The debate on the spelling of Spotswood or Spottiswood? The family name was first registered and likely written incorrectly in official records upon their arrival in the colony of Port Phillip in 1841.

John Stewart Spotswood

Spotswood was named after early emigrant John Stewart Spotswood, although the spelling has been varied over the years. Born in 1809 in Mumbai, India, he was the eldest son of parents Elizabeth (nee Waddington) and John, a captain of Her Majesty’s East India Company. The family emigrated to Van Diemen's land in 1828 and settled in Hobart. Young John Stewart, along with his infant son, also named John and his future wife Anne Normandale were later amongst the earliest settlers in the colony of Port Phillip, arriving on 28th November 1839.

A licensed ‘waterman’ John operated a ferry service across the Yarra River and purchased vessels for trading purposes, including the ‘Enterprise’. He purchased land in Williamstown in 1840, in the third land sale for the area for £350, and later in 1847 he purchased 119 acres of land for a dairy farm in the area now known as Spotswood. He also established a quarry on his property. John Stewart Spotswood died as a result of an accident in 1851, aged 42 leaving behind his wife Anne, two sons and three daughters. His son George later established the Spottiswood Hotel in 1888, whilst his youngest daughter, Louisa Jane married Richard John Seddon who served as Prime Minister of New Zealand.