MORE HISTORY - ROSS - PART 3 (COTTAGES, THE FEMALE FACTORY AND THE GREAT DIVIDE) (26 - 28 FEBRUARY 2018)

What an absolutely delightful little town this is. I have been a fan of the words of 'Aussie Towns' for some time now, and as I said in my last, in relation to Ross they have nailed it yet again. 

As you have seen, Church Street just brims with history and charm under the spreading branches of its wonderful elms. It is a real credit to those who have had the foresight and wherewith all to recognise the value of restoring and maintaining their heritage and retaining their history in this charming example of a 19th Century colonial village, recognised widely as Australia's finest.

But like so many of its counterparts here in Tasmania, the town of Ross has an historical dark side, this time in the form of its 'Female Factory'. I set out to see what was left of it, and en route came across even more lovely old stone cottages dotted throughout the back streets, one of which has connections with an Irish rebel of real note.

And then, of course, there is the 'great divide', for me one of the most fascinating aspects of early life in Tassie (and it continues to this day!).....more of that shortly.

I had set out to visit the Female Factory site, and in doing so took the long way round through a few of the back streets of Ross where I found an assortment of some of the old building which make this town what it is.

This cottage has no particular significance of which I am aware (except I'm sure to its owners!), but is just so typical of many one finds in the back street of Ross. Most, like this one, have been added to. I suspect in this case the bull nose verandah is far from original.









Many have obviously had new roofs, and several, like 'Cupid's Nest' pictured here, are now used as upmarket B&B's.











Whilst stone predominates throughout this town as the building material of choice, old wooden cottages can be found dotted here and there. Why the variation?  I have no idea!

'Forget-Me-Not' cottage, 













complete with its picturesque sign swinging in the breeze, was once used as the overnight stop-over for the men who plied the reins and long whips of the passenger coaches making the run between Hobart and Launceston. The old stables in which their trusty steeds also took a well earned breather  can still be found at the rear. 

The oddly named 'Lone Pine' has obviously been the recipient of several additions, including the rather incongruous front portico and dormer windows. I say 'oddly named', because the only single tree of note in the yard is actually a palm! 












'Dray House' was once something slightly more than a 'cottage', judging by its size, but even with the additions, the rear roof line remains typical of the design of the time. 






This building was originally another of the town's coach staging posts and comes complete with the old stables and a marvellous orchard. It recently sold for  mere $375,000. Apart from rocketing real estate prices in Hobart, some delightful homes can still be found in Tassie at remarkably modest prices. 

And here is another Ross back street scene which is utterly typical and needs no further comment.












By now I had made my way to Bond Street, which parallels Church Street, and here I made two finds.

Compared with much of what can be seen in Ross, this old wooden cottage would not normally rate very highly, and from an architectural point of view, that would be justified.






But this rather run down little home has a real historical significance. It was once home to Thomas Meagher. I'll let the most excellent text of the website of  'Visit Ross' take up the story.

"[Meagher]......was one of the group known as the Young Irelanders. He was transported to Van Diemens Land after taking part in a failed uprising (1849) to overthrow British rule in Ireland. He, along with several of his comrades was convicted of treason and sentenced to death. Political pressure resulted in the sentences being commuted to transportation for life. 

These were gentlemen prisoners from relatively privileged backgrounds and once in Van Diemens Land were offered special paroles provided they lived in separate districts, did not meet and promised not to escape. 

Meagher was first sent to Campbell Town but requested permission to move to Ross where he lived with ‘a maid of all work and a legion of flies’ and that the town has ‘30 to 40 houses and a military barracks before the door of which soldiers yawn and smoke all day’. [an interesting commentary!]

While in Ross he rode and hunted with fellow-countryman Dr McNamara. He was also an admired orator and speech-writer, and assisted Mr Kermode of Mona Vale with his election address. He also kept a boat on Lake Sorell and built a house there. [not bad for a bloke who had been sentenced to death for treason].

While in Ross he married Catherine Bennett, who was governess for Dr and Mrs Hall and whom he rescued when her buggy overturned just south of Ross. 

In 1852 Meagher escaped to America where he became leader of the Irish Brigade, a regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War. After serving for over a year as Acting Governor of Montana, U.S.A., he drowned in 1867 in a boating accident on the Missouri River." 

Dare one suggest that Maker's fate was almost fitting given that he had been spared the gallows and led a life of relative comfort in Van Diemen's Land on the condition he promised not to escape!






