Aboriginal people walked from mainland Australia to Tasmania over forty thousand years ago when a
bridge existed. At this time, Northern Australia was also joined to Papua New Guinea.
Tasmania became an island about 8,000 years ago when the sea levels rose after the melting of polar and glacial ice. This resulted in the Aboriginal people of Tasmania being isolated for thousands of years until the arrival of Europeans.
Tasmania was the most southerly area of the world inhabited during the Ice Age.
Much of Aboriginal Tasmanian languages have been lost, so Palawa kani has been constructed as a Tasmanian Aboriginal language. The work of Joseph Milligan has been invaluable in the construction of the language, as he was
commissioned by the colonial government in the 1850s to compile a Tasmanian Aboriginal vocabulary.
The area directly across the Don River from Don Heads was for women's
business, while the Devonport Bluff (where the light-house is) was the men’s area.
The separation of men's and women's business was intrinsic to Aboriginal cultures, as was the division of labour. Women were traditionally responsible for gathering water and foods such as fruits, seeds vegetables and small lizards. Men hunted large animals and learnt how to use men’s tools and weapons. Many initiation ceremonies were secret and only attended by men.
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VOYAGE DE DÉCOUVERTES AUX TERRES AUSTRALES, Francois Peron (author), Louis de Freycinet (author) and Nicolas-Martin Petit (engraver). Peron wrote about Aboriginal Tasmanians of the south east
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1642
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Abel Janszoon Tasman (1603 – 10 October 1659) was a Dutch seafarer, explorer, and merchant, his wife and daughter. Attributed to Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp, 1637 The first European sighting of Tasmania was by Dutchman Abel Janszoon Tasman in 1642. The land was named New Holland. Janzoon, “reported hearing human voices and seeing smoke rising from several points on shore ... but not sighting people in the flesh”. |
1770s
The first European to encounter the Aboriginal Tasmanians was French privateer Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne. His ships spent several days in Tasmania in march 1772.
The second European
sighting of Tasmania was in 1772 by Lieutenant James Cook.The naturalist François Péron, a cartographer on French explorer d'Entrecasteaux's ships,
Recherche and
Espérance, in 1772, described Tasmanian Aboriginal charcoal drawing on bark and noted the similarity to the scars (cicatrices) on the bodies of the Aboriginal adults of Tasmania.
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The Recherche and Espérance, ships of Bruni d'Entrecasteaux's expedition. |
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One of five drawings by Jean Piron made between the 8th and the 13th of February 1793. Piron’s illustrations represent the Lyluequonny (or Palawa) people Rocky Bay, in the southeast of the island of Tasmania (Australia) |
George Mortimer, on board
the brig Mercury, anchored off Maria Island in July 1789, wrote that all were
entirely naked "except one " man, who had a necklace of small shells, and some of the "women, who had a kind of cloak or bag thrown over "their shoulders." Several were
observed to be scarred, and their bodies daubed with reddish earth. Read
here
Hunter-gatherer groups had no immunity to diseases associated with agriculture and the farming of animals and were severely impacted by European arrival.
1790s
In 1798 Lieutenant Mathew Flinders, in the sloop
Norfolk, along with George Bass, circumnavigated Van Diemen's Land, proving it to be an island.
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Matthew Flinders and George Bass, explorers of Australia |
1820s
Because the Mersey River was blocked by a sandbar, many explorers avoided the area in the early days. By the 1820s, the sheep of settlers were grazing over the Aboriginal hunting grounds.
The arrival of the Van Diemen's Land Company (VDLC) to the region in 1826 resulted in the district being explored and surveyed.
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Hobart Town Courier (Tas. : 1827 - 1839), Saturday 10 November 1827 |
The declaration of Martial Law on 1 November 1828, by Governor Arthur to deal with the conflict.
The Mersey River was named by Edward Curr (VDLC) in 1826, after the Mersey River in Liverpool. A property on the Sorell Road, Northdown, 13 Km east of Devonport, was built for Edward Curr in the following year.
