Tasmanian Historical Research Association in Sandy Bay, Tasmania, Australia | Non-profit organisation

Tasmanian Historical Research Association

Locality: Sandy Bay, Tasmania, Australia

Address: PO Box 441 7006 Sandy Bay, TAS, Australia

Website: http://www.thra.org.au

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25.01.2022 https://www.churchesoftasmania.com//no-820-epping-forest-p

25.01.2022 THRA member Tony Fenton has done it again! His essay was highly commended in 2018-19 The Van Diemen History Prize. This year he has gone one better and is the joint winner with Terry Mulhern (also highly commended in the 2018-19 prize). Congratulations Tony and Terry and all who entered.

24.01.2022 OUR HISTORY NO. 156 Killiecrankie’s Day in Court Gems bedazzled London’s legal eagles... NIGEL BURCH, LAUNCESTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY One Wednesday morning in early 1852, a curious case came up at the Lambeth Street Police Court, opposite Westminster in London. It concerned a schoolmaster, accused of obtaining money from a Kent Road pawnbroker by false pretences. This gentleman had pawned a beautiful gem he’d obtained from one Dr Henry Jeanneret, recently returned from Flinders Island in Van Diemen’s Land. Dr Jeanneret was a highly-regarded dental surgeon, who’d been Superintendent of the Aboriginal establishment on Flinders Island through the 1840s. He’d made a collection of the local stones especially the exquisite topaz, often called Killiecrankie diamonds. Dr Jeanneret had asked the defendant to sell some of the stones. When the defendant approached the pawnbroker with one of the larger specimens, both he and Dr Jeanneret believed it to be a diamond. Subsequently, however, the pawnbroker had doubts and showed it to a lapidary, who pronounced it a fake. A complaint of fraud was then laid against the hapless schoolmaster. The defendant’s solicitor made much of the fact that his client had given his real name and address to the complainant. Would a crook have done so? Dr Jeanneret was called, and testified that he previously believed the stones were diamonds as pure as the celebrated Koh-i-Noor. He’d shown them to a lapidary himself, who pronounced them genuine. He then produced a box of the facetted stones, and they certainly looked the part! He handed them up to the magistrate. The magistrate was doubtful, but impressed by their quality. Not having expertise in gems, he sent for a jeweller, who had a store near the court. Shown a large Killiecrankie stone, the jeweller initially thought it couldn’t be a diamond. On trying to scratch it with his little jeweller’s file, however, he found it far harder than expected. Faced with its brilliance and unexpected hardness, he finally said he could not swear it was not a diamond! The solicitor then brought in several witnesses to attest to the defendant’s high character. The magistrate was in a bind. No-one in the court now believed the beautiful Flinders Island stones were real diamonds, but the court’s expert, a professional jeweller, hadn’t been able to tell the difference. He finally decided to admonish the defendant for not explaining the whole story to the pawnbroker, so as to allow him, with the full facts, to decide whether to accept them as real or not. But with no-one able to prove they weren’t diamonds, he was not prepared to proceed to trial. The prisoner was discharged. And so Killiecrankie diamonds had their day in court. They were so good, they could fool an expert, and they came in such beautiful colours clear, yellow and pink. Don’t try to pass them off as diamonds today though. Lapidaries now have a better instrument, called a refractometer. Published in The Sunday Examiner, November 22, 2020, page 21.

23.01.2022 Fun Fact Friday! Did you know the infamous Gaiety Theatre & Grand Hotel was once owned by Mr. George ‘Tattersall’ Adams, otherwise known as the man who created... Tatts Lotto? Adams moved to Tasmania in 1895 due to the fact Tasmanian law and regulation allowed him to start his own lottery as well as other gambling opportunities. In January 1904, Adams bought the Gaiety Theatre & Grand Hotel building, which remained in his estate even after his death in September 1904. Adams was the second owner of the majestic building, buying it directly from Mr. Edward Mulcahy, the man known for getting the Theatre and Hotel built in the first place. This was exciting news for Zeehan residents, who believed that a businessman as astute as George Tattersall Adams would not invest in a district unless it were a fruitful and stable one showing a promising future. Eventually, the Theatre and Hotel were sold by the Tattersall estate to John Paice in 1923. Pictured: Gaiety Theatre Grand Hotel circa. 1911 Mr. George Tattersall Adams Reference: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/83730183 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/23635834 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/85608606 http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/adams-george-2866