Not far from Meagher's cottage the white walls of this modest little building once enclosed the bar and ale taps of Hope's Hotel.....this was apparently the 'colourful' Irishman's home away from home!








Before I leave the subject of Ross backstreet houses, I just had to include one with absolutely no age or historical significance whatsoever, but like so many of its more venerable counterparts, it did come with a name.









What more needs to be said!














I continued to tramp east along Bond Street










until I reached the point where it joined Tooms Lake Road. From here I could see the grave stones of the Ross pioneer cemetery crowded together on the gentle slopes of the hill to the north behind its old stone boundary wall.


I later learnt that this was used for the dead of both the Roman Catholic and Anglican faiths, something I found quite astounding given the intense religious differences which existed at the time. Clearly the founding fathers of Ross were nothing if not pragmatic!





By now I had almost reached my original destination, and I have to comment that my arrival at the Female Factory site could best be described as anticlimactic....there is virtually nothing left of the old buildings which once covered this landscape,










apart from this section of block stone wall









and the building which was originally the home of the assistant superintendent.









Despite being known as the Female Factory, this facility was originally used to house the convicts working to build the Ross Bridge and the Hobart to Launceston Road, and there was nary a woman in sight in this group.

This situation changed in 1848, and from then until 1854 this site was home to female convicts....and their babies! Here they spent their time carding and spinning wool into yarn, sewing and knitting. It also acted as a hiring depot from which many of the women were sent out to work as domestic servants on surrounding farm properties.

As well as this somewhat 'gentile' aspect to life here, there was a grim side to the Female Factory. Recalcitrant female convicts would find themselves engaged in heavy labour or in solitary confinement, but in true colonial Tasmanian fashion, there was also an on-site chapel to assist with the reformation of the inmates. In many case I suspect the phrase 'good luck with that' would have been apt!

So despite all the hype about this historical spot, it really only served as the Female Factory for a brief six years, and as I noted somewhat huffily, there is precious little to now be seen.






From here I wandered on past the site along what is know as the 'heritage walkway'

which shortly brought me to an old flagstone stairway 












and an ascent past more remnant stone walls

to the head of Church Street. And it was here I came across yet another utterly fascinating (well, for my at least) aspect of the early history of colonial Tasmania and the realisation that on this island not much had really changed over the centuries.








'The boundary that never was'......? My curiosity was instantly aroused, and what an incredible story these very well presented plaques told.







I shall attempt to be brief in my synopsis (although that may be a tall order). In essence Tassie is a tale of two colonies and remnants of this original great divide remain to this day.

In a nutshell this is a tale about three men....a foolish colonial New South Wales Governor, and two soldiers, an arrogant Scot and a somewhat unfortunate Brit.

Phillip Gidley King, a Naval Officer, held the position of Governor of New South Wales from 1800 to 1806. As such he was in charge of all that was happening in the various settlements throughout what we now know as Australia. He did much to improve conditions throughout in the face of considerable difficulties, but he did make one 'interesting' decision which has had far reaching social consequences in Tasmania.








In October 1803, King dispatched Colonel David Collins to establish a new colony south of NSW at Port Phillip Bay. Collins did his best, but soon reported back to King that the location was unsuitable.

In response to the perceived threat from the French, who had been prowling around Van Diemen's Land, King then whizzed Collins off to the southern part of the island and in February 1804 the settlement of Sullivan's Cove (later Hobart as you already know from my previous offerings) was established. So far so good.









But then King had the bright idea of establishing another colony on the island, this time in the north, so enter Colonel William Paterson, a fiery Scot. As you have also read previously, Paterson landed at George Town in October 1804 and shortly thereafter moved on to settle Launceston.  Again, so far so good, but then the rot set in.










The problem arose from the fact that Paterson outranked Collins who claimed control of the entire island, including the newly established settlement in the north. Paterson was having none of this, and complained bitterly to King, who, in what has to be considered as one of the most extraordinary acts of management abdication, divided the island into two separate colonies, that of Cornwall in the north and Buckinghamshire in the south. The dividing line he chose was the 42 degrees south line of latitude, and this runs directly through the centre of  the yet to be established township of Ross.



  
This almost 'Gilbert and Sullivan' situation continued from 1804 until 1808 when Paterson was reassigned back to New South Wales, and finally, in 1813, some political and practical sanity returned to the situation when the island was united as a single colony and the seat of government was established in Hobart. 

