Bothwell and its Chronology |
Site of the Town:
Bothwell:
Latitude 42° 23’ S Longitude 147° 01’ E
Population 482 at 2016 Census
Situated on the Highland Lakes Road
(A5), still called the Lake Highway by the locals, it is the last major
town on the way North before crossing the Western Tiers.
It is an hour’s drive from Hobart and two hours from Launceston.
The town was developed on the
banks of the Clyde River, occupying the one location that was not taken
up amongst those marked out along the broad river valley.
Bothwell was the administrative centre
of the former Bothwell Municipality and is now a major town in the
Central Highlands Municipality.
The Historical Development
For thousands of years this area was part of the lands of the
Mairremmener people who moved seasonally between the central highlands
and the coast.
This
updated time line is based on an earlier one prepared by an unknown
Bothwell resident. |
|
1807 |
Thomas Laycock,
a Lieutenant in the NSW Corps, was sent by Lieut. Governor Paterson to
walk with a party of men from Launceston to Hobart for food.
They camped on the banks of the
Clyde River, somewhere near Bothwell on 8th February 1807.
After this, kangaroo hunters visited the area.
Grazing licences were issued,
and stock keepers and stock huts occupied the area.
Thomas Laycock
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/laycock-thomas-2340 |
1818 |
Michael Howe,
reputed to be the worst of the Bushrangers,
was killed on
the banks of the Shannon near Hunterston.
His body was buried on site but his head was taken to
Hobart for the reward.
Michael Howe
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/howe-michael-2206 |
1820 |
In the December, Lt. Governor
Sorell accompanied by
Surveyor G. W. Evans visited the area and found land suitable for
sheep farming. |
1821 |
The first two settler families arrived per
Grace in August 1821.
They were Charles and
Horace Rowcroft who at settled at Norwood and Grassy Hut
and Edward Nicholas and
family who settled at Nant.
Charles and Horace
Rowcroft
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/rowcroft-charles-2613 |
1821 |
The Clyde River acquired its official name about this time. It had
previously been called the Fat Doe River, named probably by kangaroo
hunters. (For some years in the
1990s, there was a bakery called The Fat Doe Bakery.) |
1822 |
The ship the Castle Forbes brought the following to the area –
•
Captain Patrick Wood,
a retired officer of the East Indian Army – who settled at Dennistoun
•
Myles Patterson
and his family who later settled at Hunterston.
•
Captain and Mrs Sockett,
who settled at Logan.
•
Phillip Russell,
who later established Strathbarton.
•
Alexander Reid
and family who settled at Ratho.
•
Adam Smith
who established part of Meadsfield.
Captain Patrick
Wood
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/wood-john-dennistoun-4883.
Phillip Russell
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/russell-george-2850
Alexander Reid
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/reid-alexander-2584 |
1822-3 |
Thomas
Axford built a water mill at
Thorpe. It had a brick
mill-house with an undershot water wheel deriving its energy from the
Clyde River. He met an untimely
death in 1855 at Bagdad at the hands of a bushranger called John, alias
Rocky, Whelan. |
1823 |
Dr
James Ross LL.D was granted the
Hermitage on the Shannon River. He
called this property, which was a great distance from Bothwell, after
Hermitage Castle in Scotland which was a far distant property
of the Earl of Bothwell.
(Ross later sold it to Walter and Frederic Synnott).
Ross soon moved to Hobart and
became Government Printer and a publisher. |
1823 |
Hon.
Capt. William Langdon RN received a
grant of 1,500 acres on the Clyde River, which he called Montacute
after his village in Somerset, England.
He settled permanently in Tasmania in 1834.
He later became a member of the
Tasmanian Legislative Council. To
him also belongs the dubious honour of having introduced the blackbird
to Tasmania.
William Langdon
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/langdon-william-2327 |
1824 |
Archibald McDowall and family
arrived in the Portland. He
had been injured at sea and took over the property Logan close to
the Bothwell settlement on the invitation of
Captain Wood who had bought
it from Captain Francis Sockett.
Sockett had left the colony but
died at Cape Town on his return home. |
1824 |
The Triton arrived with a Fifeshire bull in the charge of
James Foster.
This was the start of a herd of
Aberdeen Angus cattle at Dennistoun, which was destined to become
the oldest in Australia. |
1824 |
Captain William Clark settled at
Cluny. Augustus Earle’s
painting of his original cottage is held by the National Library of
Australia. |
1825 |
Dr
William Crowther was granted 800
acres on the banks of the Clyde at Hollow Tree (not far from
Montacute). From his
family came two Premiers of the State of Tasmania.