21.01.2022 https://www.churchesoftasmania.com//no-813-launceston-st-v

19.01.2022 Port Arthur .. St David's Anglican Church

15.01.2022 OUR HISTORY NO. 154 A Brawl at Beaconsfield Fraud and theft at heart of a sacred scandal in gold town... NIGEL BURCH, LAUNCESTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY At the same time as settlers were feuding at Frankford, an enormous row erupted at Beaconsfield. It began with the arrival in July 1882 of a new curate, Reverend James Dodwell, to assist the aging Rev. Dixon at the Holy Trinity Anglican church in Weld Street. Dodwell proved popular initially, but was nursing a grievance against his new parish. He’d been promised a salary, and accommodation in a new manse in Margaret Street. Unfortunately the manse wasn’t ready, and the congregation didn’t have the funds to pay his full stipend. Instead, he had to stay at a hotel in George Town and row across each day. In an appalling lapse, he wasn’t reimbursed for these unexpected and considerable expenses. When he was later accused of dipping into the donations, he exploded. He called a public meeting in January 1884 to deliver a lecture entitled The true history of the Church of England in Beaconsfield for the last eighteen months. It was a misleadingly mild title to say the least! He began by accusing his boss Rev. Dixon of an obsession over reorienting the church from its original position parallel to the street, to an east-west orientation. Then, he said, church trustee Henry Sands, owner of the Club Hotel, had corruptly paid himself and Rev. Dixon’s son to do this unnecessary work at an exorbitant rate. In performing this work they proved incompetent, and when removing a wall, left the balance of the building so insecure it blew down. He then revealed the juiciest part of the proceedings. It seemed that Mr Sands had accused him of visiting a brothel in Launceston, and foolishly paying by cheque! The town divided, with half supporting the trustees and half Rev. Dodwell. The Launceston Examiner was full of claims and counter-claims. Threats were thrown like confetti. Mr Dodwell accused another trustee, Tom Cooper, of being interviewed by police over fraudulent mining accounts. Mr Cooper hotly denied it, saying that at least he’d never had to submit to the disgrace of being shunned by the butcher or sued by the baker, nor has my name ever appeared in the newspaper as a debtor in the Court of Requests. Cooper had made enquiries at Goulburn, Dodwell’s last parish. There was enormous interest in the case and every issue of The Launceston Examiner was eagerly awaited. Eventually the Bishop reluctantly stepped in and, without taking sides, asked Rev. Dodwell to resign. He did, but instead of returning to Goulburn as the Bishop suggested, he went to New Zealand. In 1887 a little article appeared in our paper, revealing that Rev. Dodwell had been sacked by the Bishop of New Zealand. Now he was suing his Bishop in the Supreme Court, demanding reinstatement! The court declined to rule in the matter, declaring it had no jurisdiction over the church, and Dodwell went on to NSW, where he died in 1902, aged 47. Published in The Sunday Examiner, November 8, 2020, page 21.

