1-',i,PEH-S AND .PROCE}

NEW NORFOLK IN EVOLUTION

By

JUDITH J. HINE University oj Tasmania

(VVith HI/o fig-l1YC's. )

ABSTRACT were free settlers. However, the rate of' evacua­ An aecount is g'lven of the town of New tion increased in the 118Xt two Tasmania, from its colonial Impa tkntwith the present day. owes its Issued new for removal, Governor continuation to a p1'o­ term~ of transfer vilith respect duetive and the heritage of and immediate requirements for an early administrative and its present and in Van Diemen's Land, the State:s sixth dom- 554 Norfolk Islanders had industl'Y-' newsprint Of these were convicts, and nearly half were children. If INTRonCCTION new arrivals were satisfied with the terms of relocation were soon to be disillusioned. The Lace the spring of 1811 land was available but the other promises, Governor of New South made in far-off Britain, could not spttlement of New met. The influx more than doubled the from the vantage of Van Diemen's Land at a tIme when Government farm on the alreadY there were to survive. River Behind him, betvveen The r:wre resourceful of the accepted main "ettlement at Hobart what available and set to for them- had its way betWEen two selves, but most were resentful situation: upstream the valley broadened. Fresh water was many bartered their land for easier the at, hand, and for two miles above the Government; eventually as Vifalker ,to ' out farm the river was navigable. On the north bank in poverty aDd wretchedness . were many small farms of the Norioll, Islanders, but there were none here on the ;;outhern The fmmdi]),/~ of New Norfolk fro!'). the dver the land rose one The ' brought the first of the Nor- Sect to a basalt, capped rIver terrace which f;:;lk Dienwn's Land in 1803. On terminat,ed a mile upstream against a board was the Irish exile Joseph Holt \vho, on wooded hUL In his '.Journals' J\;Iaequarie arrival in Hobart Town, was Gover- 'This situation to me so eligible and so nor Collins to look for a the weH for a settle, in the Derwent area. Holt's only from Hobart little further than determined to erect one here for of and he reported New ~~orfolk that although there was land for farms it was not of sufficient extent for a IN THE BEGINNING settlernenL Nevertheless the district bee arne The Norfoik Islanders home of most of the Islanders who took their that Van Diemen',; Land \Vas land in I80? and 1808. They were the fIrst settied moves were made to relocate the when passed Norfolk Island. First occupiecl in 1788, \vere for the worst criminals t.he Hevd Neve South \7\Tales, but {lble to a up the Derwent it \1/as a home foJ' free couI's,' of whieh he was guest of one of the to the lstand's Norfolk residents. Its eontinued rnain- John Oxley reported on ttle s8ttlelnent as it vvas t'2l1fUICP the jn Illla: considera.ble portion of the Norfolk ignorant of Settlers have chosen to settlA on the la,nels arts of husbandry. In 1803 - P.hilJjn "\vas a t the Upper part of the River: their instructed to move some of the settlers to Van distriet is named New Norfolk and is DierDl:n's Land, but his successor and the a most deli"htful Ysland'5 splth:rs were equany see the to the Banks orc1e!' fulfilled. the end 01' there were fertile and still seven people on the Island, over extensive plains and three-qt;arters of the total of 1803. and nearly all Pasturage for any 56 NEW NORFOLK IN EVOLUTION

