Churchill Island is a 50.7 hectares (125.3 acre) island in Western Port

Western Port

Western Port, is sometimes called "Western Port Bay", is a large tidal bay in southern Victoria, Australia opening into Bass Strait. It is the second largest bay in Victoria. Geographically, it is dominated by the two large islands; French Island and Phillip Island. Contrary to its name, it lies to...

, Victoria, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It is connected by a bridge to Phillip Island. It is the site of the first European settlement in Victoria. It contains a working farm

Farm

A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...

 and a homestead

Homestead (buildings)

A homestead is either a single building, or collection of buildings grouped together on a large agricultural holding, such as a ranch, station or a large agricultural operation of some other designation.-See also:* Farm house* Homestead Act...

, dating from 1872, which is open to the public. The island adjoins the 670 hectares (1,656 acre) Churchill Island Marine National Park

Churchill Island Marine National Park

The Churchill Island Marine National Park is a marine park in Western Port, Victoria, Australia. It is located south of Rhyll, on the north-eastern shore of Phillip Island, in Western Port. It extends from Long Point south of the town of Rhyll, to the northern point of Churchill Island and along...

.

History

Churchill Island was first charted by Europeans in 1798 when George Bass

George Bass

George Bass was a British naval surgeon and explorer of Australia.-Early years:He was born on 30 January 1771 at Aswarby, a hamlet near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, the son of a tenant farmer, George Bass, and a local beauty named Sarah Nee Newman. His father died in 1777 when Bass was 6...

 and Matthew Flinders

Matthew Flinders

Captain Matthew Flinders RN was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent, which had previously been...

 discovered the bay of Western Port and Phillip Island. In 1801, during the course of a survey of Western Port, Lieutenant James Grant

James Grant (navigator)

James Grant was a British Royal Navy officer and navigator in the early nineteenth century. He made several voyages to Australia and Tasmania, and was the first to map parts of the south coast of Australia.-Early life:...

 built a cottage on the island and planted seeds of wheat

Wheat

Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...

 and corn

Maize

Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

there, naming the island for his friend John Churchill, who supplied the seeds.