Charles Joseph La TrobePrint Page 
The plaque attached to the Williamstown Lighthouse and Time Ball Tower commemorates the centenary of the death of Lieutenant-Governor Charles Joseph La Trobe who visited the tower in the course of his duties.
It also gives a history of the Lighthouse and Time Ball apparatus.
Charles Joseph La Trobe, CB (1801 – 1875) was appointed in 1839 superintendent of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales. After the establishment in 1851 of the colony of Victoria (now a state of Australia), he became its first lieutenant-governor, a position he held for three years.
Location
| Address: | Battery Road, Point Gellibrand, Williamstown, 3016 |
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| State: | VIC |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -37.866856 Long: 144.912703 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Plaque |
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| Monument Theme: | People |
| Sub-Theme: | Government - Colonial |
| Actual Event Start Date: | 06-December-1875 |
| Actual Event End Date: | 06-December-1875 |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Sunday 14th December, 1975 |
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Williamstown Lighthouse & Timeball Tower
This plaque commemorates the centenary of the death of Charles Joseph La Trobe
20th March 1801 - 4th December 1875.
Superintendent of the Port Phillip District 1835 - 1850
First Lieutenant-Governor of the Colony of Victoria 1851 - 1854.
He visited this tower and adjacent signal station in the course of his duties.
This lighthouse was erected in 1852, and replaced earlier navigational aids established from the time of the first settlement in 1835. A timeball apparatus mounted on top of the bluestone tower operated regularly until 1926, to allow shipmasters to correct their chronometers.
Unveiled by the Honourable Sir John Young, K.C.M.G., C.C., Lt-Governor of the State of Victoria 1
4th December, 1975
La Trobe Commemoration Committee Williamstown Historical Society
