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Devonport, TAS: Explore The North West of Tasmania

The city of Devonport, Tasmania, is situated at the mouth of the Mersey River on Bass Strait.  

With its attractive landscape and local and maritime history, Devonport is a very interesting place to explore.


Pannilerpanner Aboriginal People

Aboriginal people walked from mainland Australia to Tasmania over forty thousand years ago when a land 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.
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

1642

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.
The Recherche and Espérance, ships of Bruni d'Entrecasteaux's expedition.
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.
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.
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.
The old Wesleyan Methodist Church (undated) Original source not known,‎ Devonport, Tasmania
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.
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.
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.
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.

Formby’s first newspaper, The North West Post, began circulation in 1887. In 1916 it amalgamated with The Advocate.

The Torquay Swimming Baths were built in 1888.

There were two cemeteries what is now Pioneer Park: the Church of England (St. Paul Anglican) Cemetery; and Wesleyan (Methodist) Cemetery, located along Wright St. (removed 1965)

An Anglican church was opened in West Devonport in 1888.

In 1889 the Bluff lighthouse was completed. The lighthouse at the mouth of the Mersey River near Devonport is unusual in Australia with its distinctive vertical red stripes. Its establishment also ended a history of wrecks in this area.

The Public Library was housed in the Giblin Memorial Hall, built in 1889-90. The building later burnt down.
Giblin Memorial Hall was built in 1889-90. The building later burnt down, Devonport, TAS, Tasmanian (Launceston, Tas. : 1881 - 1895)
There once stood a tidal-powered flourmill at Flour Mill Bay at Spreyton, now a suburb of Devonport.

Torquay (East Devonport) was larger with police, post office, magistrate, at least three hotels, shipyards and stores.

1890s

The two small towns of Torquay and Formby were amalgamated in 1890 after a public vote, to become Devonport.

In 1890, Mr. John Luck of Devonport started the North-Western Roller Mills, machinery for which was imported from Yorkshire.
River Don Trading Company store, Devonport, TAS, about 1890
Scene on the Mersey, Devonport, TAS, Tasmanian (Launceston, Tas. : 1881 - 1895), Saturday 23 November 1895

1900s

Devonport Public Hospital, TAS, 1900 - 1958
Railhead and port facilities were combined at Formby, where a wharf was built on the west bank, close to the railway. On 15 April 1901, the Devonport line was extended to Burnie, connecting with the Emu Bay Railway's line to Zeehan.

The original Victoria Bridge on the Mersey River was opened in 1901, reducing the reliance on boat and ferry traffic.

Clements & Marshalls, an agricultural merchant, was established in 1901.

Devonport Courthouse opened in 1903.
The marriage of John Thomas Lucas and Letitia Louise Kimberley at Devonport, Tasmania in 1904. The Weekly Courier (Launceston), 30 July 1904, p. 19 (State Library of Tasmania). maypm
New Finlayson bus, for G. West, outside Finlayson's works, Devonport. 1906. Trainiac
The showground opened in 1907.

A Rotunda was built in 1907, but was demolished in April 1967.
Hauling potatoes by traction engine for shipment at Devonport, TAS. Arslonga Studio photo, 1907, Trainiac
Potatoes for export arriving at Devonport, TAS, by rail and road, 1907. A W Marshall photo, Trainiac
View of Devonport, TAS, waterfront showing the station and railway yard. A W Marshall photo, 1907, Trainiac
Steele-street, Devonport. – A. W. Marshall, photo.” - The Tasmanian Mail, June 29, 1907
Central Devonport, Tasmania - 1908, Aussie~mobs
Seaview Hotel, Devonport, Tasmania - circa 1908, Charles Thompson - proprietor. Aussie Mobs
Exporting potatoes at Devonport, TAS. 1909. A W Marshall photo, Trainiac
Mersey Bluff Lookout, Devonport, TAS, early 1900s
Shipping produce from West Devonport, Tasmania - early 1900s, Aussie~mobs
Leeks Bluff Tea Gardens, West Devonport, Tasmania - circa 1910, Aussie~mobs
LEEKS MODEL VILLAGE (BLUFF TEA GARDENS), DEVONPORT, TASMANIA, Aussie Mobs
Uncle Leeks Teahouse and Museum, Mersey Bluff, Devonport, Tasmania - circa 1910, Aussie Mobs
View from The Reserve in East Devonport, Tasmania - early 1900s, Aussie~mobs
Finlayson Brothers in Devonport, Tasmania - circa 1910, Aussie Mobs
Rooke Street in Devonport, TAS, circa 1910
Vice regal car at Devonport Show, TAS. 1910. A W Marshall photo, , Trainiac
PROCESSION OUTSIDE ALEXANDERS HOTEL IN DEVONPORT, TASMANIA, Aussie~mobs
In the early 1900s there were a number of Chinese market gardeners in Devonport.
The truck that did Devonport to Burnie in 2h 40m, TAS, 1912, Trainiac
Shipping on the Mersey at Devonport, TAS. 1913, Marshall's Studio photo, Trainiac
Devonport, TAS, harbour improvements, 1914. A W Marshall photo, Trainiac
Devonport, TAS, harbour improvements, 1914. A W Marshall photo, Trainiac
Since 1914, the renewable energy of hydro electricity has supplied Tasmania’s industries, economy, landscape and community.
Work on the big cutting near Devonport, TAS. 1915. Burrows photo, Trainiac
Work on the big cutting near Devonport, TAS. 1915. Burrows photo, Trainiac