14.01.2022 OUR HISTORY NO. 163 The Gold Reward Commission State in frenzy with a rush of gold fever... NIGEL BURCH, LAUNCESTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY The gold rush of the 1850s was a major shock to Tasmania. Our young men flocked north to Victoria seeking their fortunes, leaving us with a declining population and acute labour shortages. A government geologist was appointed in 1859 to assist our fledging mining industry, but his role was not understood by the public. Spurred on by The Mercury, anger grew that he didn’t find them a goldfield. The government responded in 1863 by offering a huge reward for finding a payable field, but this wasn’t seen as enough. Businessmen in Launceston, who were feeling the effects of the rush to Victoria more than southerners, demanded that the government employ Edward Hargraves to find gold for them. Hargraves was the man who falsely claimed to have first discovered gold in Australia. He said that, for a huge fee and expenses, he would do the same for Tasmania. The government very reasonably told Launcestonians that if he was able to find gold, he could claim the reward they were already offering. The mob, however, was in no mood for logic. Donations poured in to pay his fee, and a substantial contribution was extorted from the government. He came down in 1864 to huge fanfare, rode around the colony and found nothing. Sensible people pointed out that it was difficult to find gold when you never got off your horse. Payable gold was then found anyway, at Lefroy around 1868 and at Beaconsfield around 1877. In 1880, opportunistic MPs remembered the old legislation and called for the reward to be paid. The government explained that paying a reward was pointless now, as the idea was to get men to go out prospecting 17 years before. Again, logic went out the window and they were forced to establish a Reward Commission and call for reward claimants. The Commissioners decided that Lefroy was the first payable goldfield discovered after the reward was announced, and the amount awarded should be 3,000. There were fifteen claimants. The hearings began with John Barrett. He’d been the first person to claim the reward, which he’d done in 1863. But another claimant, Ned Dally, said he’d found the gold in 1857 and told Barrett about it. Dally’s discovery was reported in Hobart, but the then Police Magistrate at George Town, William Gunn, wouldn’t allow it to be mined. He said it would take convicts from their work. Finally, the Reward Commission announced that the reward for discovering the Lefroy goldfield would go to prospector Sam Richards. The decision was unanimous. Old Ned Dally was understandingly highly indignant, but even if he’d been allowed to work his find and prove it, he wouldn’t have qualified, as it was before the reward legislation was promulgated. Mind you, he would have saved the public purse 3,000! Published in The Sunday Examiner, January 10, 2021, page 18.

14.01.2022 St James' Anglican Church, Waratah, Tasmania, 1900 by Stephen Hooker was a member of the Waratah Camera Club.

13.01.2022 Is our history and heritage important to your vision for Hobart? I’d love you to join me for an interesting online forum on Monday from 6-7pm - you’ll hear abo...ut the economic value that heritage creates for cities like Hobart. I’ll be in conversation with some great minds about how reusing heritage buildings and protecting streetscapes is the smart way for Hobart to develop. More info on the forum here - shorturl.at/tJLUZ You can watch live at 6pm on www.youtube.com/c/IslandofIdeas

11.01.2022 https://www.churchesoftasmania.com//no-816-moonah-st-marys

11.01.2022 https://www.churchesoftasmania.com//no-953-austins-ferry-r

10.01.2022 The Reverend William Dry Dry answered the Tasmanian calling JENNY GILL, LAUNCESTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY... William Dry was born at Launceston on May 5, 1820 to Richard Dry senior and Ann Maugham and received his early education at Reverend John Mackersey’s school near Campbell Town along with his elder brother Richard. William was sent to England for further education, eventually graduating from Cambridge University. He married Beatrice Young in Edinburgh, Scotland in March 1842. She ultimately survived her husband, but there was no family. He was ordained deacon in 1843 by the Bishop of London, and for a time he was assistant curate of Camden Town, London. On his return to the colony in 1844 his first appointment was as locum tenens to the Rev. Philip Palmer, rural dean and chaplain of Trinity Church, Hobart, during the latter's absence in England. He was made a priest in 1845 by the Bishop of Tasmania, Francis Russell Nixon. His next appointment was as chaplain of Oatlands where he officiated for three years, from the end of 1846 until the end of 1849. While there he was responsible for finishing the building of St Peter’s Church. He returned to England in February 1850 and was appointed by the Archbishop as curate in charge of Minster-in-Sheppey and later Sutton-Valence, Kent, in the diocese of Canterbury. Back in Tasmania by 1857, William’s next appointment was at Longford from October 1858, where he remained until 1860 when he was compelled to resign the pastorate owing to ill-health. During this time Rev. and Mrs Dry’s new Gothic-style house, designed by architect William Henry Clayton, was constructed on the Elphin Estate which had been left to him by his father. However, in March 1862 he sold the stock and farming equipment, auctioned the furniture and effects, let the house and land, and once again sailed for England. Rev. Dry took occasional duty, and gave help where it was needed, and at the inception of the Edinburgh Diocesan Association for the promotion of foreign missions, became the first secretary and treasurer. When at last the Drys returned from England in 1883 they resided in Launceston for a couple of years, and then purchased Mount Esk at St Leonards, where they lived together for over 20 years. Dry was a scholar, a preacher and very entertaining in conversation among those with whom he was best known. Joseph Archer was one of his oldest personal friends, having been boys at school together. He became a member of the Royal Society in 1862. When William Dry died aged 88 on June 13, 1908, Mrs Dry, after 66 years of marriage was left practically alone, all her relatives being in England. However, she remained at Mount Esk and died in 1916 aged 92 and was buried with her husband, the Reverend William Dry in the family vault at the Church of England Cemetery, Cypress Street. Published in The Sunday Examiner, November 15, 2020, page 29.