Lieutenant Governor Sir George Arthur, with surveyor General Franklin, swam their horses behind a whale boat across the mouth of the Don River,
located on the outskirts of Devonport, at midday on the 21st January 1829.
1840s
William F. Wright' took up his property "Pardoe" in 1841 (mother's maiden name). Now an eastern suburb of Devonport.
Thomas Drew was given ownership of six hundred and forty acres of land at Don Heads on the 4th of September 1843 in
recognition of his capture of the bushrangers. He also began a ferry service across the Don River.
"Mr. Drew died
at tho Don Heads in 1857, and was
buried beside his wife on the hillside
at the back of his former residence,
near the mouth of tho Don."
North West Post (Formby, Tas. : 1887 - 1916)
1850s
Timbergetters were working in 1850 at Don and Forth to the west of Devonport.
Coal was discovered at Don and Tarleton in 1850, and Scottish miners were brought to the colony as miners.
Charles Oldaker, the first settler on frontage to the Mersey River at Torquay (now East Devonport), was born at Stratford-on-Avon in the year 1800. He planted apples and pears, mulberries, medlars and figs .
Devonport originally consisted of two small townships on opposite banks of the Mersey River, which were set aside as reserves in 1850. Torquay was on the east, and Formby on the western side of the Mersey River.
The schooner "Tamar" was wrecked in the attempt to get into the port. The schooner "John Bull" and the brig ship "Killermont" transported produce from the Mersey River in 1853.
Mount Pleasant is the oldest property in Devonport, built around 1854.
In about 1854, a mill and wharf were built on the west bank of the River Don about 2km upstream from the Don Heads. A tramway was built to aid timber-getting.
Wenvoe, now a suburb, was originally a property brought by Charles Thomas in 1854.
A ferry
service carried people across the Mersey River from 1855. (discontinued 2014)
The Formby Hotel's first licence was issued on 1st December 1857 as the British hotel.
The original Methodist Church, a small building, was situated at the corner of Cross Street and Murray Street about 1858.
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The old Wesleyan Methodist Church (undated) Original source not known, Devonport, Tasmania |
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Postcard - Devonport - Tasmania. St Paul's Church East Devonport. Photographer - A. W. Marshall, 1859 |
1860s
William Holyman & Sons Pty. Ltd. originated in 1861 at Devonport, known as the White Star Line,
becoming a major Australian shipping operation. Later, family members established the first airline across Bass Strait. It became Australian National Airways and then joined Ansett.
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Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), |
By the end of 1863, a church school had been built; also used as a place of church of England worship.
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COUNTRY INTELLIGENCE. TORQUAY. (From our own Correspondent.) On Saturday morning last, about half-past one o'clock, a fire broke out on the premises of the British Hotel, Formby, occupied by Mr. Samuel Rezin, and in about two hours the whole building was reduced to ashes. A few articles of furniture woro saved. The furniture and stock I understand anr insured for £350, aril the hotel (which belongs to Mr. James Madden) for £1000. An inquest was held before C. Friend, Esq, Coroner, in order o ascertain if possible how the fire originated, but in the absence of a material witness it stands adjourned until Wednesday, when I will forward further partioulars.Launceston Examiner (Tas. : 1842 - 1899), Saturday 31 December 1864 |
The Mersey Marine Board was established in 1867 to manage the ports, harbours and rivers of Don, Mersey and Port Sorell.
1870s
The Don Cricket Club was established in 1871.
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An Early photograph of East Devonport, TAS, (undated)- original source not known |
1880s
The River Don Trading Company was formed in 1880. The Company was the largest business on the north-west coast, with a sawmill, shipping fleet, furniture and upholstery factories, cooperage, butchery, bakery, store and large areas of land.
The Marine Board building was built in 1882. It is the oldest standing building in Devonport.
On 30 May 1885 the rail line was extended to Devonport.
A regular steamer service operated between the Mersey and Melbourne from the 1880s.
"Fairmount" on the corner of Stephen St and Nichols (now David St) was built in 1886.