Devonport, Tasmania
Devonport is a port city situated at the mouth of the Mersey River on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. Positioned east of Burnie and north of Launceston, it is the busiest freight port on the island, managing over half Tasmania's imports and exports.
Devonport's supporting industries include agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism. The City of Devonport's gross domestic product was estimated at $3.5b in 2023.
Devonport's harbour is home to the Spirit of Tasmania's passenger terminal, facilitating roll-on/roll-off ferry operations connecting mainland Australia and Tasmania. In the 2022–23 fiscal year, the Port of Devonport welcomed over 450,000 passengers.
The completion of the $240m Quaylink project is expected to increase this capacity by an additional 160,000 passengers annually.
Devonport was established in 1893 through the amalgamation of the 1850s settlements of Torquay on the east bank and Formby on the west bank of the Mersey River. The township became a municipality in 1907 and was designated a city by Prince Charles on 21 April 1981.
With an urban population of 26,150 at the 2021 Australian census, Devonport is Tasmania's third-largest city, encompassing a total of 48,293 residents living within the greater statistical area.
Despite its relatively small size, Devonport has been foundational for many innovative industries that grew to be nationally-significant, such as the Finlayson family foundry, who engineered what is believed to be the first steam car in the Southern Hemisphere.
Similarly, family members of shipping company Holyman & Sons established the first airline connecting Bass Strait in 1934 as Holyman Airways, which eventually evolved into Australian National Airways and subsequently merged with Ansett.
Devonport also holds a place in Australian political history as the home town of both Joseph Lyons, the tenth Prime Minister of Australia, and Dame Enid Lyons, the first woman elected to the House of Representatives and the first woman to serve in the federal cabinet. Dame Enid lived at their residence, "Home Hill" until her death in 1981, which has since become a popular tourist destination and is registered with the National Trust of Australia.
History
Early inhabitants
The area now known as Devonport lies within the traditional country of several Palawa/Pakana groups associated with the North Nations. These included the punnilerpanner people of Panatana, the Pallittorre of Lartitickitheker, the Noeteeler of Ningherner or Parteenno, and the Plairhekehillerplue of Emu Bluff.The Mersey Valley, including Panatana and the Devonport area, was an important gathering place, rich in resources such as birdlife, plant foods, and weaving materials. Seasonal activities included the harvesting of swan and duck eggs along the Mersey River in early spring.
British colonisation of northern Lutruwita began in the 1820s with the expansion of the Van Diemen's Land Company and the granting of large pastoral estates such as North Down placed pressure on indigenous populations through the disruption of river and valley corridors. By the twentieth century, no known direct descendants of the original groups of this region survived. Today, the broader Palawa/Pakana community continues to maintain cultural and custodial responsibilities for the entire island.
European settlement before 1850
Exploration of the Mersey River was undertaken in 1823, however initial observations by the British were unfavourable. Following the arrival of the Van Diemen's Land Company in 1826, the district underwent further exploration and surveying. Settlers commenced arriving later in the same year. Indigenous resistance to settlement was evident, leading to the killing of Captain Bartholomew Boyle Thomas on 31 August 1831.The first European settlement in the Devonport region, predating 1850, was established on a block of land at Frogmore, near present-day Latrobe. It was a modest beginning that set the stage for future developments.
Arrival of settlers and economic growth (1850–1870s)
In 1850, the arrival of a settler named Oldaker marked the establishment of present-day Devonport. Saw milling and coal mining gained momentum with the arrival of English settlers aboard the sailing ship Balmoral in 1854.During the 1850s, twin settlements, Formby and Torquay, emerged on opposite banks at the mouth of the Mersey River.
Torquay, the larger of the two, thrived with various amenities, including police, post offices, magistrate services, hotels, shipyards, and stores. A river ferry service connected Formby and Torquay.
Between 1870 and 1880, the shipping industry experienced growth, leading to efforts to deepen the mouth of the river. This development facilitated the commencement of regular steamer services between the Mersey and Melbourne.
Key developments (1880s–1900s)
In 1882, construction began on the Marine Board building, which remains a prominent landmark in the city. The completion of the Mersey Bluff Lighthouse in 1889 further improved maritime safety along the north-west coast. At the turn of the century, the arrival of the railway brought major changes to the Formby area, combining railhead and port facilities that spurred a period of rapid growth and building activity.In 1890, a public vote unified the settlements of Torquay and Formby, officially creating the town of Devonport. The opening of the Victoria Bridge in 1902 provided the first permanent land transport connection between Devonport and East Devonport, significantly strengthening trade and communication across the River Mersey.