08.01.2022 OUR HISTORY NO. 161 Hope and Sacrifice at Seymour Disaster turned the tide on big East Coast mining dreams... NIGEL BURCH, LAUNCESTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY Ask most of us where Seymour is, and you get a blank look. You get there by turning right at St Mary’s. When you hit the coast, go eight kilometres further on to arrive at Seymour, located on Long Point. Coal was discovered there in the 1840s possibly by a farmer called Hume. Dr Joseph Milligan noted coal at both Fingal and Seymour when he did a survey of all Tasmania’s coal resources in 1848. A lease was taken over the area by Algernon Swift in 1860. He was one of very few recognised experts on coal and iron in the colony and later built a giant iron smelting works at Beaconsfield. Swift couldn’t raise capital to develop the property and in 1861, the Seymour Coal Co. was floated. They took over the property and employed Swift as manager. The company worked two seams of coal. One was at a depth 35 feet, while the other, which was of a much better quality, was at 162 feet. In fact, tests showed it to be equal to Newcastle’s in terms of quality. The problem was never the coal, it was always transport. The company hired two sailing ships and built two jetties, one on each side of Long Point. If the weather was coming from the north, they used the south jetty. If from the south, they used the north jetty. If the weather was from the east, however, there was no protection. They had a major setback when an easterly gale struck in 1862, sinking one of their ships and beaching the other. Two crew members were drowned and others only saved by the heroism of a captain. After this they bought two steamships to take their product to markets in Hobart, Launceston and Melbourne, and begged the government to build a harbour in the area, for them and also for the farming community. It was considered, but didn’t eventuate and the company had to close in 1867. A new venture was attempted in 1888, when a drilling contractor was engaged to test the resource. He falsified his results, showing no coal resource, then pegged the ground himself. His ruse backfired, because he then couldn’t raise capital! In 1928 a Victorian company was floated to take over the ground Seymour Coal Mines Ltd. This was a major undertaking, with substantial underground workings and a big wharf built where the old one had been destroyed on the south side of Long Point. The company was just getting underway when a double disaster hit in 1931. First a major storm destroyed the wharf. Then a gelignite explosion killed four men. With the country in depression, there was no way to recover. Interest from Goliath Cement at Railton led to a brief reopening by men from Fingal in 1957, trucking output to the railhead at St Marys. Unfortunately, when Goliath converted to oil in 1964 the last company folded. Published in The Sunday Examiner, December 27, 2020, page 35.

07.01.2022 After 185 years, New Norfolk's Uniting Church will host its final service on November 22 at 2.30pm.

07.01.2022 Last week Hamish Maxwell-Stewart presented the 2020 Eldershaw Lecture on the impact of solitary confinement on convict health. If you missed it or would like to listen to it again go to THRA's SoundCloud page.

05.01.2022 THRA is organising a tour of this exhibition to take place in six or seven weeks. Stay tuned.

04.01.2022 https://www.churchesoftasmania.com//no-956-irishtown-seven

03.01.2022 The Cataract Gorge was originally a sacred site for the local Aboriginal peoples. William Barnes, the European land owner, leased the land to the city of Launce...ston for 200 years. In 1889 the Launceston City and Suburban Improvement Association undertook fund raising for the construction of the footpath that runs from King’s Bridge to the picnic grounds. These gates at the King’s Bridge entrance to the Gorge were built in 1891. Beyond the gates is the ticket kiosk and turnstile. Originally the entry cost was one penny and a total of 243 was collected in the first year - this equals over 58 000 visitors. The gates and turnstile were removed in 1951, but the kiosk is still there. This photograph was taken by Alfred Masters. #LibrariesTasmania #TasArchives See more