Clarence City Council (or City of Clarence) is a local government body in Tasmania, and one of the five municipalities that constitutes the Greater Hobart Area. The Clarence local government area has a population of 61,531, covering the eastern shore of the River Derwent from Otago to the South Arm Peninsula and the smaller localities of Cambridge, Richmond, and Seven Mile Beach.
The administrative centre and main commercial district of Clarence is Rosny Park, approximately 5 kilometres from the Hobart central business district. Bellerive Oval lies immediately to the south, and Hobart Airport is located further north-west along the Tasman Highway.
The area that now constitutes the City of Clarence was once part of the traditional land of the Moomairemener, a Tasmanian Aboriginal sub-group.The Aboriginal Tasmanians. By Lyndall Ryan. Sydney, NSW (1996) [2nd Ed.] In 1803, the island of Tasmania (then Van Diemen's Land) was colonised by United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, who subsequently established the settlement of Hobart.History of Tasmania. John West. Launceston, Tasmania (1854) [2 vols] (see: Vol. 1, pp.27) By the 1820s the settlement had spread to the 'Clarence Plains', but the area remained primarily agricultural until the mid to late 20th century, when it experienced a residential development boom. Since then Clarence has grown rapidly to become a self-sufficient city.The Eastern Shore - A History of Clarence. Published by the Clarence City Council. Clarence, Tasmania. (2003)
Etymology
The City of Clarence is named indirectly after King William IV. From 1789 until 1830, when he ascended the throne, he was titled His Royal Highness The Duke of Clarence and St Andrews. It was during this period that the British settlement of Hobart was founded in 1803.
Prior to the establishment of the British colony there, Captain John Hayes of the East India Company had sailed up the River Derwent, with the vessels Duke of Clarence and the Duchess of Bengal in 1793. Relieved at making landfall following an arduous crossing of the Indian Ocean, Hayes named the region around Rokeby as 'Clarence Plains', in honour of the vessel having delivered them safely to a sanctuary. The vessel in turn, had been initially named in honour of the then future King. Almost immediately following the exploration of the region following the settlement of Hobart in 1803, Hayes name of 'Clarence Plains' fell into common use.'The Eastern Shore - A History of Clarence' By Alison Alexander (2003)
For over half a century, this was the name of the entire eastern shore of the River Derwent south of the Meehan Range. When it was first incorporated as a municipality in 1860, the region became referred to as the 'Clarence Municipality'.26 Nov 1860 - CLARENCE MUNICIPALITY. Trove.nla.gov.au. Retrieved 2013-07-16. This was to remain the name of the region until 1988, when Clarence was officially declared a city, and the name changed to the 'City of Clarence'. It is not usual for Clarence residents to be referred to by a gentilic, and if so they are usually given the title Hobartians along with all other residents of Greater Hobart, however locally they are usually identified as being 'from the eastern shore'.
History
Pre-history It is believed the indigenous Aboriginal Tasmanians have lived in Tasmania for at least 35,000 years. Aboriginal middens can often be found along the coastline of the City of Clarence such as at Shag Bay, indicating that they hunted, and searched for seafood and shellfish in the region.The Encyclopedia of Aboriginal Australia. (ed.) David Horton. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press, 1994 [2 vols] (see: Vol. 2, pp.1008 -1010 [with map]; individual tribal entries; and the 'Further Reading' section on pp.1245 -1272).
Prior to the arrival of the British, there was nine distinctive 'nations' or 'tribes' within Tasmania. The eastern shore seems to have been home to the Moomairemener. It is not known if they were a separate nation, or a sub-group of the Oyster Bay Clan (Paredarerme) whose territory stretched from the Tasman Peninsular to St Patrick's Head, just south of the modern Tasmanian township of St Mary's.
For the Moomairemener the area along the eastern shore of the Derwent was known as 'Nannyelebata' (or naniyilipata). They valued the region for its rich variety of birds, animals, seafood, and vegetation.Clarence Plains Online Access Centre The Coal River Valley, Flagstaff Gully, Risdon Vale, Risdon Cove and the southern Meehan Range were all regions that were within the traditional spring and summer hunting-grounds of the Moomairemener people, bringing them into conflict with the British invaders within five months of the establishment of the camp at Risdon Cove. This initial conflict grew into the Black War, which devastated the population of the native Tasmanians.History of Tasmania. John West. Launceston, Tasmania (1854) [2 vols] (see: Vol. 1, pp.12) The descendants of the indigenous Tasmanians now refer to themselves collectively as 'Palawa'.
European settlement
Clarence was the site of the first European settlement in Tasmania (then Van Diemen's Land) in 1803 at Risdon Cove. At the time Napoleonic France and Great Britain were at war with each other. Fearing the arrival of French explorers who may have wished to make a rival claim to the island of Van Diemen's Land, the then Governor of New South Wales, Philip Gidley King dispatched a young 23-year-old Lieutenant by the name of John Bowen to establish a colony there. The first vessel of his party, arrived in the Derwent on Wednesday, 8 September 1803, and Bowen arrived five days later aboard Albion.
