Raffles Bay (including Fort Wellington)
The remains of an early and unsuccessful attempt by Europeans to settle Australia's northern coast.
Located at the east end of the Cobourg Peninsula, Raffles Bay was the site of the second abortive settlement attempt on the northern coastline of Australia. See the entries on Port Essington, Fort Dundas and Darwin for details of the other settlements.

Raffles Bay was named by the explorer Phillip Parker King in 1818 after the famous Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the lieutenant governor of Java and founder of the colony of Singapore.

In 1826, after unsatisfactory reports of the settlement at Fort Dundas on Melville Island had filtered through to the Colonial Office in London, it was decided to set up a second military outpost on the northern coast of Australia. On 19 May 1827 Captain James Stirling was despatched from Sydney to establish an outpost at Raffles Bay. The outpost was to be known as Fort Wellington. The crew consisted of some convicts and some members of the 39th Regiment. They arrived at Raffles Bay on 17 June and the settlement was built on the eastern side of the bay.

The settlement suffered the inevitable problems of disease, pestilence, tropical lethargy, attacks from unfriendly Aborigines, and isolation. In 1828, with the arrival of Collet Barker, it looked as though the settlement might succeed. Barker established good relations with the Aborigines and started encouraging settlement from the East Indies. However Barker had arrived too late. The settlement was closed down in 1829. Today little remains of the settlement.

Things to see:  

Raffles Bay and Fort Wellington
Raffles Bay and Fort Wellington are part of the Gurig National Park on the Cobourg Peninsula. Visiting the Gurig National Park by car or boat is a major commitment. There are tours from Darwin which fly in but for those who wish to travel to the area by car or boat a permit is required. It can be obtained from Black Point Ranger Station, NT. Telephone: 08 8979 0244. At the moment access to Raffles Bay is only possible by boat.

A detailed, and rather chatty, account of the 4WD journey to the Cobourg Peninsula is provided in Evelyne Wagnon's Your Guide to Darwin and the Top End (Brolga Press, 1988) although the book makes no mention of the settlement at Raffles Bay.

The only accommodation available in the National Park are cabins near the Ranger Station at Black Point and they should be pre-booked when applying for entry to the Park.

	Resorts
	Seven Spirit Bay Resort Gurig National Park Cobourg Peninsula Raffles Bay NT 0822 Telephone: (08) 8979 0277 Facsimile: (08) 8979 0284
	Restaurants
	Seven Spirit Bay Resort Gurig National Park Cobourg Peninsula Raffles Bay NT 0822 Telephone: (08) 8979 0277 Facsimile: (08) 8979 0284