THE first European settlers on the east coast of Tasmania were the Meredith and Amos families.
Lieutenant George Meredith had sold Rhyndaston, his estate of 12 years near Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, Wales, to pay for his new life in what was then known as Van Diemen's Land.
Suffering the economic hardship which pervaded rural communities in Britain at that time, his interest in emigrating had been sparked by the Government which was promoting among the agricultural communities promises of land grants and a more prosperous future in the colonies.
Two Amos families, who had been tenants on the Welsh estate, joined Meredith, his wife and six children on the voyage.
Their 400-ton ship, the Emerald - the first vessel to be chartered privately for the island - arrived in Hobart in March 1821.
Meredith had taken merino rams and ewes, probably the first in Tasmania.
There was little sympathy shown for the people already living off the land.
Meredith's own disregard was expressed in a letter he wrote to his brother in Birmingham, England, before journeying up the east coast with the Amos brothers to choose their land.
He wrote: "There are many of the natives at present along that coast but they will necessarily give way as we establish and extend ourselves.
"They are the most wretched of all aborigines I have yet seen or heard of. Cowardly but treacherous, I understand, and several persons have been violently speared by them for want of due precaution.
"I shall, however, have four free persons with me and, though an excursion of from nine days to a fortnight among them and their wiles may not be altogether a pleasurable one, I look to it as safe and advantageous.
"When I return I will speak of the country of which at present I know nothing but by report."
The party travelled up the coast and plumped for a spot which overlooked the ocean at Great Oyster Bay.
It had already been named Great Swanport, probably by Hobart merchants who had returned from the area with an abundance of swans down for which there was a great demand in the manufacture of mattresses, pillows and cushions.
Meredith built his first house, a split log cabin called Creek Hut on the principal property of the 2,000 acres he bought from the government.
With a real risk of fire in the dry landscape he built a permanent stone house, calling it Cambria.
The property initially caused a great deal of bickering as William Talbot, of Malahide, Ireland, arrived and selected land which had already been marked out for Meredith.
Talbot may well have been an older relative of Robert Francis Talbot, born in Malahide in 1844, who went on to name Swansea, New South Wales. In one letter Meredith wrote asking Talbot and his servants to leave the land, and warned him that he held him accountable for any loss, damage or expenses incurred by his trespassing.
Talbot was eventually given a large grant of land at Fingal, which he named Malahide, after his family estate in Ireland. It went on to become the biggest sheep estate in Tasmania.
In the end Meredith's estate covered about 50,000 acres.
By the end of 1823 the settlement consisted of 38 free people and 31 convicts. More pioneers arrived in Tasmania and, in 1827, with an ever expanding population and the indigenous Australians understandably angered over the new use of their land, the island was divided into police districts.
In the same year a military station was established at Great Swanport to house the soldiers who guarded the convicts used in the building of roads and bridges.
Captain George Hibbert, of the 40th Foot Regiment, was put in charge of the station. Having served at the Battle of Waterloo, he chose the name Waterloo Point for the settlement.
In 1842 an official survey of the town was carried out. It was then that George Meredith suggested that the town be called Swansea, instead of Waterloo Point. He also suggested the name Glamorgan to replace Great Swanport. The changes took place in 1850. Meredith died six years later, the year the island was given responsible government, and when the colony's named changed from Van Diemen's Land to Tasmania. He left an estate of 11,000 acres.
When the Rural Municipalities Bill was passed on the island, allowing any town, electoral, police or post district to be constituted as a rural municipality on application to the governor-in-council, the people of Swansea were the first to apply.
In January 1860 the Rural Municipality of Glamorgan was constituted.
The remote township lost its isolation 21 years later when it was linked to Hobart by the electric telegraph.
Swansea was the administrative centre for the Municipality of Glamorgan up until April 1993 when it merged with Spring Bay (Australia's second oldest rural municipality, being constituted eight months after Glamorgan).
The municipality is now called Glamorgan/Spring Bay and administration has transferred to Triabunna.
Swansea, together with Coles Bay and Freycinet Peninsula which lie on the opposite side of Oyster Bay, form the main tourist resort for Tasmania's central east coast. The area boasts mountains, rocky coastline, sheltered beaches, surf, boating and fishing. Farms produce mainly wool, but there are some crops and beef cattle.
Surrounding forest areas supply timber for the sawmill and the woodchip plant at Triabunna.
This article originally appeared in Planet Swansea which was published by the South Wales Evening Post.
