Beaumaris, situated along Port Phillip Bay, holds a profound historical legacy dating back more than 20,000 years. The area was traditionally occupied by the Bunurong (or Boon Wurrung) people of the Kulin nation, who lived along Melbourne’s eastern coastline long before European settlement. Their cultural narratives preserve remarkable accounts of Port Phillip Bay’s geological changes, including the flooding of the bay around 10,000 years ago and its later periods of drying between 2,800 and 1,000 years ago. Evidence of their presence, such as shell middens and hand-dug wells, can still be seen along the cliffs of Beaumaris, serving as a testament to their enduring connection with the land. By the mid-19th century, however, most Bunurong people had moved to the Mordialloc Aboriginal Reserve, established in 1852, and later to Coranderrk after the 1860s.

European settlement in Beaumaris began in the mid-1800s, with one of the first settlers being James Bickford Moysey in 1845. Moysey, along with other early settlers of Welsh descent, named the area “Beaumaris” after the Welsh town of the same name on the Isle of Anglesey, whose Norman-French name translates to “beautiful marshes.” Moysey purchased 32 hectares of land for his farm, establishing one of the earliest European footholds in the area. A monument on the foreshore opposite the local hotel marks the site where Moysey built his home, commemorating his role in the suburb’s early development.

This blend of rich Indigenous heritage and pioneering European settlement gives Beaumaris a unique historical character. Today, the suburb preserves both the natural and cultural markers of its past, offering residents and visitors a tangible connection to thousands of years of history along Victoria’s scenic coastline.