[2] In 1792 Rear Admiral Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni D’Entrecasteaux was a French navigator, commissioned to search for La Perouse's lost expedition, and explore our southern coastline.

The expedition which reached the Derwent estuary, resulting in the naming of the channel, North West Bay, Bruny Island, Port Esperance, Southport, Huon River and Huon Island, and many others including the Derwent River, named ‘Riviere du Nord’.

Some months later Englishman Captain John Hayes sailed the channel and renamed many sites including the Derwent.

Cradoc has been part of a major fruit growing region in south eastern Tasmania since the late 19th century.

Route C639 (Cygnet Coast Road) starts at an intersection with B68 in the centre and runs west and south through the locality until it exits.