On 1st October 1839, the newly appointed Superintendent of the Port Phillip District, Charles La Trobe, came ashore in Melbourne for the first time. He was greeted by William Lonsdale, who had been sent to the district as de facto superintendent, and Police Magistrate in late 1836. Lonsdale, a recently retired officer of the 4th Regiment (King's Own) had come to Port Phillip  with a small 'garrison' of an Ensign and 30 men from the same regiment. He forged a close relationship with La Trobe over the coming years even though La Trobe was distinctly non-military. While neither had direct command of the 'garrison', which reported to HQ in Sydney, the soldiers had an important role in providing the ultimate, mostly symbolic, Imperial underpinning of La Trobe's authority.