Around this time, limestone deposits in the Melrose–Eugenana district became important to local industry. Quarries supplied material to the Broken Hill Proprietary Company smelters, and in 1916 the government reconstructed the old Don Railway to transport limestone from Melrose to the Devonport wharves, supporting regional industrial development.
In 1924, the Victoria Bridge collapsed following damage caused by Teredo navalis. Although no injuries were reported, the bridge was subsequently rebuilt and reinforced.
Emergence of the Goliath-Portland Cement Company (1926)
Goliath Cement, now known as Cement Australia, traces its origins back to the Tasmanian Cement Company in 1923.Supercharged by abundant limestone deposits and Railton's proximity to shipping outlets, the company pioneered advancements such as the development of bulk cement transportation by sea and boasted the first fully automatic mill in Australia.
The Railton facility, significant for its role in supplying cement for iconic projects like the Sydney Harbour Bridge, also produced asbestos products from 1947 to 1986, resulting in the company addressing compensation settlements to 3,000 workers who were exposed to asbestos in 2010.
Advancements in transportation and infrastructure (1930s–1950s)
The 1930s brought notable advancements in transportation and infrastructure with the introduction of the motor car and modern roadworks. Street sealing projects were undertaken, main roads were upgraded, and the movement of goods became increasingly efficient across northern Tasmania. Constructed by Hansen Yuncken, the Ovaltine factory opened in 1943 at Quoiba, south of Devonport, becoming the company’s second-largest manufacturing facility globally to meet demand across Australasia and Southeast Asia.The post-war decades also saw the arrival of other major manufacturing enterprises. Tootal Broadhurst Lee established a weaving mill at Devonport in 1949, later expanding production through the 1950s. Known locally as “Tootals”, the factory was later operated by Australian Weaving Mills, producing textiles and towels for national distribution. In East Devonport, Tascot Templeton Carpets became a major carpet manufacturer, employing more than 150 workers until its closure in 2010.
In November 1952, the opening of the aerodrome at Pardoe marked a new era in regional air travel, with regular airline services linking Devonport to Victoria. Destined for Melbourne, the first freight aircraft departed carrying a load of Ovaltine.
In 1955, Gordon Edgell & Sons purchased the former Heinz cannery at Quoiba, establishing a significant food-processing plant that later became one of Tasmania’s largest processors of peas and other vegetables. The factory continues to operate under Simplot Australia, producing frozen vegetables for the Edgell and Birds Eye brands and remaining one of the city’s largest employers.
''Princess of Tasmania'' ferry service (1959)
The roll-on/roll-off terminal, named the Sir Robert Cosgrove terminal, at East Devonport was officially opened on 26 September 1959 by the Premier of Tasmania Eric Reece.In the same year, the Australian National Line ferry Princess of Tasmania entered service, establishing the first RoRo shipping link between Victoria and Tasmania across Bass Strait. Contemporary reporting described the service as converting the Bass Strait crossing into a “sea-road”, allowing motorists to remain with their vehicles for the duration of the voyage.
On its first commercial voyage on 2 October 1959, the Princess of Tasmania carried 334 passengers. Accommodation included single, two and four-berth cabins for 178 passengers, with a further 156 passengers seated in three lounges fitted with reclining lounge chairs. The vessel could transport up to 100 vehicles, including freight vehicles and a Royal Mail van, and was crewed by approximately 60 staff members, some of whom had transferred from the Taroona.
The Princess of Tasmania operated on the Bass Strait route from 1959 until 1972 as part of the Australian National Line’s SeaRoad service, before its replacement by later vessels purpose-built for increased passenger and vehicle capacity.
Residential expansion and infrastructure upgrades (1950s–1970s)
The post-war decades marked a period of rapid expansion for Devonport. New housing subdivisions spread west across the Don Valley, north along the heights of Coles Beach, and south on both sides of the Mersey River. By the late 1960s, the municipality was among the fastest-growing urban centres in Tasmania.During this period, the development of the Mersey–Forth Power Scheme transformed the economic landscape of Tasmania’s North West. Constructed between 1963 and 1973 by the Hydro Electric Commission, the scheme comprises seven major dams and power stations supplied by the Mersey, Forth, Wilmot and Fisher Rivers. The scheme supplied a stable source of hydro-electric power to Devonport and nearby municipalities, fuelling industrial growth and underpinning the expansion of energy-intensive manufacturing and food-processing operations across the region.
In 1973, a new prestressed concrete bridge replaced the ageing Victoria Bridge, improving road access across the Mersey and connecting the city to the Bass Highway.