Lieutenant George Meredith had sold Rhyndaston, his estate of 12 years near Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, Wales, to pay for his new life in what was then known as Van Diemen's Land.
Suffering the economic hardship which pervaded rural communities in Britain at that time, his interest in emigrating had been sparked by the Government which was promoting among the agricultural communities promises of land grants and a more prosperous future in the colonies.
Two Amos families, who had been tenants on the Welsh estate, joined Meredith, his wife and six children on the voyage.
Their 400-ton ship, the Emerald - the first vessel to be chartered privately for the island - arrived in Hobart in March 1821.
Meredith had taken merino rams and ewes, probably the first in Tasmania.
There was little sympathy shown for the people already living off the land.
Meredith's own disregard was expressed in a letter he wrote to his brother in Birmingham, England, before journeying up the east coast with the Amos brothers to choose their land.
He wrote: "There are many of the natives at present along that coast but they will necessarily give way as we establish and extend ourselves.
"They are the most wretched of all aborigines I have yet seen or heard of. Cowardly but treacherous, I understand, and several persons have been violently speared by them for want of due precaution.
"I shall, however, have four free persons with me and, though an excursion of from nine days to a fortnight among them and their wiles may not be altogether a pleasurable one, I look to it as safe and advantageous.
"When I return I will speak of the country of which at present I know nothing but by report."
The party travelled up the coast and plumped for a spot which overlooked the ocean at Great Oyster Bay.
It had already been named Great Swanport, probably by Hobart merchants who had returned from the area with an abundance of swans down for which there was a great demand in the manufacture of mattresses, pillows and cushions.
Meredith built his first house, a split log cabin called Creek Hut on the principal property of the 2,000 acres he bought from the government.
With a real risk of fire in the dry landscape he built a permanent stone house, calling it Cambria.
The property initially caused a great deal of bickering as William Talbot, of Malahide, Ireland, arrived and selected land which had already been marked out for Meredith.
Talbot may well have been an older relative of Robert Francis Talbot, born in Malahide in 1844, who went on to name Swansea, New South Wales. In one letter Meredith wrote asking Talbot and his servants to leave the land, and warned him that he held him accountable for any loss, damage or expenses incurred by his trespassing.
Talbot was eventually given a large grant of land at Fingal, which he named Malahide, after his family estate in Ireland. It went on to become the biggest sheep estate in Tasmania.
In the end Meredith's estate covered about 50,000 acres.
By the end of 1823 the settlement consisted of 38 free people and 31 convicts. More pioneers arrived in Tasmania and, in 1827, with an ever expanding population and the indigenous Australians understandably angered over the new use of their land, the island was divided into police districts.
In the same year a military station was established at Great Swanport to house the soldiers who guarded the convicts used in the building of roads and bridges.
Captain George Hibbert, of the 40th Foot Regiment, was put in charge of the station. Having served at the Battle of Waterloo, he chose the name Waterloo Point for the settlement.
In 1842 an official survey of the town was carried out. It was then that George Meredith suggested that the town be called Swansea, instead of Waterloo Point. He also suggested the name Glamorgan to replace Great Swanport. The changes took place in 1850. Meredith died six years later, the year the island was given responsible government, and when the colony's named changed from Van Diemen's Land to Tasmania. He left an estate of 11,000 acres.
When the Rural Municipalities Bill was passed on the island, allowing any town, electoral, police or post district to be constituted as a rural municipality on application to the governor-in-council, the people of Swansea were the first to apply.
In January 1860 the Rural Municipality of Glamorgan was constituted.
The remote township lost its isolation 21 years later when it was linked to Hobart by the electric telegraph.
Swansea was the administrative centre for the Municipality of Glamorgan up until April 1993 when it merged with Spring Bay (Australia's second oldest rural municipality, being constituted eight months after Glamorgan).
The municipality is now called Glamorgan/Spring Bay and administration has transferred to Triabunna.
Swansea, together with Coles Bay and Freycinet Peninsula which lie on the opposite side of Oyster Bay, form the main tourist resort for Tasmania's central east coast. The area boasts mountains, rocky coastline, sheltered beaches, surf, boating and fishing. Farms produce mainly wool, but there are some crops and beef cattle.
Surrounding forest areas supply timber for the sawmill and the woodchip plant at Triabunna.
This article originally appeared in Planet Swansea which was published by the South Wales Evening Post.
A postcard from Swansea and, below, Swansea School around 1912.
