Recent research on the history of Kentish
A series of free articles
In 2016 Alan was asked to write a series of articles on local history for the monthly newspaper Kentish Voice published in Sheffield, Tasmania. Commencing with the Aboriginal occupation of the Kentish Plains, Alan has been researching his way through the early days of the Kentish district to provide lots of new information not previously published. After the articles have appeared in the Kentish Voice, they are regularly added to this website and are available here free of charge.
(1) Who were the First Inhabitants of Kentish?
Any review of our local history that commences with the [...]
(2) Aboriginal Activity Around the Mersey/Forth Region
Having considered the aboriginal ochre mine on Mount Gog last [...]
(3) Aboriginal Activity within the Kentish Area
It is inconceivable to think that there was so much [...]
(4) The Demise of our local Aboriginal Tribe
Just how the nine aboriginal tribes of Tasmania were so [...]
(5) First Europeans to Set Foot in Kentish
Who was the first white man to set foot in [...]
(6) 1823 – Captain John Rolland & Mount Roland
In the early 1820s the whole North West Coast, apart [...]
(7) 1824 – Captain John Rolland’s Untimely Death
Captain John Rolland was the first official land explorer of [...]
(8) 1826 – VDL Co Surveyors First to Explore Kentish
Two and half years after Captain Rolland discovered our famous [...]
(9) 1827-1831 Exploring Kentish’s Back Country
Following the abrupt departure of the VDL Co’s advance party [...]
(10) 1829 Governor Arthur Travels the Great Western Road
From the time in 1826 when Governor Arthur forced Chief [...]
(11) 1830–1834 Robinson’s Search for Aborigines near Mount Roland
After Governor Arthur’s epic journey over the Great Western Highway [...]
(12) 1833 Notable Travellers on the Great Western Road – Backhouse and Walker
Some significant overseas visitors who travelled this road across Kentish’s [...]
(13) 1841 Notable Travellers on the Great Western Road – Count Paul Strzelecki
Another significant overseas visitor who travelled across Kentish’s high country [...]
(14) Surveyor Kentish’s Tough Assignment
The original overland route to our North West Coast opened [...]
(15) Discovering the Kentish Plains
To assist him with his surveying assignment to find a [...]
(16) Kentish and His Inland Route to Emu Bay
The early 1840s was one of the most volatile periods [...]
(17) Job Done, Kentish Dismissed
Over these last two years of this huge exploration project, [...]
(18) Kentish’s Fiasco in Launceston and Hobart
Having completed his survey work for the new road route [...]
(19) Kentish’s Disastrous Demise
Moving from Hobart to Melbourne in July 1848, our audacious [...]
(20) Field Bros – Cattle Kings in Kentish – 1840-1940
On 1st August 1842 the eighty head of wild cattle [...]
(21) Field’s Sturdy Stockmen of Kentish
1. Middlesex Plains Jack Francis 1828 -1912 An early [...]
(22) Convict Probation Station at Kimberley 1844-1848
The Convict Probation Station built on the banks of the [...]
(23) Calder Climbs Mt Roland – Oct 1845
With the Colony practically bankrupt, in Oct 1845 senior-surveyor James [...]
(24) Wm Kimberley & His Sheep come to Kentish – 1850
When widower William Kimberley (54) drove his sheep from the [...]
(25) 1857 – Kentisbury or Kentishbury?
Our earliest districts get their names The difference in the [...]
(26) Coastal Expansion into Kentish
Part 1: Tarleton, Ballahoo Island, Frogmore, Sherwood and later Latrobe [...]
(27) Coastal Expansion into Kentish
Part 2: From Spreyton, Don and Forth Early in 1851, [...]
(28) Surveyor Dooley opens Door to Kentish Plains
The man responsible for opening the door for the original [...]
(29) Francis von Bibra & His family: Part 1
First Pioneer Settlers on the Kentish Plains The well-to-do ancestors [...]
(30) Francis von Bibra and His family: Part 2
First Pioneer Settlers on the Kentish Plains Well-educated widower and [...]
(31) James Powlett & Family
Sheffield’s First Settlers James George Powlett was born in Sheffield, [...]
(32) Robert Manley (1838-1889)
Kentish’s First Great Leader On the same day that Francis [...]
(33) Thomas Johnson & Dolly Dalrymple
Their Impact on Kentish The captivating story of how ex-convict [...]
(34) Thomas Johnson’s Three Sons come to Kentish
Their Contribution to Kentish One of the earliest and largest [...]
(35) Richard Boothman
Ex-Convict Killer comes to Kentish Richard & Christina Boothman The [...]
(36) John Silvester Nottage
Railton‘s 1st Leader & Famous Tasmanian Novelist John Silvester Nottage [...]
(37) James Coope
Kentish’s Cryptic Grave: Who was ‘Coope’? In the older section [...]
(47) Ephraim Doe I (d1895) and Ephraim Doe II (d1934)
A stroll along the Pioneer Pathway in King George V [...]
(49) Hon John Hope 1842–1926
Kentish’s 2nd Great Leader Young John Hope arrived in Launceston [...]
(58) Amos Langmaid 1809-1894
Railton’s Industrial Pioneer Think of Railton and you think of [...]
(59) Henry & Priscilla Weeks
Railton Pioneer Settlers When the 600-ton Merrington from London arrived [...]
