Wikipedia:
The explorer George Grey, while on his second disastrous expedition along the Western Australian coast, passed over the future site of Geraldton on 7 April 1839. George Fletcher Moore, the colony's attorney-general, on the colonial schooner Champion, explored the region in January 1840 and discovered Champion Bay. He was followed by Captain John Clements Wickham and Lieutenant John Lort Stokes of HMS Beagle, who led an expedition to the area in April 1840, and named and surveyed Point Moore and Champion Bay.
A decade later, explorer Augustus Gregory travelled through the area. A member of his party, James Perry Walcott, discovered lead ore in 1848 in the bed of the Murchison River. The Geraldine mine was subsequently established, named after the County Clare family home of Charles FitzGerald, the 4th Governor of Western Australia. The town of Geraldton, named after Governor FitzGerald, was surveyed in 1850 and land sales began in 1851.
Cameron, C.W. 1975, 'The beginnings of pastoral activity east of and based on Champion Bay', Early Days, vol. 7, part 7: 107-127.
Carson, Alfred 1939, 'The Champion Bay country - historical highlights and personal reflections', Early Days, vol. 3, part 2: 13-22.
Clark, John M. 1997, 'Lieutenant Benjamin Francis Helpman, R.N., and the Colonial Schooner Champion', Early Days, vol. 11, part 3.
Gibbs, Martin 2016, 'The Geraldine Mine: the 1850s lead mining frontier in Midwest Western Australia', Australian Historical Archaeology, 34.
Kelly G.J. 1962, 'A history of mining in the Geraldton district', Early Days, vol. 6, part 1: 78-96.
Miller, Geoff 2006, 'Charles Conway: pioneer pharmacist of Geraldton & Wagin', Early Days, vol. 12, part 6.
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