Number of Cattle; a number of small rivu­ tobacco, rum and slop clothing, a medical lets, intersecting the Country in every resident, and some approximation to a direction, is an advantage the Country near country village at home '. the Sea Coast is deprived of; the main There are earlier references to a ferry across River. being navigable for Boats for a con­ the river at this point, although there was also siderable distance, affords an easy Com­ one at Elizabeth 'Town, and when in the mid munication with the principal Settlement. 18208 plans were first mooted for the construction These Lands have not -been settled for more of a bridge to serve the district, the Land Com­ than 18 Months, and appearances are so mi.ssioners investigating the matter were unanimous Javourable as to Warrant the Expectation that it should be at Falll," However with the that with proper Care and Managernent a extension of rural development further up the Der- short Space of time will preclude the Neces­ and amalgamation of some of the early New sity of further Importations of Grain . . . small holdings, demands on the little village (Historical Records of Australia, declined in favour of the administrative centre, Series Ill, Vol. 1) Eli?abeth Town. In 1840-41 the bridge was eventu- The following year the district was visited by ally but it was at the town, not at Falls. Lachlan Macquarie, new Governor of New South Some years later the village still had Wales. this time a Government farm had been a school, an inn, and the chapel, but in the l880s on the vantage point from which its functions ceased, and the name of 1<'a11s was Macquarie chose t.he town site. his visit heard no more. he inspected the farms of the which extended for four miles along the north of Some early town plans the river. Of their condition he wrote 'the soil Following the selection of the site for Elizabeth . . . in general is excellent and there is at Town in 1811 Macquarie was concerned that his present every appearance of a plentiful and abund­ requests be carried out. The next year the deputy ant harvest; but the houses of the settlers are to the Surveyor-General of New South Wales, James mean and badly built, and themselves miserably Meehan, was instructed in the course of a survey clothed '. According to the historian West 'their to mark out the site of the town. He came to Van Jrail dwellings soon exhibited all signs of decay, Diemen's Land in 1813 to carry out the task, and a and their ground was exhausted by continual plan was produced the following year. The earliest cropping '. plan still available was produced by G. W. Evans New Norfolk, then, held the Colony's greatest about 1824 (signed, but not dated); the streets were concentration of free settlers, as at this time the marked out and named, but both names and street Norfolk Islanders constituted nearly half the total pattern were later changed. This plan probably population, and most of the remainder were convict. never existed on the ground: the rigidity of the And, beyond the two main centres of Hobart Town grid was not practicable on the steeper slopes of and Launceston, it was the first district in the the terrace, but also an open square, four times Colony to be closely settled. the size of the present Arthur Square, occupied a wastefully large proportion of the fiat land. Of The village of :FaUs the few buildings shown on this early plan the The rural population of New Norfolk, fairly schoolhouse was begun in 1823 and Turriff Lodge, dense in relation to that of Van Diemen's Land and the Governor's retreat, was built some time prior New South Wales generally (the average land to 1817. Accompanying a painting of this by J. grant to Norfolk Islanders was about forty acres), Lycett is a note that it 'was frequently resorted would have given rise to urban development without to by the late Lieutenant-Governors Davey and Macquarie's declaration of a town site, and even in Sorell, as an agreeable relaxation from the bustle the face of this a small village developed near the and fatigue of public business. '. banks of the Derwent at the place now known as Another plan of the town was produced in 1833 by Lawitta, but then known as The Falls, or simply, \V. S. Sharland, an Assistant Government Surveyor Falls. As the old name suggests (albeit with of the time. The differences between this and the exaggeration) bedrock here broke the surface of the earlier plan are quite profound, the first real urban river, establishing the head of navigation. This development having taken place in the interim. factor, and its location central to the rural com­ With the exception of Bridge Street (which was munity, made the site a more logical one for a constructed soon after the bridge was proposed village than that of the planned town, at the down­ in 1836) the plan, within the 1833 limits. has stream periphery of settlement. The village is remained almost unchanged (see Figs. 1 and 2). named on a chart of Van Diemen's Land published by Joseph Cross of London in 1838, but there is Town gTowth in the Colonial context little recorded of it; most attention is given to Development of Van Diemen's Land was slow , Elizabeth Town " as New Norfolk was first known, until about 1820, partly because of the difIleulties which in accord with Macquarie's desires developed encountered in establishing agriculture undel' as the administrative centre of the district. The foreign conditions but dominantly becaus8 of the only description found of the village is in J. Syme's isolating effects of the Napoleonic Wars. By 1820 'Nine Years in Van Diemen's Land', written in however the way was cleared for progress. The the 1840s: realization of a wool market in Britain coincided, . though it has not the honour of and was associated, with a changed attitude among being a town. we find many shops British capitalists. Once again they were seeking for the ordinary articles of tea, sugar, outlets for overseas investment, and for the first JUDITH J. HINE 57 time the Australian colonies were seen as having cating the slower