Tasmanian Aboriginal people made canoes from bark or reeds, using them to travel and for hunting for animals, such as mutton birds and seals.
Aboriginal people of Tasmania also inhabited caves for short or long periods of time. The cave at Rocky Cape, north-west Tasmania, is a rockshelter that shows evidence of Aboriginal occupation.
1700s
Captain James Cook sighted Tasmania in 1777.
On October 7, 1798, George Bass and Matthew Flinders left Sydney in the sloop
Norfolk, of 25 tons, to attempt the circumnavigation of Van Diemen's Land.
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| Bern Cuthbert's replica of the sloop "Norfolk". The Sloop Norfolk was built on Norfolk Island in 1798. The 25 ton sloop was constructed from Norfolk Island pine. |
Sailing into Bass Strait and along the north coast of Tasmania, Flinders noticed On November 3, an opening in the land. The vessel rounded a "Low Head" (a name it has
retained to this day) and entered a broad inlet, sailing some way along.
Passing a green island, the
Norfolk came upon a harbour brimming with birdlife, which Governor Hunter called Port Dalrymple. Now George Town. Aboriginal people called the river Ponrabbel.
1800s
A French expedition commissioned by Napoleon to map the coast of New Holland (now Australia), led by Baudin to undertake scientific research, explored the entrance to Port Dalrymple in 1802. Baudin’s Voyagers 1800–1804 featured illustrations of Aboriginal people.
Fearful of French intentions, the British decided to create settlements in Van Diemen's land (Tasmania). Evidence now shows that the French explorers Nicolas Baudin and Francois Peron had a secret purpose, proposing the invasion of Sydney.
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George Town, named for King George III,
was first settled in 1804 by Colonel William Paterson, who built his headquarters opposite the bridge. Two years later, Launceston, 50 kilometres to the South, was established.
Lieutenant Colonel William Paterson arrived on the
Buffalo on 4 November and set up a camp at Outer Cove. However,
as the area had limited water, infertile soil and poor-quality vegetation, most of the soldiers and convicts moved across the river to Western Arm in the following year to establish a new settlement called York Town.
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| Colonel William Paterson (17 August 1755 – 21 June 1810) |
From 1804, flag signals (semaphore flags) were used to communicate shipping news from vessels in the Bass Strait to Low Head Lighthouse.
The Low Head Pilot Station was built by convicts in 1805 to guide ships into the hazardous Tamar River. This is the oldest group of pilot buildings in Australia and just like the Pilot Station lighthouse, are still used today. According to a newspaper report, "The lighthouse was erected by a man named Walmsley, better known as "Belting Jack".
One boating accident which occurred on 15 June 1808 occurred when the vessel,
Hebe, struck a reef between Low Head and Western Head at the
entrance to Port Dalrymple. The ship was wrecked on the rocks, which
have since that day been called Hebe Reef.
Governor Lachlan Macquarie named George Town after King George III, to make it the third-established town in Australia. George Town rose to prominence in the early 1800s, as it became the most important port on the north of the island, for the Van Diemen Land Company.
Georgetown was the last stop for Governor Macquarie and his wife, Elizabeth, on his 1811 tour through Tasmania. After celebrations, Governor Macquarie declared that Port Dalrymple, now known as the Tamar River, would become the headquarters for Northern Van Diemen's Land.
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| Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), Saturday 7 February 1948 |
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| Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), Saturday 7 February 1948 |
In 1812, Macquarie issued a plan of George Town, showing Regent Square and the streets as they are today.
A flurry of
building activity began with convicts quarrying limestone and burning it for lime at West Arm, for the construction of Government buildings, such as barracks, courthouse and Commissariats store.
Under the government of Colonel Sorel (1816-1823l, roads were cut through the woods from the south to the north extremity of the island, from Hobart Town to Port Dalrymple.
