| 1838 The Union Bank of Australia, a forerunner of the ANZ Bank, opens a branch in Melbourne. |
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| 1838 Robert Hoddle surveys Geelong; assistant surveyor is W. H. Smythe. |
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| 1838 The Port Phillip Gazette newspaper is published for the first time. |
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| 1839 Superintendent Charles La Trobe arrives in Melbourne, after spending six weeks en route in Sydney with the Governor, Sir George Gipps. |
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| 1839 Charles Joseph La Trobe fixes the site for the lighthouse at Point Gellibrand (Williamstown). |
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| 1839 The first migrant ship direct from Britain, the David Clark, arrives in Melbourne. |
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| 1841 The Governor, Sir George Gipps, comes from Sydney to visit Melbourne and Geelong. |
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| 1845 Charles Joseph La Trobe sets out on his first attempt to reach Cape Otway to fix a site for a lighthouse. |
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| 1846 Charles Joseph La Trobe leaves Melbourne for Hobart Town to take up the temporary position of Administrator of Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania). |
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| 1848 James Goold is installed in St Francis’ Church as Melbourne’s first Catholic bishop; the church then carries the status of a cathedral for the next two decades. |
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| 1848 The Melbourne Asylum, later named the Yarra Bend Asylum, is opened and the first inmates transferred from the Melbourne Gaol. |
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| 1849 The town of Geelong is incorporated. |
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| 1852 A cache of 232 kilograms of gold is stolen by a gang at gunpoint from the Nelson anchored in Hobson’s Bay, off Williamstown. |
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| 1852 A gang of bushrangers carries out a daring hold-up of two gold buyers travelling along St Kilda Road. |
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| 1854 The Eureka Hotel is burnt down in Ballarat, following a mass protest by miners. |
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| 1854 The Age newspaper is published for the first time. |
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