WWI

Albert Edward Johnson - 8008, 12th Battallion from Middle Road Devonport, Tasmania, enlisted on 8th October 1917 along with his father Jabeth Johnson. Albert was 16 years of age. His unit embarked form Melbourne 28th February 2018 on the Nestor, arriving in France 22nd July 1918. On the 25th August 1918 Albert was wounded in his right leg during the advance near St Germain's Wood, his leg was bound and he was moved under a bank waiting for stretcher bearers where he was hit in the head by a piece of shrapnel and killed instantly. Albert was just 17 years and 3 weeks old. Albert has no known grave and is commemorated at Villers Bretonneux.
“White’s Hotel, East Devonport. - A. W. Marshall, photo.” - The Weekly Courier, June 12, 1919.
Devonport had a growing industrial economy and port.

Home Hill, at Devonport, built in 1916, was the family home of Australian Prime Minister Joseph Lyons and his wife, Dame Enid Lyons, who was the first woman elected to Australia’s federal parliament. The couple had 12 children.
Devonport, Tasmania (1919), Tasmanian Archives and State Library (Commons)
Devonport, Tasmania (1919), Tasmanian Archives and State Library (Commons)

1920s

The Victoria Bridge partly collapsed as a result of the continuous boring by teredo worms in 1924.
Shipping potatoes from Devonport, Was, 1923, Trainiac
A lucky Sentinel steam wagon, Victoria Bridge collapse, Devonport, TAS. 1924. J G Charlton photo, Trainiac
Recovering the Sentinel steam wagon from the collapsed Victoria Bridge, Devonport, TAS. A W Marshall photo, 1924, Trainiac
Daily Telegraph (Launceston, Tas. : 1883 - 1928), Saturday 7 November 1925
Meercroft Hospital opened as a convalescent home in Devonport in 1925. The original homestead at Meercroft was built in 1889.
Rooke Street Devonport, TAS, date and photographer unknown | Aussie Mobs
Buick's landed at Devonport, TAS, for Lane's Motors, 1925, Trainiac
Hillers Garage, Rooke Street, Devonport, TAS, 1927
Cars on Rooke St, looking north on Steele St, Devonport, TAS, 1927
Outing near Cam River, Tasmania - 31 January 1928. Family on an outing in Tasmania, Australia. The Cam River is not far from Devonport, Aussie Mobs
Annual picnic of the Launceston branch of the Australian Textile Worker Union to Devonport, TAS, with 1400 in two trains. Second train departing. Burrows photo. 1928, Trainiac

1930s

Claims that Aboriginal rock-engravings are found at Mersey Bluff, Devonport, and discussed in the Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of  Tasmania for 1931, written by Devonport schoolteacher Archibald Meston. Thes, it is claimed, were the first known petroglyphs in Tasmania.

Following the finding of these rock engravings, debate begins over whether, they are created by Aboriginal people or naturally for environmental processes.

Advocate (Burnie, Tas. : 1890 - 1954), Wednesday 29 July 1931
Devonport, TAS, the bluff beach area, 1934
Julie Burgess, a ketch that plied the waters of Bass Strait and its islands, was built in 1936. It is now moored at Reg Hope Park, East Devonport and is the last of the nearly 150 ketches, built or operated, by five generations of the Burgess family.