Bowen selected the inlet at Risdon Cove, as when he had arrived in Spring the nearby stream was in full-flow. However within months it had dried up, and his camp was in despair for want of water. The site at Risdon Cove was badly affect by inconsistent water supply, and stagnation of the inlet during the late summer.
King was insecure about Bowen's juniority and inexperience as a young commander, and when he was contacted by David Collins, who had been dispatched directly from England aboard with as a supply vessel, to establish a colony at Port Phillip, he redirected Collins' expedition to the Derwent.History of Tasmania. John West. Launceston, Tasmania (1854) [2 vols] (see: Vol. 1, pp.15)
Collin's party arrived on the River Derwent on 16 February 1804, and immediately became becalmed in Storm Bay. Collin's dispatched troops to row ashore off what is now Rokeby to march overland to the camp at Risdon and announce their arrival. The party found navigating the thick Australian bushland hard-going, but did gain useful intelligence as the nature of the area. In the end, they only arrived shortly before the ships were able to navigate up-river.
Upon his arrival, Collins discovered the camp in such a state of despair for want of water, it was threatened with collapse. He immediately set about his first task of relocating the colony to the mouth of the Hobart Rivulet on Sullivans Cove. From there, the city of Hobart grew.History of Tasmania. John West. Launceston, Tasmania (1854) [2 vols] (see: Vol. 1, pp.27-28)
The relocation of the colony did not end the desire to settle the eastern shore of the Derwent though. Within the first few years following the establishment of Hobart Town, difficulties in growing crops led to difficulties providing food. The initial intelligence from the soldiers that had marched overland from Rokeby to Risdon Vale, and subsequent explorations suggested the plains on the eastern shore of the Derwent were more suited to agriculture.Clark, J. "This Southern Outpost, Hobart 1846-1914" pp. 1
The successful establishment of crops on Clarence Plains was vital to the survival of Hobart Town. When new settlers arrived from Norfolk Island in 1808, some were granted land in the Derwent Valley, and others upon Clarence Plains. Very soon a mixture of mansions and fine houses, cottages, inns and churches began to be built in the area. However the population growth on the eastern shore was much slower than that of Hobart Town, despite the close proximity of the young town. By the 1810s, a ferryman was making regular crossings of the Derwent between Sullivans Cove, and 'Kangaroo Point', near where the ferry still arrives at Bellerive Quay. The point was so-called due to the large numbers of Kangaroos that would be seen grazing there in the first few decades after European arrival. By the late 1810s, farmers, timbermen, and pioneers had begun settling on the eastern shore of the River Derwent.
19th century
By the early 1820s a small village was growing around Kangaroo Point, that was soon to become Bellerive, making it the first site of permanent settlement in Clarence Plains. Bellerive was well fed by a freshwater stream that emptied into Kangaroo Bay, and it still exists running parallel to Rosny Park Public Golf Course as a storm water culvert.Bellerive Heritage, vol 1 (1993) by the Bellerive Historical Society
The next areas within Clarence Plains to be settled on the eastern shore of Hobart's River Derwent, were Rosny, and its neighbours Montagu Bay and Lindisfarne to the north. Private properties had been built in each of these localities by the late 1820s, commanding excellent views across the Derwent to Hobart Town and Mount Wellington. All three suburbs are named after the three fine houses established. Although private estates and farms began to spring up throughout the district, settlements were generally isolated, with Bellerive, Cambridge, Lindisfarne, and Richmond the only major settlements of note. In 1836, Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land, George Arthur divided the island into administrative counties, and Clarence Plains fell into Pembrokeshire. Despite this, the Clarence Plains region became a municipality in its own right in 1860. In 1862, Bellerive also became the administrative centre of the municipality, and the Eastern Police District, but for much of the late nineteenth century, Clarence Plains experienced little development, remaining primarily agricultural.
A review of colonial defences in the 1870s saw a complete overhaul of the coastal defences of Hobart, and a new fortress called Kangaroo Battery was constructed between 1880 and 1888 just to the south of Bellerive.Parks & Wildlife Service - History An industry that flourished throughout Clarence Plains was fruit growing, and by the 1880s several prosperous orchards were located within the region. A rare attempt at commercial opportunism was the short-lived Bellerive to Sorell Railway line (1892 until 1926) which had its terminus on a long jetty extending into the Bay on reclaimed land that now makes up part of the Bellerive Boardwalk. It was hoped that is could eventually be connected to the Tasmanian Main Line at Brighton, thus providing rail access to the south of Clarence Plains, Sorrell and the Tasman Peninsular, but engineering difficulties and economic problems led to its abandonment.
20th century
At the beginning of the twentieth century the eastern shore of the Derwent was still little more than isolated villages, and homesteads. This remained the situation for the next forty years, until on 22 December 1943, the floating pontoon style Hobart Bridge was opened. Despite soon developing a reputation of being treacherous to cross in stormy weather, and suffering delays caused by its lifting span opening to allow maritime traffic to pass, it created previously unprecedented access to the eastern shore. Almost immediately demand for residential property there increased. By 1947 the population of Clarence Plains had reached 5,000 for the first time.