tempo of the times. Apart from possibilities. Government immigration policy had the bridge toll-house no building was generated on also changed: now capitalist immigration to Aus­ the north bank; even fifty years later the only tralia was favoured, to absorb the convict work­ buildings on this side of the rivcr (with the excep­ force, and regulations were designed to this end, tion of a few farm houses) were those in connection The result was a large-scale granting of land to with the railway. immigrants who could afford proof of capital, and the 1820s saw rapid occupation of new territories. RECESSION AND RECOVERY The town of New Norfolk, under official sanction, The Van Diemen's l,and scene at last began to develop: in 1825 the' Hobart Town Gazette' repol'ted-- This state of reduced was symptomatic of all Van Diemen's Land. was the unrecog- 'Vve understand with much pleasure that nised herald of stagnation. British immigration New Norfolk, the favourite retirement of policy had again changed, this time in response Colonel Sorell and other distinguished to the influence of Wakefleldian ideas, and the characters, is rapidly becomin,l improved. Ripon land regulations of 1831 were the result. The Church . . . has been considerably Hereafter land was to be released by sale only, enlarged. Several most excellent buildings being allowed only If alreadY promised. have been commenced . . . Everything Arthur favoured the old grants system therefore indicates the rapid rise into and took full advantage of the 'grants promised' special eminence of that very beautiful loophole, with the result that more land was granted town; and that ere long; it will constitute than sold in the following decade. But land was a flourishing mart for at least one fourth a limited resource, and with decreasing opportuni­ of the Colony we think with others is a ties in th.e. island and increasing mainland com­ supposition far from improbable.' petition the Colony began to lose attraction, not By 1831 there were some substantial buildings only to immigrants but to some of the early in the town, including 'several excellent private settlers and the native born as well. Until this dwellings '. Among these were Woodbridge, built time the general trend of Van Diemen's Land by W. S. Sharland in 1827, and Hallgreen, home of fortunes had been upward, with markets both in Hobert Officer, first Government Medical Omcer Britain and mainland Australia. Wool was the for the district. Both still stand above the south major overseas export, but in intercolonial trade bank of the Derwent, a beautiful location early wheat was the chief item. Until the 1840s Van favoured by the more wealthy residents. Diemen's Land was the' Granary of Australia', but This decade of development saw considerable from this time it suffered increasing competition official attention focused on New Norfolk. Gover­ from South Australia to the extent that wheat nor Arthur was anxious that it should become the growing was no longer profitable, except for the chief town of the Colony, and although this small and decreasing local market, and with the grandiose scheme was coldly dismissed by British best land alienated by grants decline of the Colony authorities the town did become the centre for was imminent. the Colony's first Police District, and on this The mainland gold rushes of the early 1850s account a number of public buildings were required. greatly speeded migration from Van Diemen's These included soldiers' barracks and convicts' Land, leaving a residue of the extremes of rich and quarters, and in 1827 work on the hospital was poor. The effects of this, plus loss of markets and begun, continuing over some years as further lack of economic opportunity, were obscured at first extensions were required. In 1832 when Governor by great demands from the goldfields for primary Arthur ordered all Government invalids to be. trans­ produce, but with some stabilization there after ferred there it became the Colony's military hos­ the initial rushes this demand sharply slackened pital, and yet more extensions were needed when and the full effects of the Colony's economic plight He few years later provision was made for mental were realized. Even when gold no longer attracted patients. immigrants the advantages of the developing The building boom of the late 1820s and early colonies on the Australian mainland were enough 1830s both public and private (many buildings of to keep Tasmania, as it was by now known, well a more modest nature were constructed on the in the background. The depression, deepest in the south side of High Street-~-see Fig. 1), testifies to first decade, cast a blight over the land for twenty the rapid development of the Derwent Valley in years until mineral discoveries, and agricultural general and New Norfolk in particular. The' Hobart pioneering in the north and north-west, at last Town Courier' of April 14, 1832, refers to 'that brought promise of a brighter future. thriving settlement', and the stage coaches (the first between towns in the Colony) which had Change in the New Norfolk region infused a 'vivifying spirit of circulating activity The depression was particularly marked in the throughout the district '. By this time too a regular south of the Colony, and New Norfolk's position steamer service was operating, invaluable to the as a leading district was well and truly lost, but settlers in the interior of the district in forwarding even so it fared better than other old agricultural produce to market with a certainty formerly un­ districts around Hobart Town. The pastoral know. districts further up the Derwent and along its The circumstances which so favoured the town tributary the Clyde remained throughout the lean in this period were not to continue for very long years a prime wool producing region, and closer to after. The bridging of the Derwent in the early New Norfolk agricultural pursuits of a different 1840s had little effect on the town's growth, indi- kind were soon to bring new life to the district. 58 NEW NOlU'OLK [N EVULUTION

