Records held by the Community History Museum of the Queen Victoria Museum
Launceston Heritage Study: Thematic History
Paul Davies Pty Ltd 3
and Art Gallery and the Local Studies Centre at the Launceston City Library were also
extensively used. In particular we would like to thank:
• Staff of the Community History Museum of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery,
Launceston
• Staff of the Local Studies Library, State Library of Tasmania, Launceston
• Elspeth Wishart and Anne McConnell
• Staff of the Archives Office of Tasmania
• Staff of the Central Plan Room of the Department of Primary Industries Water and the
Environment
• Staff of the Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts and the Tasmaniana Library, State
Library of Tasmania
• Paul Davies and David Parham
A B B R E V I A T I O N S
Allport Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts, State Library of Tasmania
AOT Archives Office of Tasmania
DPIWE Department of Primary Industries, Water and the Environment
HRA Historical Records of Australia
JPPP Journals and Printed Papers of Parliament
QVMAG Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, Tasmania
Tasmaniana Tasmaniana Library, State Library of Tasmania
Launceston Heritage Study: Thematic History
Paul Davies Pty Ltd
H I S T O R I C C O N T E X T
I N T R O D U C T I O N
After an uncertain foundation caused by divergent views concerning the appropriate site for
northern Tasmania’s major centre, Launceston developed into a city with a rich nineteenth and
early twentieth century industrial history and an outstanding built heritage of late Victorian
and Federation buildings. Although there is no complete and entirely reliable history of Launceston, numerous documents, articles, books and reports
have been prepared and published on various aspects of the district's
history since 1798.
A U T H O R S H I P
The Launceston Heritage Study—Stage 1: Thematic History was prepared by Ian Terry,
historian, heritage and interpretation consultant and Nathalie Servant, consultant historian, for
Paul Davies Pty Ltd, architect and heritage consultant. 2 Paul Davies Pty Ltd
T H E S T U D Y
The Launceston Heritage Study aims to:
• identify and analyse the cultural heritage of the city and suburban areas of the City of
Launceston,
• provide an inventory of information on individual heritage places deemed worthy of entry
in the Tasmanian Heritage Register and in a format compatible with the Register and its
standard data sheet,
• provide historical information on initial construction date of principal structures on each
place, the owner at the time of construction, any information on that owner or any
subsequent owners that makes a case for that individual being important to Tasmania's
history, and
• provide an inventory of precincts worthy of heritage protection under the Launceston
Planning Scheme 1996 and provide a description of the particular heritage qualities of
those precincts.
This report is intended to frame the historical evolution that characterizes the
study area and will indicate which sites require additional field investigation and contextualize the
sites identified and documented throughout the study. Since the middle of the 19th century, the social and cultural life of
has been very active. This is a large amount of
,
well-documented documents, filling in the small gaps left by the current sources with minimal preliminary research. The maps and plans of the Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment have also been reviewed
,3
times.
is not the final date for the study area.