The Crowthers did not live on
the grant.
William Crowther
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/crowther-william-lodewyk-3297 |
1826 |
During this year Bothwell received a visit from an extremely colourful
character by the name of Jorgen
Jorgensen who was to become known as the ‘Viking of Van Diemen’s
Land’.
Jorgen Jorgensen,
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/jorgenson-jorgen-2282 |
1828 |
Governor Arthur, on the recommendation of
Archdeacon Scott (the first
Archdeacon of New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land), appointed
Archibald McDowall catechist
for the district at £50 a year.
The position of Commissariat Clerk was added soon afterwards.
Sunday services were held in the
barn or house at Logan. |
1828 |
Archdeacon Scott, during a visit to
Bothwell to conduct a service, chose the site for a church. |
1829 |
The first mail service was commenced, the
postman usually being a ticket-of-leave man. |
1829 |
The first resident minister, the
Rev. James Garrett was appointed.
James Garrett
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/garrett-james-2081 |
1830 |
In the May, the foundation stone of the Church of St Luke, was laid by
Alexander Reid.
The church cost £1,000 to build
and was opened in 1831 as a combined Church of England and Presbyterian
Church. The
Rev. Dr Drought, Rector of
Green Ponds (now Kempton), alternated with
Rev. Garrett in holding
services in the Church.
In October, what was to be known as the “Black
Line” was formed by Governor Arthur with the intention of rounding up
the aborigines and placing them under the control of a competent
establishment. It cost the
government at least £30,000 and was a failure. |
1830s |
During this period, the following persons were recorded against the
respective positions –
•
Mr E. A. Wheatley, Chief
District Constable
•
Mr
Phineas Moss, Chief Constable’s Clerk
•
Mr N. S. Quick, Postmaster
•
Major C. Schaw of 21st Regiment, Police
Magistrate
It is of interest to note that it cost five pence to send a letter from
Bothwell to Hobart at this time.
Probably the first golf in Australia was
played by Mr. Alexander Reid.
Golf was played on many farms
about Bothwell. When a club was
formed it played on both Logan and Ratho but eventually
played only on Ratho and continues to do so. |
1831 |
The Church of St Luke was opened.
Also in November of this year
the Hobart Town Courier reported that during the winter months, 100,000
kangaroo skins were taken around Bothwell. |
1832 |
George
Augustus Robinson passed through
Bothwell with the remaining members of the Big River and Oyster Bay
bands. They danced a corroboree in front of the Castle Hotel in
Bothwell.
The inhabitants offered to contribute 100
guineas towards making good the Melton Mowbray to Bothwell road.
During this year, the Cape of
Good Hope Inn was opened at Black Marsh (now known as Apsley). |
1833 |
Wentworth House, known at various times as Bothwell House,
Inverhall, the Parsonage, Schawfield, and the old Rectory, was built for
Captain (later Major)
D’Arcy Wentworth.
The house was bought shortly
afterwards by his successor, Major Charles Schaw, who
altered it.
Charles Schaw
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/schaw-charles-2634 |
1834 |
In the June, Alexander Reid
introduced clover to the district for fodder.
This year also saw the formation of the first country library in
Tasmania through the inauguration of the Bothwell Literary Society.
The foundation members included
Alexander Reid, Archibald
McDowall, Dr Sharland,
Capt. Wood,
Rev. James Garrett, and
Messrs. Barr,
Russell,
Axford,
G. Nicholas,
Patterson,
Allardyce,
G. Russell,
Tod,
Howell and
Thompson
http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/B/Bothwell
Literary Society.htm |
1835 |
Dr. E. Swarbreck Hall, M.R.C.S., L.S.A., the pioneer
epidemiologist of the Australian colonies, gave a lecture to the
Bothwell Literary Society while he was stationed in Bothwell.
E. Swarbreck Hall,
M.R.C.S., L.S.A.,
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hall-edward-swarbreck-2144 |
1835 |
Bothwell inhabitants presented
George Augustus Robinson with a silver cup made in Hobart.
This was in gratitude for
removing the local aborigines. This
cup is one of Australia’s colonial treasures. |
1837 |
In March of this year, the governor
Sir John Franklin became
Patron of the Bothwell Literary Society.
Later in the year Sir John and
Lady Franklin visited Bothwell and were entertained to dinner and a
grand ball by Major Charles
Schaw, the police magistrate.
Charles Schaw
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/schaw-charles-2634 |
1840 |
About this time moves were made to declare the Church of St. Luke the
property of the Church of England. Rev.
James Garrett resigned as minister for the district.
