Milestones in the Club’s History
| Date | Event |
| 9 June 1880 | At a General Meeting in the Mechanics Institute, the motion to form the Williamstown Bowling Club is carried and a provisional Committee is formed. |
| Oct 1880 | WBC’s first General Committee is elected. The Hon AT Clark is the club’s first President. |
| 13 Nov
1880 |
The club’s first opening day.
The club has 3-rink green on land adjoining, to the north, the Mechanics Institute in Electra St. |
| 1882 | WBC joins the VBA. |
| 1883 | The club’s first pavilion is erected.
Four quoit rinks are opened for play during the winter. |
| 1886 | The club obtains a liquor licence. |
| 1888 | The pavilion is extended and moved from Electra St to the Lyons St site.
On 4th October Mr McRobert is the first President to take the chair at a Committee meeting at the new location. |
| 6 Oct 1888 | The new green is opened. |
| 1889 | The first club championship is held.
The club’s first formal constitution is adopted and rule books are printed for the first time. Club colours of blue and gold are chosen. |
| 1911 | In January, the Committee writes to the council with a request to widen the green to 120 feet. |
| 1913 | In March plans for a new clubhouse are approved and the new pavilion is opened by the Mayor on 23 August. It included a telephone, electricity and a shower.
The old pavilion was sold by auction. |
| 1914 | Gaslight is used to illuminate the green at night. |
| 1918 | Electric light is installed in the pavilion. |
| 1919 | Electric light is installed on the green. Night play was allowed twice a week – on Monday and Friday evenings. |
| 1924 | The clubhouse is extended to the west. |
| 1936 | M’ship reaches 100. A waiting list operates until the second green is built. |
| 1938 | WBC marks 50 years of occupancy with an electric light tournament, a visit from a VBA team, a tournament for 16 invited club teams, and the striking of a souvenir club badge. |
| 1950 | The Club begins to purchase a quantity of land in the area with the aim of constructing a new clubhouse and greens, but the scheme was not supported and the land was later sold. |
| 1951 | A house in Melbourne Road is purchased for the greenkeeper. |
| 1955 | New billiards room added to clubhouse. |
| 1959 | The club initiates an invitation tournament, played by topline bowlers in fours, which is played annually until the 1966-67 season. |
| 1960 | A new bar is added to clubhouse.
Members are also given permission to wear shorts in the bar! |
| 1961 | A 20-year lease is signed with the council for extra land and the club looks forward to a desperately needed extension to the green. The terms of the lease include a limit of 350 members. |
| 1964 | Two seven-rink greens are now open for play. The green boasts a watering system paid for through Special Efforts.
Indoor bowls is introduced at WBC in the evenings |
| 1966 | An Honour Board, designed by Ron Wilkes, is presented by Bill McLister.
The old lighting system is replaced on the two seven-rink greens. |
| 1975-76 | Interior transformed at a cost, including furnishings, of more than $90,000. |
| 1978 | No 1 green relaid , not for the first time. |
| 1980 | The club now has a ‘permissive occupancy’ and pays rates reduced by 35% under the Cultural and Recreational Lands Act. |
| 1991 | New clubhouse opened |
| 2008 | The WLBC merges with the WBC. |
| 2018 | HBCC announces plans to demolish WBLC green & clubhouse to make way for new tennis courts & pavilion. |