Hopgrowing, which had been carried out on a tion increased by six per cent (see Table 1), and small scale in the Derwent region from the 1830s, the surrounding rural areas also increased their became a much more tenable occupation with the demands. Contrary to the prevailing situation in success of experiments by the enterprising Derwent Tasmanian country districts the population of family of Shoobridge, With this stinmlus hop acre­ localities around New Norfolk was on the increase. age i11creased markedly from 1364 along the river Prior to 1921 the only processing or manufactur­ flats and low terraces around and upstream from ing establishmcnts at New Norfolk were of a very New and further strides were made after l'udirrwntary nature, or very short lived. The only 18'10 when 's natural advantages in this Industrial activity which endured was sawmilling, fieJd were shown to the disadvantages of which was pursued rather intermittently and on a Victorian protective tariffs. these years orchard- smalJ However 1926 saw the establishment became a commercial proposition, pro­ of the Woodwal'e Company's peg factory, in the Derwent by the same landholders. the industry in the town with a market Original markets were in free-trading New South beyond its own area, and in the 19305 some other Wales, but with the introduction of refrigcratlOn small scale industries also began operations. in the 18308 export overseas also became possible. in communica,sj.ons, of in the New Norfolk region mechanical were making country effect on the development of the town industry more but only slowly. When the' Traveller , passed through in 1885 he was Post-·1920 as visitors the beauty expansion of the where' houses lay area continued, increased or less hidden and pleasant along the Glenora and Lachlan roads and was shrubberies'. But the main street he initiated on the Hobart road, on the very few buildings that could be called side the rivulet from the town. There was also considerable building on the eastern slopes 'bandsome 01' imposing': from the river it was not Inuch of a town. By end of the 19th of Peppermint HilI, and a few town houses were Century most was still contained within built on the northern bank of the river, In view the area laid out in aithough there of developments in the and with evidence was the. first suggestion of development of constructed in period, it is prob- the Glenora and Lachlan roads west and was an increase in the rate of popu­ in the 1930s. Unfortunately the of the town. is not known as there was no census The Lachl.an I'a,I'il; Asylum 19:J3 and and at this latter date influenced post-1940 From 1848 the one-time military was the the exclusively for mental patients, and for were yeHrs of Vt:HJlUlCn" when the entire As the island's population compared with the twenty-five increased so did demands on the hospital, and years, but at least them. new buildings were added in the late 1880s and early 1890s.· In the nelN more land was THE INIHJS'I'RIfllI, ERA for by 1921 accounted pel' cent of the Industry and popula,tion and about pel' cent The small-scale enterprises established at New \vorkforce. rrhus the NOI'folk in the 19308 were of a new little direct demand local business trend to industrial expansion in A few many of its own services and p1'o- industrial enterprises had terms of income it was a in the last years of vital factor in the prosperity the little town. 1930s YlOre were establishment of Country town IvIills on the Boyer Estate, near New an important factor in but earlier than this not the economic life of the town had received some­ thjng of flllip little reflected in physieal expansion. From 1868 to 1890 there was some lIlcrease m retailing and other serviee functions but little m th2 forest thE town to aceount for this. The stimulus eame At both centres the fl:om the immediate where horticultural in fact demanded, new v"""'''"Ub the seene and reviving influx of newcomers was marked in and farms around New relation to demand on the Lawn; the for skmed not nearest most basic services were be met. In the early years of its existence most Macq narie (Gretna) and twel ve the administrative, technieai and office staff was miles away. These, and the more valley recruited from areas New Norfolk and its settlements, probably also relied on New Norfolk country The need for this for their less frequent demands. over the years, yet as late as 1965 Directories of the time indieate inel'eases in half the Boyer workforce had lived in the . outlets in the new century, partIcularly prior to assoeiation with ANM. At this time From 1921 to 19:33 the town's popula- per cent were drawn from other TasmHnian HJDITH J. urNF; 59 towns and cities, and collectively the other Aus­ private development along traditional lines, and tralian States and countries overseas provided that already mentioned at Lachlan Park, but this only six per cent. constitutes only a minor part of the whole. Industrial development at Boyer has been carried Australian Newsprint Mills has been the largest out in three . that of initial construction contributor, home-building booms accompanying 0938-1940, involving construction of tlJe periods of increased industrial activity. By 1965 second paper