Though many European maritime explorers encountered or were even wrecked on the Houtman Abrolhos islands 60 kilometres (37 mi) west of Geraldton during the 17th and 18th centuries, there is no evidence that any made landfall near the site of the current town.
The explorer George Grey, while on his second disastrous expedition along the Western Australian coast, passed over the future site of Geraldton on 7 April 1839.
A decade later, explorer Augustus Gregory travelled through the area. He discovered lead on the Murchison River. The Geraldine mine was subsequently established, named after the 4th governor of Western Australia Charles Fitzgerald. The town of Geraldton was gazetted in 1850, also named after Governor Fitzgerald