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| First Government Cottage at George Town, TAS, Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Friday 27 December 1935 |
1820s
In 1822, the convict women of the George Town Female Factory were housed in a shed in the lumber (timber) yard. A report from the Sydney Gazette of 1822 states:
"Very considerable improvements have, we understand, been accomplished at George Town; and the convicts employed at that
infant establishment now, by the judicious measures
adopted for their classification and restraint, exhibit an
appearance of order and system very gratifying.
The building erected for a place of Divine Worship
and the Public School, we are happy to say, is nearly
completed.
In the Factory at George Town, cloth from the coarse
wools of the Colony, of very good fabric, is made;
as are leather and shoes, of excellent quality."
Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), Friday 26 April 1822
The George Town Female Factory operated from 1822 to1834, with Samuel Sherlock as superintendent and his wife as matron.
After the closure of the Factory, the inmates
were moved to the newly opened Launceston Female Factory.
Originally the Female Factory building, overlooking Regent Square in Cimitiere Street, was the home of the first chaplain in the north of Van Diemen's Land, the Reverend John Youl, who moved into the residence with his family in 1821. The Youl family moved back to Launceston in 1825.
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| The Female Factory was located in Cimitiere St. across from Regent Square, George Town, TAS |
Later the Female Factory building was used as the Police Office and Magistrate's Residence. The first magistrate to live there was G.S. Davies and, from 1867, James Richardson. The George Town Female Factory building was demolished 1889.
"There are at present 40 females in the House
of Correction at George Town, and 2 children,
none of the former were however assignable.
We must again take the liberty to impress
upon the magistrates both on that and this side
of the island, the propriety of brief sentences
on these poor misguided creatures."
Hobart Town Courier (Tas. : 1827 - 1839), Friday 26 April 1833
Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) officially separated from New South Wales in 1825.
The headquarters for northern Van Diemen's Land Company moved back to Launceston in 1825.
A more complex semaphore signalling system (communication with flags) was set up in the Tamar Valley in 1825 to provide news and other information, such as about the arrival of ships.
Vessels in the Bass Strait would communicate via flags to Low Head Lighthouse. From there, semaphore lines would relay information to George Town and nearby Mount George and then to Mount Direction and Launceston.
The semaphore system was
replaced in 1859 by an electric telegraph system.
There are ruins of buildings believed to have been occupied by signalmen and their families, during the 1800s, at the Mount Direction semaphore station site.
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| Old ruins on top of Mt Direction at the Semaphore Station, TAS |
The declaration of Martial Law in 1828.
1830s
Tara hall was built in 1830, it is believed by convicts. It was the residence of William Kneale. The land was granted to R. Q. Kermode.
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| 27 Sorell Street, George Town, TAS, Tara Hall, the circa 1830 residence of William Kneale |
The Low Head Lighthouse, which was built by convicts, first began operating on 27 December 1833. It was Tasmania's second lighthouse and the third built in Australia. |
The oldest building on the lighthouse site is the terrace at Pilots’ Row, built to house the pilots and their families in 1835. Designed by John Lee Archer, the Colonial Architect. Earlier timber buildings had existed. The convict boatmen, however,
continued to live in their wooden huts.
During the 1930s, shipping increased on the Tamar. During this time, there were eight pilots and more than twenty boatmen. The Coxswain's cottage was built in 1847.
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| Lighthouse Low Head, TAS, The Weekly Courier 26th. March 1930 |
Benjamin Hyron, a member of St. John’s Lodge, was from Worcestershire, England. He came to Tasmania as a convict on the Lord Melville in 1818. Hyron owned a cottage in Anne Street, George Town, and was Licensee of the Freemason's Inn, which later became the home of the Woodgate Family.
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| Old Freemasons Hotel, George Town, TAS, Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), Saturday 13 December 1947 |
The Freemason's Inn was demolished and the Ambulance Station now exists on that site in Anne Street.
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| Benjamin Hyrons's cottage, Ann St, George Town, TAS |
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| The Grove, circa 1835, George Town, TAS Marion Villa |
The Grove, circa 1835, was owned by Matthew Friend R.N., Port Officer and magistrate.
In 1839, James Cox, a wealthy woolgrower and son of William Cox, the man who built the first road across the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, built "Marion Villa" for his family north of the present Taylor's Beach.