Today this situation seems barely credible, but the rivalries, power struggles and enmities of those who founded Australia have to be read to be believed.

And in good old Tassie, the 42nd parallel continues to divide the population. Argument still rages as to the more popular and widely read newspaper, The Mercury in the south vs The Examiner in the north. The subject of Aussie Rules football can spark fiery debate.







The battle of the beers is legendary. It has even become the subject of this cartoon.










In 1959 the mayors of Launceston and Hobart even met and symbolically 'buried the hatchet', but would you believe, in 2012 the then mayors dug them up, dressed in full pirate regalia! (thanks to 'The Mercury' for the photo) What ever next!



On a more scholarly note, the University of Tasmania's 'Companion to Tasmanian History' notes that:

"Practically every major decision about the development and government of Tasmania has been affected by the problem of north-south rivalry. The cost of such controversy, in both practical and psychological terms, is considerable. It is also a problem in dealing with government and corporate bodies in other states and at the national level. The primary cause of the rivalry between the North and the South is the difficulty of providing accessible and equitable levels of government services to all sections of the population."

For those who have never visited Tasmania, this sounds completely improbable, but I can attest to the fact that we had by now become acutely aware of this division, and had a much better understanding of its root causes. To think it all began with the intractable arrogance of one man, the inability to deal with this by another, and a ridiculous decision by a third. 

'The Great Tasmanian Divide' ........what a story!

In my next we sortie out well beyond wonderful Ross to visit the high country, call into one of Tasmania's truly odd towns, grab a gander at the Great Lake and absorb some more Tasmanian history.

A ROSS RAMBLE - ROSS - PART 2 (THE TOWN) (26 -28 FEBRUARY 2018)

Yes, we are still alive and kicking and currently travelling around Yorke Peninsula in South Australia with Victorian friends. What with frequent moves between towns, some serious fishing to be done and so on, our Tassie travels have been on the back burner for a week or so (but you knew that already!).

Let's return to 2018 and the charming and historic town of Ross, and as an introduction to our quick town tour I can do not better than the words from 'Aussie Towns':

"There are many beautiful, historic towns in Tasmania but few compare with Ross. It is arguably the most beautiful of all the island's 19th century colonial towns. 

Places like Campbell Town and Richmond are justifiably famous for their historic buildings, gift shops and attractive vistas but they do not compare to Ross which, apart from having one of Australia's most impressive bridges, has a special quality because it has not been overrun by tourism. 

In many ways the town is very typically English and, with its warm Ross sandstone, is reminiscent of the towns which can be seen in the Cotswolds or in north Oxfordshire. It is a town which is beautifully preserved and as such needs to be savoured in a leisurely way. Its quiet ambiance is truly timeless."

Having now seen all three of the mentioned towns my reaction can only be, "hear, hear"! The one small quibble I would have with this wonderful description relates to tourism. On the day of our first visit the town was absolutely crawling, but then again that was during the height of the Xmas holiday season, and was to be expected.

Now, in late February, Ross had reverted to its usual pace and this was truly welcomed. 

The location of Ross was chosen by Governor Lachlan Macquarie on his second journey through the island in 1821 (he had been before in 1811). He liked the location beside the river and he decided that the new settlement should be called Ross after the name of the home of his friend H.M. Buchanan who lived on Loch Lomond in Scotland.

There are over forty buildings of historical significance in this small town including its famous bridge, and once again I've had to be selective lest I bore you all to death. 





Let me begin our town tour along the banks of the Macquarie River, where a small opening from our caravan park allowed us access to the quaintly named 'Lovers' Lane' (complete with sign),











a narrow path which meanders along the northern bank of the river near the bridge. We were not the only visitor to enjoy this riparian ramble...'The Black Panther' could not get enough of it.















The 'lovers' theme  was maintained in the form of this odd back to back twin seat metal chair, but the real highlight of a stroll along this pathway 












was the view of the famous Ross bridge it offers.











This convict built bridge, completed in 1836, is the third oldest in Australia, pre-dated only by its better known counterpart at Richmond and the Lennox Bridge at Glenbrook, NSW. At this time Ross stood on the main road between Hobart and Launceston, and a good river crossing was critical (the highway now by-passes Ross as we know).

This beautiful bridge was designed by that doyen of early Tasmanian colonial architecture, John Lee Archer. The stone masonry and carvings, described by experts as "possibly the richest achievement of the earlier colonial period if not the most significant sculpture on any edifice in the Commonwealth" were the work of Daniel Herbert and James Colbeck. 