The Star Theatre opened in 1937. 
Devonport, Star Theatre, TAS, 1937 (QVM 1999-P-0983
THE LYONS HOME in Devonport, Tasmania. Mid pleasures and palaces though they have roamed, the Lyons family enjoy life best in this weatherboard cottage, the surroundings of which enshrine all the great experiences of the family. Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982), Saturday 13 November 1937
Advocate (Burnie, Tas. : 1890 - 1954), Wednesday 17 March 1937
The Forth State School was moved to Devonport Showground in 1938, and used as the Horticultural Pavillion.

February 1939, there was fog and bushfire smoke around the mouth of the Mersey River entrance, resulting in the shipwreck of the Agnew Dredge.
Alexander Hotel Devonport, TAS, (Date Unknown)
DEVONPORT FUNERAL OF LATE MR. J. A. LYONS, Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), Friday 14 April 1939 (Joseph Aloysius Lyons CH (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the 10th Prime Minister of Australia)

1940s and WWII

Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), Friday 7 April 1944
For years the negative from which this photograph was printed lay buried in Changi Camp, until the release of Sergeant J. D. Emmett, of Devonport, TAS. All but one of the nurses were massacred by the Japanese a few weeks after they had sat for the photograph. News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954), Friday 23 November 1945
An Ovaltine factory was situated in Quoiba and the factory workers rode the train from Devonport from 1942.
OVALTINE FACTORY, QUOIBA, DEVONPORT, TASMANIA - circa 1940s, Aussie Mobs
Sgt. Ronald Charles Brazier returned to Devonport on the Nairana after six years' service in England with the R.A.A.F. With him he brought his English wife and their little daughter. Sgt. Brazier remained in England after the war to assist in the compilation of part of the British war history. Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), Thursday 31 July 1947

1950s

The first Mersey River surfers may have been Devonport surf lifesavers in the 1950s or early 60s.
This large sign greets road travellers on the Don Road approach to Devonport. It is one of several which have been erected on main approaches to the town in furtherance of the town's fight for a hospital. -ADVOCATEAdvocate (Burnie, Tas. : 1890 - 1954), Saturday 17 November 1951
Devonport's airport opened in 1952.
SEVENTY-FIVE members of the original 1400 men and two women who in 1914 sailed in the first convoy from Hobart for Egypt and Gallipoli gathered at Devonport on Saturday for the A.I.F. Originals' Association reunion. Amongst them were (from left to right) Noel D. Fethers, Melbourne; Col. C. H. Elliott, Mrs. Elliott, M. A. Luck, R, Lapthorne and C. J. Priest Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), Monday 19 October 1953
Good progress is being made with the new Devonport arcade, which runs from Stewart street through to Rooke street. Picture shows the Devonport Marine Board's crane lifting a heavy girder at the Stewartstreet end of the Arcade, Advocate (Burnie, Tas. : 1890 - 1954), Friday 30 October 1953
Queen Elizabeth travelled by motorcade around Devonport on her 1954 Australian tour.
The Queen and His Royal Highness arriving at Devonport Oval 1954, TAS, Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), Wednesday 24 February 1954
Royal Visit, Devonport, TAS, children's choir led by Mrs Dixon, 1954, The Tasmanian Archives and The State Library
Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1900 - 1954), Tuesday 14 December 1954
Devonport in the early 1950s was one of the fastest growing areas of Tasmania.
Button factory at Spreyton, Devonport, TAS, Advocate (Burnie, Tas. : 1890 - 1954), Thursday 5 August 1954
River Don Trading Company store, Devonport, TAS, in the 1950s. The River Don Trading Company was established in 1880. The River Don Trading Company re-built their premises in Rooke street in 1926, Devonport. Buildings were sold to Woolworths in 1961
The Starlight Drive-In opened on 7th November 1958. (closed on 22nd February 1984)

The Roll On Roll Off (RORO) Terminal at East Devonport was established in 1959.

Princess of Tasmania sailed on her maiden voyage on 23 September 1959, sailing the Devonport to Melbourne route across Bass Strait. 
M.V. 'Princess of Tasmania', the world's largest ferry in 1958. Australian-built vessel 'Princess of Tasmania' which revolutionised passenger tourist travel across Bass Strait from Melbourne to Devonport when introduced in 1959. Its roll-on roll off facility, where vehicles could be driven directly onto the vessel via a rear door, was an enormous improvement over the former Bass Strait service offered by the steam ship 'Taroona', which necessitated vehicles being loaded by means of cranes. Aussie~mobs
East Devonport is a combination of residential, industrial and rural areas.

