In its upper reaches, the river is impounded by the West Gellibrand Dam.[5]
Etymology
The river was named after Joseph Gellibrand, a solicitor and colonist from England.[1][2] In 1844 George Allan, a pioneer pastoralist of the Allansford region, recovered what was widely regarded as the remains of Gellibrand near to the river and subsequently named it after him. Gellibrand had previously gone missing in the Otway region on an expedition in 1837.[6]
The local Gadubanud name for the river was Barrat.[3]
^ abBlake, Les (1977), Place names of Victoria, Adelaide: Rigby, p. 294, ISBN0-7270-0250-3
^ abBird, Eric (12 October 2006). "Place Names on the Coast of Victoria"(PDF) (PDF). Australian National Placename Survey (ANPS). Archived from the original(PDF) on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2010.