According to a newspaper article, Marion Viila was called the "Ballroom of George Town".
The Cox family owned a six-oared whaleboat for recreation and rode horses along the beach.
Cox died at Marion Villa, Low Head, his seaside home, on 16 March 1866.
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| Villa, Low Head, TAS, circa 1839 |
The Steam packet Tavern was constructed in 1839 and was later named Whitestones.
The ghost of John Batman, it is claimed, was seen at the top of the stairs (centre window). In later years, the building became a private school and is now a private residence.
1840sGold is believed to have been found at The Den (formerly known as Lefroy or Nine Mile Springs) in Northern Tasmania, near George Town in 1840, by a convict.
The paddle steamer Gypsy began a regular service between Launceston and George Town in 1843.
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| Thelmara Cottage, located Esplanade North, George Town QLD. Housing for staff of cable company, built circa 1840. The land was originally granted to Major Stewart, the location next to the Government Store, blacksmiths, nailmakers and a lumber yard. During the 1870's it was occupied by Capt. Sturdee, master of the Eastern Extension Cable Co's maintenance ship. The Co. operated the cable link with mainland Australia. |
Augustus Wood was licensed to retail alcohol at the Steam Packet Tavern (later Whitestones), George Town, in 1844.
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| Whitestones. c. 1839. Originally the Steam Packet Tavern. George Town, TAS |
Wrecked: On Monday 2nd June 1845, the Brig Tobago was wrecked on the reef near the Low Head Pilot Station.
The 15 boatsmen, many of whom were convicts, who were part of the Tobago rescue mission, were rewarded for their "Meritorious Conduct”.
Bushrangers: A bushranger named John Jamieson absconded from Ross and stole some property, through a window, belonging to William Archer Esquire's house in George Town.
"In January 1847, Leadsman Charles Hinton and convict passholder, John Mann apprehended the bushranger at the Boatscrew Hut on the Low Head Pilot Station. Hinton later said in evidence that Mann needed to be commended for his assistance in overpowering and securing the prisoner."
Cornwall Chronicle (Launceston, Tas. : 1835 - 1880), Saturday 9 January 1847
1850s
Convict System Ends: The last convict transport ship arrived in Hobart, 26th May 1853.
The British Hotel was operating at George Town in 1856 and was transferred to James Wilson in 1859. The hotel was also operated by David Petrie and later, his wife, Jean.
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| Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), Saturday 30 May 1936 |
The first payable gold discovery in Tasmania was found near Mangana in 1852. The area, to the north, however, would become one of the richest goldfields in Tasmania.A telegraph line connecting Hobart and Launceston was finished in 1857. Launceston was connected by telegraph to George Town in March 1858.
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| Courier (Hobart, Tas. : 1840 -1859), Wednesday 21 April 1858 |
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| Courier (Hobart, Tas. : 1840 - 1859), Saturday 30 October 1858 |
1860sThe Telegraph Station
building was erected in the 1860s. It was later leased to the Catholic Church for use as a holiday home for the Presentation Sisters.
1870s
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| Cornwall Advertiser (Launceston, Tas. : 1870 - 1877), Tuesday 24 March 1874 |
Telephone: One of the first phone calls made in Tasmania was from the building at 1 Barrack Street, George Town, built for William Warren of the Bass Strait Cable Company, to the cable station at Low Head in February, 1878.
Thomas Hume Simpson was the Chief District Constable at George Town in 1878. In 1903, he was listed as a Clerk.
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| Tasmania, Reports of Crime, 1861-1883, circa 1876 |
1880s
In October 1881, Samuel Lefroy found gold on Specimen Hill near Nine Mile Spring and received a reward of £3000. The following year, one of Tasmania's most profitable goldfields called the Lefroy Goldfield, situated 12 kilometres east of George Town, was established.
1890s
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George Town, TAS, 01 Jan 1890- 31 Dec 1939, Archives Office of Tasmania
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1900s
In the early 1900s, many mines around George Town closed and the population dropped significantly. After the end of the Second World War, George Town only had a population of about 300, and many of the dwellings were used for holiday homes.
