It is on the waterway of the same name, just off Bass Strait, 20 km east of Devonport and close to Shearwater and Hawley Beach.

In 1823, in an attempt to encourage further immigration to the North, Governor Sorell would dispatch Captain Charles Browne Hardwicke to the area.

While outright not discouraging Port Sorell itself, he would describe the land west (stretching to at least the Mersey River and perhaps across to Circular Head) as "practically impenatrable and uninhabitable" for increased Migration North[3] Hardwicke would also comment on the Native Tasmanians in the area, whom he described as "Numerous, and appear disposed to be friendly towards Europeans, as we had communication with them."

This was in stark contrast to his descriptions of Tasmanians to the west in the Circular Heads area, whom he described as "extremely wild" and shy with "one party running away at a great distance."

[1] Today Port Sorell is one of many popular holiday spots along the north coast of Tasmania.