In 1835 a Scottish immigrant from Kirkcudbright Scotland named Samuel Anderson sailed up the Bass River and established the third permanent settlement in Victoria he was joined in 1837 by Robert Massie.

Samuel had arrived in Hobart in 1830 aboard the Lang and took up a position as bookkeeper at Circular Head with Van Diemen's Land Company before setting out for Western Port in September 1835.

Samuel's brothers Hugh and Thomas joined him at Bass where they established a successful farming venture.

Descendants of Thomas Anderson, the only brother to marry, remain in the area to this day.

The township of Bass was surveyed and settled in the early 1860s, the Post Office opening on 1 June 1862.