machine <1947-1951), and the current the company had built 345 houses, nearly all on construction programme, providing a third paper its large SUbdivision on the northern side of the begun in April 1966 and with completion river, and the current expansion prog-ramme has by ,January 1969. Each phase has brought involved the construction of 130 homes on a new an increase in town population, new housing- con­ estate adjacent to this. Housing Department struction, and increased commercial and service development has also rceently taken place in New activities. In turn these latter have also provided Norfolk North. Government housing' in New Nor­ opportunities for employment, drawing more people folk dales back to the early 19508 when the Agri­ from surrounding- country areas. cultural Bank built 90 structures neal' KenSington Town population since 1921 has increased as Park. Since then the Department has follows:-- added about 150 homes, near fir:;t at TABLE 1 Tynwald, and mo:;t recently at Pig. 2). I (;ir,) Commercial and service functions 1921 1464 19;{;l 1555 6.4 0.5 Residential expansion in the town since the 1947 2275 46.3 2.8 coming of ANM is plain to see, but far Jess evident 1954 3989 75.3 3.3 is the increase in commerce. High Street, in the 19!H 4632 17.4 2.3 old town, does have quite a range of shops, yet 1966 4868 4.0 0.6 commerce is underdeveloped for a town of this oj: Town population excludes mental hospital patients. size. A prime reason for this is the proximity of Hobart. Nevertheless there has of course been Notable is the low rate of increase in the 1961- a considerable increase in business in the last 1966 intercensal period. The census was taken twenty-five years. Increase in retailing and other before the current expansion programme really services has been closely associated with increases got under way; in the first twelve months follow­ in population. The greatest rate of town popula­ ing the last census, town populaLion (induding tion growth was in the 1947-1954 period, and in the asylum) increased from 57'75 to an estimated these years there was also an increase in the rate 6308 (an increase of nine per cent). of functional expansion, though this was g-reater [,a chI an Park expansion in the years immediately following. Decline in Another fador in population growth has been the rate of population growth from 1954 to 1961. the increased employment at Lachlan Park of and more so in the next intercensal period, has nursing staff and other workers. Since 1954 (the its parallel in a decreased rate of functional earliest year for which relevant reeords are avail­ growth from about 1960. able) total employment here has increased by Expansion in retailing involved the opening of thirty per cent.. In contrast with the industrial a number of new shops, for household goods and workforee most employees are native to New clothing particularly. A feature was the estab­ Norfolk or its immediate region. This increase in lishment of a number of branch stores by several employment has been associated with considerable large City businesses. By the mid-1950s the building activity, new land having- been aequired growth in population was such that increases in for expansion. The early hospital buildings, some both educational and hospital facilities were neces­ over one hundred years old and most dating from sary. The Norfolk North Primary School and last. century, have long been outmoded and in­ the new District High School were both built in adequate, and nearly all have now been demolished 1957, and a new hospital was built in the follow­ and replaced by modern, efficient structures. Also ing year to replace the fifty-year-old Cottage many new homes have been constructed for Hospital. The type and number of retailing out­ employees near the new hospital building-s, an lets have changed little in recent years, and hos­ effort to attract more staff, nursing staff especially. pital facilities too appear to be adequate, although Hesidential development steep population increases in the next few years Most of the residences in New Norfolk today may alter the situation. Education facilities have are of relatively recent construction, more than been rather more heavily taxed, and as a result half having been erected since 1940 to accom­ the High School is currently being enlarged and modate the increase in population. 'The nature the Norfolk North primary school is to have new of tIlis recent development is markedly ditIerent classrooms added. from that which preceded it, Previously homes By 1965 the outlook for the town was not par­ had been built piecemeal, here and there, by ticularly bright. Job opportunities were declining private individuals, first filling- in the old town just as large numbers of young people were ready areas and then creeping along- the main roads to enter the workforce.. and there seemed no and up the hill slopes. In contrast post-1940 con­ option for them but to commute to the city or struction has been dominantly through tl1e leave home. However, developments since then development of housing estates, financed by indus­ have considerably changed the picture for the try and government There has also been some beUer. 60 NEW NORFOLK IN EVOLUTiON

