The British attempted a number of settlements on the northern Australian coast in the early part of the 19th century : Fort Dundas on Melville Island in 1824 ; Fort Wellington at Raffles Bay in 1829 ; and Victoria Settlement ( Port Essington ) on the Coburg Peninsula in 1838 . The British attempted a number of settlements on the northern Australian coast in the early part of the nineteenth century : Fort Dundas on Melville Island in 1824 ; Fort Wellington at Raffles Bay in 1829 ; and Victoria Settlement ( Port Essington ) on the Coburg Peninsula in 1838 .