The Albany region was first home to the Menang Noongar people, who made use of the area during the summer months for fishing and other activities. They called the area Kinjarling which means "the place of rain". Many town names in South-Western Australia end in "up" or "ing", which means "place of" in the Noongar language. Early European explorers discovered evidence of fish traps located on Emu Point and on French, now Kalgan, River and a small "village" of bark dwellings that were, at the time, deserted.
Albany is also the oldest continuous European settlement in Western Australia, founded in 1826, three years before the state capital of Perth. The King George Sound settlement was a hastily dispatched British military outpost, intended to forestall any plans by France for settlements in Western Australia.
The first European explorers to visit the area around Albany were on the Dutch ship Gulden Zeepaert (Golden Seahorse) skippered by Fran�ois Thijssen in 1627. They sailed along the south coast towards South Australia.
In 1791, English explorer George Vancouver explored the south coast including entering and naming King George Sound. Albany was the site at which, on 27 September 1791, Vancouver took possession of New Holland for the British Crown. Vancouver went out of his way to establish good relationships with the local Aboriginal people.
In 1792, Frenchman Bruni d'Entrecasteaux, in charge of the Recherche and L'Esperance, reached Cape Leeuwin on 5 December and explored eastward along the southern coast. The expedition did not enter King George Sound due to bad weather.
In 1801, Matthew Flinders entered King George Sound and stayed for about a month before charting the rest of the southern Australian coastline. By 1806 he had completed the first circumnavigation of Australia.
French explorer Nicolas Baudin visited King George Sound from 18 February � 1 March 1803, in the G�ographe and Casaurina. He surveyed Princess
