The first meeting of what is today known as the Geelong Agricultural and Pastoral Society Incorporated took place at the Masonic Hall, Geelong, on February 24, 1855. It was presided over by Horatio Spencer Howe Wills, a Sydney-born farmer and settler who had experienced the harsh inland summers and decided to help the immigrants to understand their new land. Spencer had established a model farm, 'Belle-Vue', at Point Henry, adjacent to the landing point for new arrivals.

The meeting resulted in the formation of the Geelong and Western District Agricultural and Horticultural Society. The first Geelong Show took place during the same year. It featured a ploughing competition and an exhibition of horticulture and livestock at the Immigration Depot, East Geelong. By early 1857 permanent grounds were secured south of the Botanical Gardens opposite the present Geelong High School. The western entrance to this site is still marked by the street Agricultural Place. The Society built a pavilion, destroyed by fire in 1864.

By 1891 the Geelong Agricultural and Pastoral Society show had moved to a 30 acre site adjacent to the current showgrounds. The grounds and new grandstand were opened by Governor Lord Hopetoun on 22 October 1891, despite the demolition of some of the buildings following a cyclone.


References:
Geelong Agricultural and Pastoral Society website http://www.geelongshow.org.au, accessed 2003.

C. E. Sayers, 'Wills, Horatio Spencer Howe (1811-1861)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/wills-horatio-spencer-howe-2799/text3993, published first in hardcopy 1967, accessed online 23 January 2023.

See also: Edward (Ted) Stephens (2005). A grand vision: the first 150 years of the Geelong Agricultural and Pastoral Society Inc. : a social history of the Geelong District and its show 1855-2005.

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