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| Xmas at the seaside, Low Head (Weekly Courier Newspaper - 21 Dec 1901, p1294), Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office: |
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| Pier Hotel (2nd), George Town, TAS, built 1902 |
The original, single-story, Pier Hotel opened in 1856, managed by G M Ruttley, until 1892. Henry Weight was the licensee from 1892 until 1900. This building was demolished in 1902 and replaced by the two-story weatherboard building that exists today.
Mr G. W. Plank was licensee from 1900 to 1920. He also operated a horse-drawn coach service in competition with a Mr H K Harris.
Eden Holme struck the Hebe Reef, off the Tamar Heads, on 6 January. 1907 and began to take on water. The barque didn't begin to break up until later that month.
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| Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), Tuesday 8 January 1907 |
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| Gibson's Beach, George Town 1910, Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office |
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| Ship on the Tamar River, circa 1911 (Trainiac) |
WWIMore Tasmanian Aboriginal people, per head of population, enlisted in the Great War than from any other place in Australia.
Thomas Henry Davies, World War I veteran, served as a minister at George Town, from 1934 until his death in 1942.
1930s  |
| Examiner Newspaper 5.12.1936 |
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| Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), Wednesday 22 February 1939 |
1940s and WWII
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| Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), Tuesday 30 December 1941 |
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| Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), Monday 6 January 1941 |
1950s An aluminium smelter was established at Bell Bay, operating from 1955.
To accommodate the growing population of workers coming into the area, a large new housing development was established at Bell Bay, near the historic old town.
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| Members of the official party at the opening of the George Town Methodist Church Women's Guild "Balloon Fair" on Saturday. From left: The Mayoress (Mrs. Thyne), the Launceston circuit superintendent (the Rev. A. Muller),the g ui ld president (Mrs. J. H. Jones), Mrs. Muller, the Mayor (Ald.Thyne), and the guild secretary (Mrs. J.Mart.Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), Tuesday 21 October 1952 |
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| Mr. James Chung Gon, died on Saturday, aged 97. At one time, he had a market garden near the goldfields at Lefroy, TAS. Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), Monday 25 February 1952 |
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| Aluminium Commission's project at nearby Bell Bay, TAS, Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Thursday 21 May 1953 |
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| 150th anniversary of Col. Paterson's landing at York Cove Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), Monday 8 November 1954 |
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| George Town School. TAS, Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), Tuesday 26 January 1954 |
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| George Town Hospital, TAS, Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), Saturday 30 January 1954 |
1990s
Palawa kani, the constructed Tasmanian Aboriginal language program began in 1992.
Around George Town
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| The Watch House at George Town, TAS, is part of the historic old gaol site. The present building was constructed in 1843 |
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| Anglican Christ Church, located in Low Head, just 7 minutes from George Town, circa 1877 |
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| The Grove, circa 1835, George Town, TAS |
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| Low Head Lighthouse is in Low Head, Tasmania, about 7 kilometres north of George Town on the east side of the mouth of the Tamar River, built in 1888 |
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| Low Head Pilot Station, TAS, commenced operation in 1805 and was the 3rd station to be established in Australia. It has run continuously since 1833. Pilot’s Row built 1835, converted to a museum. |
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| Pilot’s Cottage (1917), Low Head Pilot Station, TAS |
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| Coxwain’s Cottage (1847), Low Head, TAS |
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| Pier Hotel, George Town, TAS, |
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| The the School House at Low Head, TAS, built circa 1866 |
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| Methodist church, then later old Salvation Army hall, George Town, TAS |
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| Land bought by MacCraken family in 1837 at George Town, TAS, Ivy Cottage built in the 1860s |
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| Historic Regent Square, George Town, TAS |
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| Low Head Pilot Station, TAS |
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| Cottage Elizabeth St, George Town, TAS, circa 1869s |
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| Gray's Hotel, formally the George Town Heritage Hotel |
Things To Do and Places To Go
