gold.

14 Apr - Mason & Culley issued the only Williamstown penny - a copper token.

The first astronomical observatory in the colony was built at Point Gellibrand.

March

1 Mar - Paddle Steamer 'Comet' commenced Williamstown to Melbourne ferry service.

March 

3 Mar - The first Telegraph in Australia was erected between Melbourne and Williamstown covering 11 miles (17 kilometres). It opened to the public to send messages in March 1854 and during its first year of operation, 4000 telegrams were sent. The lines were progressively expanded to cover more towns in Victoria and other major cities.

15 Mar - The Hulk 'Sacramento' proclaimed a public prison.

20 Mar - The Hulk 'Lysander' proclaimed a public prison.

A fire brigade was established with I.G Gilbert as foreman, Stringer as assistant foreman, and Chas Percy as secretary. The brigade had 20 members, and their equipment was stored at the dockyards.

The Williamstown Chronicle was established

The Williamstown Chapter of Freemasons was formed

May

22 May - John Wilkins appointed first Coroner at Williamstown.

The colonies first defence system was built at Fort Gellibrand

March

24 Mar - Street tree planting was first suggested by Williams Town Trade Circular.

May

9 May - Lt.Gov. Charles Hotham carried out an inspection of Government works at Williamstown.

March

12 Mar - Williamstown was incorporated as the first 'Municipal Council' and Thomas Mason was elected as the first chairman. Councillors elected were — Messrs. Armstrong, Moxham, Stewart, Dr. Maclean, J. Langford and G. F. Verdon. John Rees was the town clerk, 

April

11 Apr - The first council meetings were held in the Woolpacket Hotel in Thompson Street.

16 Apr - John Rees appointed first Town Clerk of Williamstown.

Victorian Yacht Club was established

The Baths complex was built at Williamstown Beach

May

31 May - H.M.C.S.S. 'Victoria' arrived off Williamstown.

The first railway workshops were constructed at Point Gellibrand.

March

26 Mar - Inspector-General John Price fatally assaulted by convicts at Point Gellibrand.

The number of hotels in the area expanded from 2 in 1840 to 17 by the late 1850's

March

22 Mar - Captain Lawrence Lawson was the first person buried at the 'new' cemetery.

June

11 Jun - The  Point Gellibrand burial ground is closed for internment.

24 Jun - There are 2 police sergeants and 15 constables to maintain law and order.

July

29 Jul - Time-ball signal commenced operations.

Williamstown was finally connected to Melbourne via rail linking Spencer Street to Point Gellibrand. 

June

10 Jun - Stevedore Street jetty completed.

The Bluestone lighthouse was converted into a Timeball Tower

January

2 Jan -  The Williamstown Botanic Gardens opened to the public

February

18 Feb - The foundation stone of the Mechanics Institute was laid by Francis Thomas Gell and Dr Eades, Lord Mayor of Melbourne.

March

28 Mar - Williamstown shipping office opened.

May

2 May - The Pilot Schooner 'Rip' arrived off Williamstown from New Brunswick.

June

13 Jun - Tenders closed for the supply of a lightship off Gellibrand Point.

July

10 Jul - The Mechanic Institute opened with a grand soiree.

21 Jul - Applications called for men to join the Williamstown Volunteer Rifle Brigade. 65 citizens volunteered.

The Pile Light was built and anchored off Shelly Beach

There has been 13 slips built for ship repairs in the colony and enough piers to accommodate 40 ships.

June

4 Jun - The first sale of stall rights for the Williamstown Markets.

June

14 Jun - Prohibition of carts and drays using Stevedore St Wharf.

1863 - 4th January. The foundation stone of the Alfred Graving Dock was laid by His Royal Highness, Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh with it named in his honour.

1863 -1874 - Construction of the Alfred Graving Dock ( a dry dock) was undertaken using 7 ton bluestone blocks, quarried from the basalt plains nearby. 

The Dock was designed by William Wardell for the Public Works Department Victoria for use by the Victorian Navy and visiting British Warships. It was the largest structure of it's type in the Southern Hemisphere, measuring  143 m (469 ft) in length, 24 m (79 ft) wide, 8 m (26 ft) deep.

It  was built for a cost of £300,000

The dock took it's first ship, the Victorian battleship 'Nelson' in 1874 with the dock becoming a significant part of the dockside industry in Williamstown and 

The town boundaries were expanded to include the areas now known as Newport and Spotswood. Williamstown became a 'borough' with an elected Mayor. 

