On 19 May, over 80 years ago, my father, Eric, recorded my birth in his diary “……….. the baby, which was a son, was born about 1 o’clock, weight 8lbs. 6¾ozs, length 22½ inches”. With no phone service at the farm, mother wrote a letter to Dad advising details “Baby was born somewhere about dinner […]
William Chapman was born at Hatfield Broad Oak in Essex, England the eldest son of Isaac Robert Chapman (1761-1850) and Elizabeth Catharina nee Blandy (1770-1847). At the age of 13, he was convicted of stealing one sheep and two lambs and received the death penalty but was reprieved and transported to Australia for life. He […]
This article includes a list of Ivan’s British Forbears, including when they arrived in Australia and on which ship, along with other interesting information about each person. Many are featured in expanded articles on History Over Dinner. YEAR/SHIP NAME RANK RESIDENCE U.K. & NOTES 1788Scarborough (First Fleet) Herbert, John Alexander Convict London (1767-1846), tried at the […]
The Pieman River is to be found near Rosebery and in 1963 was still free flowing but has since been dammed to produce electricity and is now covered by water and known as Lake Rosebery. The Pieman River commences at Tullah with the joining together of the McIntosh and Murchison Rivers. They have 21 tributaries […]
In 1963, the Mt. Lyell Mining and Railway Co. Ltd decided to close their rail line between Queenstown and Strahan, due to the high cost of maintaining the line. Closure was scheduled by the end of June 1963. A group from our Rosebery Methodist Church decided to take the very scenic trip before closure and […]
Tullah is located on the West Coast of Tasmania around five miles north of Rosebery but separated by mountainous terrain limiting contact between the two centres. There probably was a walking track enabling some limited contacts. A connecting road was opened around 1960. Tullah was a mining town and very isolated. The only main access […]
A branch of the Commercial Bank of Tasmania was opened at Zeehan in early 1891. The Bank, the second oldest in Australia, commenced in Tasmania with the opening of a branch in 1838 at Macquarie Street, Hobart. Further branches followed at a number of centres in Tasmania, and when they sold the business in April […]
At the age of 19, I reached Rosebery on the West Coast of Tasmania arriving at the beginning of January 1963 and would remain stationed in the town until late October in that year. It was my first transfer and first time living away from home and had not previously visited the town or area. […]
MOTO: CUM STUDIO ET HONORE – With Zeal and Honour. Beginnings – On 10 February 1919, when the school doors were thrown open to admit students, 55 boys were enrolled and soon after, increasing to 63. Later in the year, the Spanish flu struck, and the school was closed from late August till mid-October, and […]
Amongst Longford’s early residents were Newman Williatt and his wife Eliza and one child, they moved there from Launceston, Tasmania around 1829. Newman Williatt and Eliza Towers married in Launceston on 29 July 1824. While living in Launceston, the birth of two children have been located, a girl, Janet Elizabeth, born on 1 October 1825 […]