The centenary of the landing at Sorrento on October 16, 1903, of "the curious and forlorn party which came to exile in an unknown and apparently infertile land" by His Majesty's ships "Calcutta" and "Ocean," and of the "divine service performed before all hands" by the chaplain, the Rev. Robert Knopwood, on the following Sunday (October 23), was commemorated by special services at St. John's, Sorrento, on Friday.

The Bishop of Melbourne, who proceeded to Queenscliff by the morning train, was conveyed to Sorrento by the Government launch "Mars," having as his escort Captain Shaw and ten members of the Royal Australian Artillery.

In the afternoon, in the course of the service at St. John's, the Bishop dedicated a handsome pulpit, which has been placed in the church to mark the centenary. Subsequently tea was served in the Athenaeum Hall, and a public meeting held, which was attended by the great majority of the residents of the town and district. The Rev. Edwin Rodda, incumbent of St. John's, who presided, in the course of an interesting historical sketch, suggested that as they had reached their centennial the date of the celebration might in future take place on November 13 - the date "when the first sermon is recorded to have been preached - a thanksgiving one for mercies vouchsafed hitherto; and also when the official proclamation was read authorising Colonel David Collins to take possession and build a settlement, with a salute of 21 guns and a feast."

The Bishop of Melbourne, who was most warmly welcomed, in the course of his address, dealt with the event which they commemorated, giving a graphic description of the arrival of the "Calcutta" and the "Ocean," the picturesqueness of the locality, the landing of the soldiers and prisoners, and other oustanding incidents of the time which he had gleaned from the historic page.

Referring to the proposal to establish a penal settlement at Port Phillip, which was abandoned after four months, when the troops and prisoners removed to Van Diemen's Land, the Bishop said: - "I think the time has come when the fact that certain settlers in Australia and Tasmania are descended from the prisoners sent from England 100 years ago may be relegated to the limbo of things forgotten, or, at all events, the mention of the fact to the region of bad manners and unjust reproach. The English criminal code at that time was bitterly cruel, and many a man was sent by it to the gallows or to a life-long transportation whose offence would have been expiated at the present time by a fine or, at the most, a few days' imprisonment." - "Argus"