The first piped water from Yan Yean arrived. 

A brewery was established. 

Steam machinery was installed in the railway workshops on Point Gellibrand.

26 Hotels were now operating on the peninsula

Williamstown Racing Club was founded

Williamstown Football Club was formed

February

H.M.V.S. 'Nelson' arrived off Williams Town on 4 Feb.

The  Gas Works was established to light the town.

January

25 Jan - The American Civil War ship CSS Shenandoah controversially docked to undergo urgent repairs in the Williamstown dockyards. Many of its crew abandoned ship to seek their fortunes in the Victorian Goldfields. When the repairs were complete the ship left port with 42 new Australian recruits aboard, which resulted in a major international incident. The Shenandoah went on to fire the last shots of the American Civil War.

The Williamstown Baptist Church was founded

January

4 Jan - H.R.H. Duke of Edinburgh visits Williamstown.

May

5 May - Hon. Sir George Verdon was appointed Agent-General for Victoria.

February

The new Williams Town Council Chambers opened in Thompson Street on 9th Feb.

June

19 Jun - Steamer 'Edina' strands off Gellibrand Reef.

April

9 Apr - The HMVC CERBERUS under Captain Panter arrived in Williamstown after a perilous six-month journey from Plymouth.

The Williamstown Racecourse was built 

May

8 May - Tenders closed for purchase and removal of old Williamstown Observatory equatorial dome.

July

17 Jul - Tenders closed for filling the ground at the Dockyards with silt.

Royal Yacht Club of Victoria moves to its current sites.

February

The first bridge over Kororoit Creek was constructed 

May

23 May - The first Williamstown Steam Ferry launched.

July

16 Jul - A ten-foot sea leopard caught off the Back Beach by Joe Forbes.

The Williamstown North Primary School was established

March

2 Mar - The Alfred Graving Dock finally opened after 10 years of construction.

March

30 Mar - The first Melbourne Harbour Trust Commissioners were appointed.

May

13 May - Crown grant for Rifle Range lodged at Office of Tiles.

May

20 May - The first Victorian Navy Ball was held in the Drill room.

March

4 Mar - H.M.V.S. 'Cerberus' torpedo explosion off Queenscliff killed five men.

July

18 Jul - The first meeting of directors of the Williamstown Coal Prospecting Company.

February

26 Feb - A banquet was held to celebrate the sub-division of Hannan's Farm.

April

2 Apr - Williamstown was gazetted as a town and the following year four wards were created.

October

2 Oct - Subdivision sale of Spottiswoode Estate.

May

19 May - The Durkin estate was sold by auction.

The Victorian Railway Workshops moved from Point Gellibrand to their current home in Newport due to a lack of available space.

The Yacht Club Hotel was built on Nelson Place

May 

15 May - H.M.V.S. 'Cerberus' modernised at a cost of £4,000.

Williamstown Hospital opened

May

16 May - Ship 'Habitant' gutted by fire.

April

15 Apr - The bodies of the men entombed in the Spotswood Sewerage Tunnel disaster were recovered.

The Williamstown Lacrosse Club is established in 1898

April

28 Apr - The H.M.V.S 'Nelson' is sold by John Buchan & Co for £2,400 at auction.

April

The yacht Queenie went missing off Werribee, where it was found sunk near Little River with the loss of all hands on board, The yacht's owner John Clark, along with his four sons and two others all perished in this tragedy. 

July

7 Jul - A sendoff to Victorian Naval Brigade contingent to the Boxer Rebellion.

June

5 Jun - The Paddle Steamer 'Gem' was sold as a part of the estate of George Ward Cole.

With the move of the railway workshops to Newport, there became a need for a new station at the pier.

June

22 Jun - Williamstown Progress Association formed.

August

3 Aug - Gellibrand Pile Light officially open.

February

The first x-ray machine commenced operations at Williamstown Hospital on 5th Feb.

In August 1908 at the invitation of Alfred Deakin the Great White Fleet, a fleet of 16 United States battleships, all painted white visited Melbourne as a port of call on its goodwill world tour of 1907-9.

The worst fire in Williamstown's history occurred in December 1909. The fire broke out in a washing copper at the residence of Richard Salt of 23 Verdon St and quickly spread. Within two hours  - 24 buildings were destroyed in Verdon Street, Railway Place and Parker Street.  Over 100 residents were left homeless.

