Ross, an introduction
Mar. 2nd, 2008 07:11 pmRoss sits beside the Midlands Hwy, not quite halfway between Launceston and Hobart, and just south of the Line. At the time of the second settlement in the north, the island was divided into two: Cornwall in the north, Buckingham in the south. Folk history puts the line along the 42nd latitude, and Ross is at 42°01' S. Nowadays, the (unofficial) dividing line between north & south is at Oatlands, the next town down the road.
With a settlement at each end of the island, there was soon travel between north and south. From Highway in Van Diemen's Land, by Hawley Stancombe, "Wentworth wrote in 1819 of the track between Hobart and Launceston worn by carts and stock regularly passing between the two towns, but winding about so much that it was probably a hundred and sixty miles long. [Today it's closer to 124 miles] Major Thomas Bell of the 48th Regiment was therefore commissioned in 1821 to construct portions of the road from the capital to Port Dalrymple."
1821 is the same year, according to Parks & Wildlife, that Ross was a declared a town, although there'd been a garrison there from a few years earlier.
( Lots of words, and a few photos )
With a settlement at each end of the island, there was soon travel between north and south. From Highway in Van Diemen's Land, by Hawley Stancombe, "Wentworth wrote in 1819 of the track between Hobart and Launceston worn by carts and stock regularly passing between the two towns, but winding about so much that it was probably a hundred and sixty miles long. [Today it's closer to 124 miles] Major Thomas Bell of the 48th Regiment was therefore commissioned in 1821 to construct portions of the road from the capital to Port Dalrymple."
1821 is the same year, according to Parks & Wildlife, that Ross was a declared a town, although there'd been a garrison there from a few years earlier.
( Lots of words, and a few photos )
