Sandy Bay is one of the oldest settled areas in Tasmania. But before the white men arrived the land was roamed over by the Muwinina people. There was lots of food and shelter found on the land and in the river which bounded part of their area. There were lots of fresh water creeks as well as beaches along the shores of the Derwent River.
The early European explorers were Antoine Bruni d’Entrecasteaux, Nicolas Baudin and John Hayes. In 1808, just four years after the first settlement on the western shore of the Derwent River, many land grants were given to settlers who had been relocated from Norfolk Island. A lot of these settlers had been convicts and had earned their freedom on the island. Most grants were 20-100 acres and had frontage on the river. Easy for transporting goods from Hobart as the road was unpassable when wet and muddy.
In the 1840’s, some exiled Canadian political prisoners were set to road building from Hobart, through Sandy Bay and on to Brown’s River now called Kingston.
Some of the famous things found in Sandy Bay are:
- Wrest Point Casino – first legal casino in Australia
- Queenborough Cemetery – now built over by Hutchins School – their recent development has found more graves listed here
- Long Beach – the end of the original tram line from Hobart – Sandy Bay Regatta held here each year
- University of Tasmania – UTAS – including accommodation, oval, buildings for uni
How does Sandy Bay relate to my family?
My mother’s paternal lines are totally in Sandy Bay. Her paternal grandparents Henry Lewis England senior and Julia Charlotte Chandler both lived in the Sandy Bay area. The Chandler family still live in the area as they have had a garden nursery over the fence from where my mother lived with her parents in Grosvenor Street in Sandy Bay. Henry worked for the Queenborough Council in various roles.
Julia’s parents William Chandler and Caroline Bryant were living in the same house my mother lived in with her parents.
My mother told me lots of stories about her father taking her and her older sister down to Long Beach to go fishing. I think mum ate too many fish growing up as she wouldn’t cook it once she was married. Luckily dad liked cooking it. I have written other posts relating to mum and her family in Sandy Bay.
Family on regatta day, oral history from mum’s sister Margaret, Henry Lewis England Junior, biography of Julia Chandler
There is one video maker who has made a film about Sandy Bay in the 1800’s