1960s

Devonport Showground was used as a speedway.

Two new mills opened in Hobart and Devonport in the 1960s.
Tasmania trip, arriving Devonport, TAS, 1968, wilford peloquin
Train station - locomotive M4 unloading cement from Railton at Devonport, TAS, (1969)
. The Tasmanian Archives and The State Library

1970s

Tasmanian Government Railways H class No H 2 after hauling a cement train from Railton in the yard at Devonport. Across the Mersey River is the Princess of Tasmania moored at its terminal at Devonport, Tasmania, Australia. 1970. John Ward

Tasmanian Government Railways H class No H 2 after hauling a cement train from Railton in the yard at Devonport. Across the Mersey River is the Princess of Tasmania moored at its terminal at Devonport, Tasmania, Australia. 1970. John War
Don River Railway, a not-for-profit organisation owned and operated by members and volunteers, was established at Don, a suburb of Devonport, in 1973.

In 1973, a new concrete bridge replaced the old Victoria Bridge.

TIAGARRA, museum which tells stories of Tasmanian Aboriginal people and their culture, was opened in October 1976 by Sir Doug Nicholls OBE and Lady Nicholls.

1980s

Devonport was proclaimed a city by the Prince Charles of Wales on 21 April 1981.

2000s

 History Lost. Devonport Tasmania. More historic buildings being lost in Tasmania to make way for a carpark. Some local councils care about their history, others demolish it. Steven Penton, 2016

2017: Demolition of the maternity hospital in Devonport.
Demolition Devonport Hospital, Tasmania. 2017 Steven Penton
Devonport, TAS, 2018
2018: A developer has purchased the former site of the derelict Devonport maternity hospital.

The ferry service was discontinued in 2014 after 160 years. 

2013: Devonport lost its last textile manufacturing business.

2014: An ambitious $250 million master plan announced to transform Devonport.

2021: A terrible tragedy occurred on December 16th 2021, at Hillcrest primary school, located in the south-west Devonport, killing six children and injuring three.

2022: Two tug boats sunk after a collision with a commercial vessel.

Around Devonport

There used to be two cemeteries within what is now Pioneer Park, Devonport, TAS: the Church of England (St. Paul Anglican) Cemetery; and Wesleyan (Methodist) Cemetery, located along Wright St. Some headstones are located at the corner of Church and Drew Streets, East Devonport.
St Paul's Anglican, Devonport TAS
Former Bank Building, Devonport, TAS, built for the Commercial Bank of Tasmania
Alexander Hotel Devonport, TAS, built circa 1904
Spirit of the Sea Statue, located near Bluff Lookout, at the end of the Aikenhead Point boardwalk, Devonport, Tasmania
"Laranah", Devonport, TAS, built 1923
Malunnah Close, Devonport, Tasmania, built 1888
Devonport, TAS, courthouse built tasmania 1903
The Town Hall Theatre is located within the paranaple arts centre. The Theatre is the original 1899 Town Hall, Devonport, TAS
Home Hill was the family home of Tasmania's only Prime Minister Joseph Lyons, his wife Dame Enid Lyons - the first woman elected to Australia's federal Dame Enid and their 12 children with this guided tour of their 1916 Devonport home
Home Hill was the family home of Tasmania's only Prime Minister Joseph Lyons, his wife Dame Enid Lyons - the first woman elected to Australia's federal Dame Enid and their 12 children with this guided tour of their 1916 Devonport home
The Wedding Cake House on Formby Road, Devonport, TAS, built in 1905 by Robert Masterman 
The Mersey Bluff Lighthouse, Devonport, TAS, was built in 1889
Modernist house at Brook Street, East Devonport, Tas, built 1965
Rooke St,Devonport, TAS

Things To Do and Places To Go

The Don River Railway 

Home Hill was the family home of Australian Prime Minister Joseph Lyons





The Jack Mason Memorial Museum is situated on the grounds of the Devonport RSL

Tiagarra Walk on Mersey Bluff is a 500 m walk starting from the Mersey Bluffcar park near Devonport, Tasmania