Herbert had been sentenced to death for the crime of highway robbery, but fortunately for us his skills were not lost when this was commuted to transportation for life and he arrived in Hobart Town in 1827. By 1835 he had risen to the position of overseer of stonemasons, and engaged in the construction of the Ross bridge.

As the plaque on the bridge notes, the efforts of Herbert and Colbeck certainly resulted in a significant improvement in their respective lots!

Curved stairways lead down to the banks on both ends of the bridge,














seen here from an upstream position.











Notwithstanding its inherent grace and beauty, the outstanding and unique feature of this river crossing are its 186 keystones (or voussoirs) carved by Herbert (or completed under his supervision). 



These intricate carvings decorate each of the three span arches. They are difficult to see from the banks, but thanks again to 'Aussie Towns' for this close-up photograph, you can see that the detail is remarkable. 

No-one seems quite sure what all these represent, but it has been suggested that many of the carved heads are in fact stone portraits of Herbert, his wife, another famous local rogue, Jorgen Jorgenson (of Highfield House fame), colonial officials and local personalities.

Whatever their source of inspiration, the renowned scholar and Egyptologist Leslie Greener wrote of them "Ross Bridge is the most beautiful of its kind today. The carvings have in them that delight in the shapes themselves that our sculptors lost somewhere in the 13th century." It is a shame that they cannot be more readily seen.





Let me leave the subject of the Ross bridge with an obligatory 'reflection' photo as we make our way 














back along the roadway of Bridge Street (what a surprise that name is), 












past the remains of the old Ross stables (with the spire of the church in the background),














the stone wall of the caravan park and the interesting stone pillar and chain roadside 'fence', on towards the central street of Ross, Church Street.






Church Street, again most aptly named as you will soon see, is lined with building after building of interest and historical significance. It can be almost too much. Before we begin our jaunt, a touch of Google Earth perspective may be useful.

The two red arrows show our caravan site and the bridge and the row of trees which cover Lovers' Lane. The blue arrow points to the most prominent of the Ross churches (and that which we are about to visit), 

the yellow to the site of the Ross female factory whilst the white shows the position of the Man O' Ross hotel. Nothing in Ross is far from anything else!

This pretty little street map produced by the Ross Visitor Centre provides another overview of many of the buildings of significance in this utterly delightful town. We are about to begin with the church at the far right,

the magnificent Uniting Church which overlooks the town from the rise at the eastern end of Church Street. Built of stone quarried from nearby Beaufront, this impressive house of worship opened its doors in 1885. As we have already seen, its spire forms the backdrop of many views of Ross.

The divided roadway of upper Church Street took us down from the Uniting Church

past one of the few wooden buildings of significance in this predominately 'stone' town.

Even its explanatory wall plaque was of wood.

Stone walls again feature in the buildings next to the Drill Hall, the Tasmanian Wool Centre and next to that, the original home of the Headquarters of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps.

Beyond this we came to the major town intersection, where Church and Bridge Streets cross. Here we found the local War Memorial where even the old field gun has a history. This cannon was actually used during the Boer War and is one of only two remaining in the country. What is even more surprising is the fact that no-one is quite sure how it came to be here in Ross!

The building behind the memorial is the Ross Town Hall

whilst that on the other side, now a private home, was originally the town gaol (with the old police station just to its right in this shot).

The western corners of this large intersection are home to the Man O' Ross Hotel, the town's only remaining functioning waterhole

and by way of complete contrast opposite, the second of the impressive Ross churches, that of the  Catholic faith.

Both have an interesting history. The pub, circa 1835 (with the verandah and gable ends added in the early 20th Century) was very well patronised in the early days (as is the case today), although as we shall soon see it did have some competition. 

The grand hotel building is complemented by lovely gardens in which we found 

a couple of old carved milestones

  

showing distances between Hobart and Launceston. Oddly, the Roman numeral carvings were never completed, nor were the stones formally set in place. The reason for this has been lost in the mists of time.

Let me divert from history for a second and take a quick look inside. The interior of this pub was just what we had expected...all grand and 'Scottish'. We visited more than once and for some reason or other I did not take the camera, so Liz did the honours with her phone (with the somewhat blurry result). 

Stone walls, rich timber and thick patterned carpets were featured throughout (as did your scribe...glass in hand!).