R I V E R 1----- L __ _ -l I

NEW NORFOLK

1833

1S CHAINS

------~ JUDITH J. IIIN:P; 61

-

PEPPERMiNT HILL

NEW NORFOLK 1967

_ PRE-19L.O CONSTr:lUCTIO·~

POST ~ 191.0 CONSTRU:::TIOf~

Cf-IAI NS

~ 20 ---'------' • 62 NEW NORFOLK IN EVOLllTlON

CONCLUSION else. There is a reserve of female labour, but with. Npw Norfolk today functions mainly a.s an indus­ the outskirts of Hobart only twelve miles away trial, i.l1stHutional, and regional centre. This last factories in or nearer the metropolitan role it has held from the very beginning. By eould draw on much of this and also Macquarle's decree the town was created' for the of better transport links, with District of New Norfolk', and this it has served the main north-south highway, and by this it has been at least in part main­ a labour :;hed, and greater proximity to tained for over 150 years. The prosperity of the relaLed businesses and industries, Beyond the relationship has been determined by the prosperity bounds of ANM then. New Norfolk's of agriculture in the valley; first in wheat and future role appears be of ·an outer suburb potafo then in the establishment of hop- of metropolitan Hobart. fields and and later, of the small fruits indusLry as well. the central place function ACKNOWL~;DGMEN1'S has never been the town's sole reason for being, The assistance of Mr R. ,T, Solomon, of the although it was the chief one for much of Jast Department at the University of Tas­ century. In the early days when settlements gratefully acknowkdged. 'I'hanks are were sparse and communications limited the town to the staff of the Archives at the State was an important administrative centre, and reI "ted of Tasmania, the Town and Country to this was the establishment there of the military Commission, and the Lands and Surveys midcentury this had assumed its role Department, for access to records and plans. mental institution, and expansions Further information was provided by the Aus­ a::;soeiated with this, in the past and in more recent tralIan Newsprint Mills Limited and by various year", ensured its operation as a dominant town institutions and individuals in New Norfolk, whose function today. eo-operation has been very much appreciated, Increased mechanisation early in the present century increased New Norfolk's accessibility and REFERENCES thus fostered the development in the town of small industries utilising the products of the region. Improved transport and communications also opened the way to the use of Hobart as well as or even rather than New Norfolk as a centre for the Derwent region. Smailes has said' Towns no longer to the countryside as they once did " and this is of New Norfolk since the intro- duction and development there of the newsprint; industry. The town is still in the countryside, and, largely independent of other urban centres, it may still be caned a country town, but its interests and associations are with the town itself. Growing industrialisation and Hobart com­ petition together are working to reduce the town's role as a regional centre--relative to other town fUIlctions, if not yet absolutely. The importance of the mental institution to the town also is declin­ ing in relation to industry, although otherwise it is not likely to change very much, independent as i.t is of the region and of economic interests. The industrial role therefore is dominant and on the increase, yet it should nevertheless be recognised that this is limited. The Town and Country Plan­ ning Commission Report of 1957 states- , New Norfolk has certain advantages in industrial location: there is ample water and there are good communications and excellent factory sites. However one should be guarded against unfounded optimism: the desire by prospective indus­ trialist;s to locate their factories as close as possible to large centres is still very powerful ' Developments of the last ten years notwith­ standing, this still holds true. The New Norfolk site happens to suit the peculiarities of the news­ print industry but has little to attract anything