James Garrett
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/garrett-james-2081 |
1841 |
To show their appreciation of the efforts of
Rev. James Garrett, the
members of the Bothwell Literary Society presented to him a silver tray
made in Hobart Town. This tray
is one of Australia’s colonial treasures.
The Thomas Wigmore S.P.C.K.
was appointed the first resident Chaplain of the Church of England on 23rd.
March 1841.
James Garrett
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/garrett-james-2081 |
1842 |
A petition was lodged, by the inhabitants of the district before the
Governor, Sir John Franklin,
complaining about the state of the Bothwell/Melton Mowbray road.
The petitioners asserted that
very little money had been spent so far by the government on their
roads.
John Franklin
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/franklin-sir-john-2066 |
1843 |
A second petition was lodged in the May, complaining about “the wretched
state of the road between Bothwell Township and the main road”.
A toll-gate was even suggested
to help pay for road gang. |
1845 |
Thomas
Wilkinson opened Wentworth
House as a private boarding school for boys and girls. |
1847 |
Clifton Priory was built by the
second Anglican chaplain, the
Reverend Robert Wilson. He
hoped it would become the rectory, but the Bishop and governor would not
fund it. The house became the
property of the enterprising
Maria Lord. |
1849 |
An Act of Parliament was passed for the making, repairing and
maintaining the road leading from the Township of Bothwell to the main
road and for making, repairing and maintaining other roads in the
district of Bothwell (13
Victoria No 5 1849).
At dawn on the 27th day of July 1849, a pistol duel was
fought between the son of
Captain William Clark and the brother of
Archibald McDowall II in the
old cemetery behind the church. The
duel was over the daughter of
Captain King, the officer in charge of the military guard on Barrack
Hill. No one was hurt as the
seconds had loaded the pistols with raspberry jam. |
1850 |
Two “Irish Exiles” – John Martin and John
Mitchel – lived in Bothwell. For
some time they were in a cottage at Nant.
Later Mitchel’s family joined
him there. An account of his
life was written by John Mitchel, and subsequently published in book
form as the “Jail Journal”.
Writing in his journal in the April, John Mitchel
mentions that at this time Bothwell contained 60-70 houses, a church,
four large public houses (“establishments which are much better
supported on the voluntary system and have much larger congregations
than the church”), a post office, several carpenters’ shops and
blacksmiths’ shops, a police office, police barracks and a police
magistrate. There were also two
mills on the Clyde.
John Mitchel
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mitchel-john-2461 |
1851 |
A “well-horsed conveyance” belonging to a
Mr Blackwell of the
Royal Oak Inn at Cross Marsh was running three times a week to and
from Bothwell to connect with the fast mail coaches on the main road. |
1856 |
Wentworth House was purchased by
Reverend Wickham Hesketh as
the Rectory. It remained so
until 1956.
The building in Alexander Street known as the Literary Society Building
was opened as a school, headmaster’s residence and home for the Literary
Society’s library. It is now
part of the local government offices. |
1856 |
The
Hon. Captain William Langdon built the Church of St James at
Montacute. It was
consecrated by the first Bishop of Tasmania, the
Right Reverend Russell Nixon. |
1859 |
The Wesleyan Chapel was opened in Dennistoun Road.
This has now been demolished and
the sandstone used elsewhere. |
1862 |
Bothwell was proclaimed a rural Municipality on 22nd October,
1862. Also in this year the
Bothwell Cricket Club was recorded as having forty members with
Mr. W. Bedford as Captain of
the Team and Mr. S. Arnett
as Secretary. |
1863 |
On the 30th January, 1863 the first Municipal Council was
elected comprising Archibald
McDowall (Warden), Thomas
Axford, Edward Nicholas,
Alexander Reid,
Frederick Synott and
William Blackburn Wood,
Councillors. The first Council
Clerk appointed was Matthew
Robinson, at an annual salary of £170.
He held the position for
eighteen years. |
1864 |
James
Wilson was appointed as
Superintendent of Police for the district from south of Longford to the
Shannon Tier. He named the
property Steppes after the Scottish place of that name.
His pioneer home is now a state reserve.
St. Andrews Catholic Church, designed by
Henry Hunter, was opened in
Bothwell. It was demolished in
the twentieth century. |
1866 |
On the 3rd. July, 1866, Bothwell was proclaimed a Town. |
1868 |
The first English trout, trwenty-five in number, bred at Salmon Ponds
from ova brought from England, were released in the Clyde River at
Logan by Archibald McDowall.
