The first trace of European settlement can be traced back to the 1840s when it was owned by squatters under lease-hold tenure. At the time the whole area surrounding the present location of Lockington, an area made up of approximately 42,000 hectares, was known as Pine Grove and was owned by John Hunter Patterson. This land would go on to be sub-divided into East and West in 1864. The East was owned by Myles Patterson, who went on to sell it to Hugh and Robert John Glass in 1867. The East went on to switch ownership two more times, first going to Adam Burness in 1867 and then to W.J. Clarke in 1871. The West part of the division in 1864 was owned by W.H. and J.H Robertson, who went on to sell it to Blackwood and Ibbotson in 1867. By 1876 it was owned by J.H. Wheeler.