The dark furnishing of the spacious dining room and the rich pattern of the carpet provided just the right atmosphere on the last night of our visit,

when we scurried down to the hotel from the caravan park as storm clouds gathered threateningly over the old gaol building. We just made it before the heavens opened and dined to the accompaniment of flashes of lightening and the rumble of thunder.

But back to our town tour. The Catholic Church building is a relative newcomer to the town. Believe it or not this building, which was the subject of a significant 'makeover' in 1920 to create the church, began life as a store, residence and bakery.

So, here on this intersection we have the hotel, the town hall, the gaol and a church, all of which have been brought together in this interesting commentary on early life in Ross!

Immediately behind the church this solid stone building once housed various groups of troops stationed here in Ross.

This well done sign lists all the British Army elements stationed here in the Ross Barracks during the era in which it was a garrison town. I was amazed to read just how many different Regiments were represented in what was such a relatively short period of only thirty years.















The beautifully restored and maintained buildings of Church Street lie shaded beneath a grand avenue of large trees, and as I mentioned earlier, these photos were taken during the peak holiday season. Vehicles lined the street from one end to the other

and the crowds were jostling everywhere, particularly at the different food outlets.









But we pressed on undeterred, past what is now the Ross convenience store housed in a small building which rose here in 1830 and began life as the local Post Office.  The much larger building immediately to the right of the store began its existence as the stables for one of the early coaching inns in Ross.



Now with whitewashed walls and used as a private residence, the original Scotch Thistle Inn, licensed in 1840, once bustled with travellers making the coach trip from Hobart to Launceston. With the bars, dining hall and bedrooms closed as trade diminished, this building was put to many subsequent uses, including as a store, school, hospital and restaurant. What stories these walls could tell!

With the original Post Office now a store, the good folk of Ross transact postal business in this charming 'modern' Post Office (c 1896!), where the cast iron columns supporting the roof overhang are an unique feature.

By now our jaunt along Church Street had brought us to the intersection with High Street, where I detoured for a short distance to snap three of the old stone cottages which can be found throughout the back streets of this remarkable town. 

Back on Church Street, the old Macquarie House and Store, from which railway gangs in the district during the 1870's and the troops gathering nearby during WW11 were supplied with goods and provisions, was built on land granted to one William Carter in 1846. That in itself is not particularly remarkable, but the fact that this building has been continuously occupied by six generations of his descendants did seem worth a mention!

The imposing 'block' of stone walls next door began life as yet another of Ross's coaching inns, the Sherwood Castle. It is now home to the historic wood fired ovens of the Ross Bakery,

where a poster at the front of the building explained just what went on inside.

This can be a very busy place, particularly during the peak tourist season.

Some may even be lucky enough to be invited to watch the artisan bakers at work. As a previous photo showed you, this place was heaving with humanity as we walked past....we continued on,

but not before we had spotted this odd sign. We were used to seeing Chinese characters dotted throughout commercial areas, but not Japanese. There had to be a story here, and there was. This very bakery has special significance to Japanese visitors who associate it with Hayao Miyazaki’s film ‘Kiki’s Delivery Service’. Who would have guessed!

The last of the really significant old buildings we found was the third town church. St John's Anglican Church, with its spire rising 50 feet in the air, welcomed worshippers for the first time in 1869. We were a little disappointed its doors were closed as we walked by. The organ inside this grand building is over 100 years old.

By now we understood why the street along which we had been roaming was named as it was and we were yet again struck by the significance formal religion played in the lives of the early settlers in Tasmania and the lengths to which they went to raise funds and build magnificent places of worship, even in small towns like Ross.

Before we leave this beautiful boulevard I must point out that not all the buildings which line it are of solid stone. The wooden walls of what is now the second main street bakery in Ross, Bakery 31 and Tasmanian Scallop Pie Company (of course....even in Ross!) was first the home of the  Standaloft family before being converted to a shop in 1880.

As could be expected in a town which relies so heavily on tourism, not all commercial enterprises designed to part visitors with their money were food based. 

The goods on offer in this very classy store were something special......and priced accordingly!

And then, there were proprietors with a real sense of humour. Full marks to this one!

Let me conclude our first town tour of Ross virtually where I began, with this wonderful photo of the bridge showing more of its extraordinary carvings, the towering spire of the Uniting Church, the roof of the RAOC HQ and the old town gaol building all captured in this 

photo courtesy of the truly magnificent 'Visit Ross' website. 

In my next from this wonderful town I shall take a wander around some of the back streets and bring you a snippet of Tassie history which just blew me away.