Eleven trout were also released
in Lake Crescent. |
1871 |
Reports on the irrigation of lands in the Bothwell district said that it
was being carried out there to a greater extent than in any other part
of Tasmania. An irrigation
tunnel was constructed to lead water to Sherwood that was about
150 yards long, by about 5-7 feet high and 2 feet wide.
At Dennistoun, about 11
miles of waterways were constructed to lead water from the Clyde. |
1880 |
The Bothwell Football Club was formed with
Mr. A.A. Reid as Captain. |
1887 |
Bothwell State School opened in Market Place.
This was the third public school
building. It is now the
Australasian Golf Museum. |
1888 |
The first sod was turned on the proposed Brighton-Apsley Branch Railway
Line. |
1891 |
The Branch was opened, providing a comfortable and easy means of
communication between Apsley and Hobart, serving what was known as the
Bagdad Valley.
Bishop
Henry Montgomery consecrated the
Anglican Church of St Michael and All Angels.
Funds had come mostly from the
Nicholas family of Nant.
Henry Montgomery
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/montgomery-henry-hutchinson-7629 |
1898 |
The Clyde Water Trust was constituted to ensure that, at all times,
there was an adequate quantity of water for domestic purposes for the
Towns of Bothwell and Hamilton, and to control irrigation.
The Trust comprised the Wardens
and one Councillor from each of the Municipalities of Bothwell and
Hamilton, and the Council Clerk of Bothwell. |
1898 |
Mr
A.C. Hirst, who was to create a
near-record for length of service, was appointed Council Clerk.
His residence was the house
known as Clifton Priory, situated on Barrack Hill. |
1903 |
The district of Black Marsh was proclaimed as the Town of Apsley on the
3rd. October, 1902. |
1904 |
The Bothwell Freemason Lodge was formed on 6th. December,
1904. |
1910 |
The Church of St Bartholomew at Strathbarton was consecrated on
August 24th. 1910. |
1911 |
The Church of St. Luke at the Steppes was dedicated on 18th
October 1911. |
1913 |
In partnership with Sir Philip
Oakley Fysh, Mr
Bayard Edgell rented the Estate of
Dennistoun, buying the property in 1918.
Philip Oakley Fysh,
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/fysh-sir-philip-oakley-6262 |
1914–1918 |
Bothwell sent 110 men to the First World War.
Five received Military Medals.
Twenty-nine were killed.
A memorial in the shape of a
vertical sundial was erected in the park.
Designed by Alan Cameron
Walker,
it is the only one of its kind in Australia.
Alan Cameron Walker
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/walker-alan-cameron-1099 |
1916 |
Waddamana ‘A’ Power Station was put into commission comprising two 5,000
hp units. It was extended
to 65,800 hp in 1922. |
1920 |
The Miena multiple-arch Dam was commenced.
It was intended to raise the
level of Great Lake by 40 feet to provide a greater storage capacity to
feed the Waddamana ‘A’ and ‘B’ stations, and the Shannon Power Station. |
1929 |
Construction of the Shannon Power Station was commenced. |
1934 |
The Shannon Power Station was put into commission with a capacity of
14,500 hp. |
1947 |
The Brighton-Apsley Branch Railway Line was closed on 30th
June, 1947. |
1949 |
Waddamana ‘B’ Power Station was put into commission with a capacity of
66,800 hp. |
1950 |
The Church of St Michael and All Angels was visited by His Grace, the
Lord Bishop of Canterbury during his tour of Australia. |
1956 |
A new Church of England Rectory in Patrick
Street was purchased. It was
formerly the house and surgery of
Dr. John Brennan.
The Bothwell Area School moved into new premises in Patrick Street. |
1962 |
Dr Grote Reber of Wheaton,
Illinois,
USA, “the father of radio astronomy”, moved to Bothwell and set up an
instrument to record radio waves at Dennistoun,
Bothwell.
Grote Reber
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grote_Reber |
1969 |
Bothwell sale yards were moved from within the town boundary to a site
on the Hollow Tree Road. |
1977 |
Formation of the Bothwell Historical Society. |
1978 |
International Highland Spin-In began at Bothwell. |
1984 |
New concrete bridge built across the Clyde River. |
1993 |
The Bothwell and the Hamilton Municipal Councils were amalgamated to
form the Central Highlands Council. |
1996 |
Establishment of the Australasian Golf Museum in the former school
building in Market Place. |
1999 |
Farm practices changed with the advent of pivot irrigators and the
growth of cropping in the district, especially crops of opium poppies. |
2001 |
Bothwell Historical Society published its history, “Bothwell Revisited:
a History – Foundation, Federation and the Millennium”.
In 2020, a second edition was printed. |