IS GEORGE TOWN AUSTRALIA'S OLDEST TOWN?

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Or is it even the third oldest settlement? The claim that 'George  Town is Australia's Oldest Town' is based on the theory that Sydney and Hobart are now cities, and Sydney has 'swallowed up' all the smaller early towns around it, but let's look at the facts.

The First Fleet with almost 1,500 people arrived in Sydney Cove, NSW in January 1788, but settlement was not confined to Sydney for the next 23 years! Just as it happened in Hobart and Launceston, small 'satellite' towns gradually sprang up outside the original settlement that later became part of the larger town or city as populations grew.

By March 1788 there was another settlement at Kingston on Norfolk Island. It began as a Colony of NSW, from 1844 - 56 it was a Colony of Tasmania and later became a Territory of Australia; it is still part of Australia.

Parramatta was settled in 1788 and, like Liverpool (1798) and other 'satellite' towns, it is now a city in its own right, although it could be seen as part of a Greater Sydney - just as the outer suburbs on both sides of the Derwent are seen to be part of Hobart. 

Windsor on the Hawkesbury River is strongly promoted today as "Australia's Oldest Town". Windsor was originally called Green Hills, but was renamed by Govr Lachlan Macquarie soon after his arrival in NSW in 1810. The first land grants were made in 1794 and Windsor, Richmond, Pitt Town, Wilberforce and Castlereagh, were all planned by Macquarie as a grid of streets surrounding a central square - just like George Town and New Norfolk. Windsor is part of the larger Hawkesbury City Council, but is still a separate town and signage proudly  proclaims it as "Australia's Oldest Town". 

After coal was discovered at Newcastle on the Hunter River in 1797, a convict camp was established in 1801, and in March 1804 it became a convict station for secondary offenders, but it is now a city. 

In September 1803 the first 49 Europeans to come to Van Diemen's Land, as Tasmania was then known,  arrived at Risdon Cove under command of Lt John Bowen RN. After Bass and Flinders had proved it was an island separate from mainland Australia, the British were keen to establish settlements on both sides of Bass  Strait to prevent any French claims. 

The first European settlement in Victoria was at present day Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula and named Sullivan's Bay, but it was provisionally called the "Hobart Camp". Around 400 people under Capt David Collins RN arrived at Port Phillip early in October 1803 on the Calcutta and Ocean, but four months later moved to the Derwent. David Collins chose a new site for Hobart, across the river from Risdon at Sullivan's Cove, where it is today. 

In November 1804, Lt Col William Paterson and over 200 people landed at Outer Cove, so named by Bass and Flinders, but renamed York Cove by Govr Macquarie in 1811. They arrived in four ships, the first and largest being the Buffalo, followed a day later by the Integrity, Lady Nelson and Francis two weeks later. With the soldiers on the north and convicts on the southern side of the rivulet, they camped in tents and makeshift shelters for a few weeks. 

One of three prefabricated houses they had brought with them became Paterson's home and first Government House near the end of today's Anne St, close to the Cove. Another was erected on Garden Island to house the stores, etc. 

Paterson almost immediately explored the whole estuary and by mid December, he had decided to move the settlement across to the head of Western Arm, where York Town was built with another pre-fabricated Government House and around fifty more buildings. 

After a shipment of 600+ Bengal cattle arrived in March 1805, it became obvious the area on both sides of the river was unsuited to agriculture and soon the settlement moved to the head of the river where Launceston developed. The Aborigines had long practised 'fire-stick farming' so the area was already partially cleared, making it easier for farming and later land grants. The first farms were around the North Esk River flats. 

Soon after the 1804 arrival, a Pilot Station and a Signal Station were established at Low Head and until the building of George Town began in 1816 it was an isolated, but important little settlement away from the main population in Launceston. 

Govr Lachlan Macquarie visited VDL at the end of 1811. While admiring Launceston's picturesque location, he felt the Chief Settlement should be closer to the sea. He selected the site of the first temporary settlement, named it George Town after King George III and planned the grid of streets around the Square that we know today. 

The first plans were drawn by convict surveyor, James Meehan in 1812, but it was the end of 1815 before convict work gangs moved down to begin building the town the next year, and it was not until 1819 that the administration actually moved from Launceston to George Town.

In 1821 Governor Macquarie returned to find George Town well established as he'd planned it. He named Regent Square and the streets, but as a consequence of the Bigge Report, the Headquarters returned to Launceston in 1825. However, the Female Factory remained at George Town until 1834, when a new factory was built in Launceston. 

George  Town may not be the Oldest Town in Australia or even the third oldest settlement, but it is built on the site of one of the oldest European settlements around York Cove - the first settlement in Northern Van Diemen's Land/Tasmania. 

George Town is a true Macquarie Town and Regent Square, bordered by Macquarie, Elizabeth, Anne and Cimitiere Sts, as planned by Macquarie as an open space for its people, is the Oldest Public Park in Tasmania. It has been listed on the Tasmanian Heritage Register since 2014. 

On 19 December, remember Lachlan Macquarie's vision for George  Town and, while acknowledging the devastating effects on those who had called this land home for thousands of years before, be proud to call George Town your home today. 

Written by: Lorraine Wootton, Low Head