The Empress in Garden Street opened with a screening of the Melbourne Cup, won on that day by  The Parisian, and an Australian drama 'Her Two Sons'

This popular theatre once stood where the Williamstown Library is today. It had plenty of competition nearby with the Mechanics Hall Pictures in Electra Street, Empress Theatre in Garden Street, and the Plaza Theatre on Melbourne Road Newport. The Shore Theatre closed in 1961 and was demolished the following year to make way for the new library.

June

21 Jun - First cemet gun in Australia used in the construction of the Newport Power House.

May

17 May - The city was proclaimed by His Excellency the State Governor, the Hon. Sir Arthur Stanley. The new Town Hall was opened and the official birth of the city was celebrated by 2000 local residents.

May

26 May - H.R.H. Prince of Wales visits Williamstown during his Australian tour.

April 

5 Apr - Oil claims were pegged out on Williamstown Beach, followed by first tests for petroleum.

May 

14 May - H.M.V.S. 'Cerberus' towed by steam tug Tooronga from Corio Bay to Williamstown for dismantling.

June

16 Jun - Williamstown Gas Company was wound up and sold to Colonial Gas Association.

April

17 Apr - The Tramway Board inaugurated two motor bus services at Williamstown.

May

18 May - The Williamstown Town Hall was officially opened..

The Underwood Stakes is a Group 1 Thoroughbred race over 1800m  and ran at the Williamstown racecourse from 1924 to 1947. In 1931, the legendary racehorse Phar Lap won the Underwood Stakes in Williamstown.

August

25 Aug - Williamstown Steam ferry sank in Yarra River.

This still popular club was established on The Esplanade, Williamstown, opposite Fearon Reserve and adjacent to the bathing pavillion.

Alterations to the Timeball Tower saw it gain an additional 9.1 metres in height and it re-instated as a working lighthouse.

July

6 Jul - The Newport Mechanics Institute officially opened.

The final race was won at this seaside racecourse as the site was transformed for housing troops during the early stages of World War II

February

26 Feb - During World War II, and only one week after the bombing of Darwin, a Japanese submarine entered the waters off the northern coast of King Island. Here the crew assembled and launched a single-engine float plane. After a pre-dawn launch, the plane flew north over Bass Strait, towards Cape Otway, and then hugged the coastline, avoiding detection and entered Port Philip Bay. Their mission was to observe and record details on defences, infrastructure and industries in Port Phillip Bay. On their reconnaissance mission, the Japanese pilots followed the coastline, past Geelong, directly over the RAAF airfield at Laverton, Altona, and then after flying over the Rifle Range in Williamstown, they were spotted by an anti-aircraft gun operator and the alarm raised. By the time permission to fire was given, the plane was out of sight, hidden in the clouds. The plane continued, undetected, appearing from the clouds quickly to record observations and then using the cloud to disappear again. It flew unchallenged up the Yarra River, over the power station, to Fishermans Bend and the Government Aircraft Factory, the docks,  Melbourne City, and then headed around the eastern coast of the bay towards Frankston and Cape Shank before it headed back across Bass Strait. 

The Williamstown Little Theatre was formed as  an amateur theatre company to provide a quality affordable theatre experience for the local community.

The first ship carrying migrants bound for Melbourne from war-torn Europe arrived in Fremantle. Many of these migrants  were housed at the Williamstown Migrant Hostel on Kororoit Creek Road

November

22 Nov - The first Olympic Games held in the Southern Hemisphere was opened at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The Merrett Rifle Range was used as a venue for the Olympic Games Rifle Shooting competitions.

October

11 Oct - The collapse of two spans of the bridge, into the muddy flats of the river below, left 35 workers dead and more than a dozen injured in what remains Australia's worst industrial accident.

A memorial to those who lost their lives is located on the Western Banks of the Yarra, on Douglas Parade, Spotswood, under the current Bridge.

21 June 1976 - On a  foggy morning at Point Gellibrand, the Melbourne Trader, a 7000-ton vessel struck the Point Gellibrand Pile Light, with the force of the collision snapping the piles off at the waterline. damaging it beyond repair. The harbour master of the day deemed it too dangerous for his men to repair the light.  The lantern and dome of the light were salvaged before it was set on fire on 23rd June. 

The Urban Land Authority purchases the Rifle Range for use as residential housing. 

Merrett Drive is named in honour of Colonel Charles E. Merrett who sat on the Victorian Rifle Association Council from 1890 to 1946. The historic armoury building and original clubhouse are preserved and home to Nelson Bros Funerals.