The Meander area was first settled by Europeans in 1822, prior to land grants being made. The first land grant in the Meander area was to Robert Garrett, Assistant Colonial Surgeon, in 1828, of near Quamby Bluff. From the 1830s grants were made over much land in the valley, primarily for grazing. Most grants were large (thousands of acres). Government acts enabled and encouraged smaller landholdings, particularly the Waste Lands Act of 1858. This enabled crown land areas of less than to be sold; by 1878 there were 16 holdings of less than .