when was victoria established as a settlement & by whom
History of Victoria Victoria's first successful British settlement was at Portland, on the west coast of what is now Victoria. Portland was settled on 19 November 1834[18] by the Henty family, who were originally farmers from Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). When Major Thomas Mitchell led an expedition to the region from Sydney in 1835, arriving at Portland in August 1836, he was surprised to find a small but prosperous community living off the fertile farmland.