(38) Treacherous Travelling For First Settlers
Crossing Kimberley's Ford, Climbing the Stoodley Hill The advertising campaign [...]
(39) Harsh Living Conditions Of Our Pioneers
Clearing the Bush, Building a Hut, Eking out a Living [...]
(40) The Shaping of Sheffield Part-1
The Township’s Birth In 1842, when surveyor Nathaniel Kentish first [...]
(41) The Shaping of Sheffield Part 2
The First 20 Years In 1862, the population of our [...]
(42) Upper Barrington Beginnings
Clearing the Heavy Forest Unlike the open plains of Kentish, [...]
(43) Upper Barrington’s Methodist Heritage
Migration from Westbury's Wesleyan Church What is quite unique about [...]
(44) Welcome to Early West Kentish
The first pioneers on the Kentish Plains settled on both [...]
(45) Possessing the Promised Land
(Old Wilmot Rd & Roland) In the late 1860s, three [...]
(46) Early Settlers up the Staverton Road
During the 1880s, the first settlers began following the hilltops [...]
(48) The Call of the Mountain From Sheffield to Mt Roland
In 1858, when Surveyor Dooley set out to carve up [...]
(50) Settlers at The Dasher River Crossing
Our Mountainside Pioneers (1) When VDL Co surveyor Henry Hellyer [...]
(51) Claude Road’s Old Township Area
Our Mountainside Pioneers (2) The road along the valley of [...]
(52) Claude Road to Historic Gowrie Farm
Mountainside Settlers of Kentish (3) Following the discovery of mineral [...]
(53) Historic Gowrie Farm & First Gowrie School
Our Mountainside Pioneers (4) The last couple of kilometres before [...]
(54) Gowrie Park
Our Mountainside Pioneers (5) About 1887, James Reed purchased 100 [...]
(55) Early Railton & Railway Company Debacle
The site for the potential township at Railton was first [...]
(56) Railton & the Effects of the Foster Factor
The much-anticipated Mersey & Deloraine Tramway Co opened for traffic [...]
(57) Rise of Railton, Finish of ‘Fosters’
The opening of the Deloraine-Formby Railway Extension on Sat 30 [...]
(60) Merseylea, Native Plains & China Bush
Aborigines, early explorers, and first settlers, trekking overland from the [...]
(61) Dulverton, Railton & Newbed Part 1 (Pre 1900)
When Surveyor Calder divided the County of Devon into Civil [...]
(62) Dulverton, Railton & Newbed (Part 2 Post-1900)
It took nearly a decade to recover from the Great [...]
(63) Around Railton: Early Settlers of Sunnyside
In August 1826, when explorers Henry Hellyer and Clement Lorymer [...]
(64) East Sunnyside, Shadyside & Stoodley
The huge government grant that became Foster’s Estate divided the [...]
(65) Railton to Sheffield: (1) Redwater Creek to ‘Badger Hill’
When Surveyor James Dooley was appointed to sub-divide the whole [...]
(66) Solving the Mystery of Dick Lowe’s Bridge.
Half-way between Sheffield and Railton, regular road-users travelling down Stoodley [...]
(67) Some Early Residents of Lowe Bridge’
Around the junction of Stoodley Rd with the Railton-Sheffield Rd [...]
(68) Stoodley Hill & Historic Water Trough
For early pioneers, the longest and steepest hill between Railton [...]
(69) Stoodley’s Forestry Plantation Story
Because of our magnificent stands of hardwood forests, Tasmania neglected [...]
(70) Bridle Track Road into Sheffield
Let’s join Kentish’s old Bridle Track at the top of [...]
(71) Sheffield’s Golden Era (1880-1900) Part 1
The discovery of alluvial gold in the Minnow River at [...]
(72) Sheffield’s Golden Era (1880-1900) Part 2
Towards the end of the 1880s, Sheffield had become the [...]
(73) Hope Family’s Input into Early Sheffield
Only residents who have lived in Kentish for more than [...]
(74) James Hope’s Gigantic Flour Mill
When James Hope (53) bought the corner block on Main [...]
(75) Kentish on Fire (1) Panic in Paradise – 5 Feb 1898
The beginning of 1898 was preceded by the longest drought [...]
(76) Kentish on Fire (2) All Districts Disaster – Feb/Mar 1898
In the first months of 1898, Tasmanian residents faced the [...]
(77) The Sheffield Hotel (1) First Turbulent Years
Like so many Tasmanian hotels, the Sheffield Hotel has an [...]
(78) The Sheffield Hotel (2) Maddox’s (1896-1980) and Watson’s (1980–2023) Story
Following the reorganisation of the NW Licensing Board, on 3 [...]
(79) Slaters Country Store – Life Behind the Counter
Having written the history of this store in a book [...]
(80) York Schmidt & Co / The Don Co Store, Sheffield
This prominent heritage-listed building has always been Sheffield’s largest retail [...]
(81) The Don Co Store sold to Private Owners
The original business name York, Schmidt & Co was dissolved [...]
(82) Sheffield’s King George Park – An Overview
There is more local history packed into King George Park [...]
(83) Sheffield’s Police Station, Courthouse & Service, Tasmania
When Surveyor Dooley laid out the streets of Sheffield, he [...]
(84) Sheffield’s Town Hall & Council Offices
In May 1912 a very serious fire was narrowly averted [...]
(100) THE GREAT FLU PANDEMIC 1919
-how our Kentish Community Coped! During the latter part of [...]