Carlton River and Carlton, south east Tasmania
60,000 For tens of thousands of years the land and waterways now known as the Carlton River area was the territory of the Tasmanian Aboriginal people (and still is).
10,000 As sea levels rose after the last ice age, the present coastline was formed. Oral traditions across more than 400 generations accurately recalled the flooding of the land bridge between Tasmania and the mainland. The Mumirimina people of the Oyster Bay tribe fished, gathered and hunted around the beaches, islands, foreshore and Carlton River hinterland. Artefacts and middens tell of their lifestyle through the centuries, how they managed the land with fire, encouraged new growth for the wildlife, kept open pathways that networked from coast to highlands for ease of seasonal movement, maintaining trade and close alliances. The site and size of the middens on Steele’s Island indicate an abundance of food and an important gathering place.
1802 The first Europeans see Carlton River. Members of the Nicholas Baudin expedition named the river the River Brue; both Nicholas Baudin and Matthew Flinders mapped the Carlton River area.
1806 The name Carlton was given by a whaler who fished in the Derwent River and Frederick Henry Bay. He anchored his whaling boat named Carlton near the River.
1809 Mumirimina man named John Shinall (Shiney) was born in the Carlton area. He lived a tribal life with his family until land grants were established and he was ‘taken in’ by settlers, working as a farm labourer.
1813 Before land grants were finalised, settler families established farmlands, supplying fresh produce and meat to Hobart Town.
1818 Land officially documented as granted to settlers in the area of Chaseys Creek.
1820 ‘The Carlton’ settlement was recorded. Settlers Quinton, McGinnis, Dodge, Joseph, Riley, Waterson, Morris, and Thorne given grants around Chasey’s Creek and the River.
1822 Lt Joseph Steele received a grant of 2000 acres.
1822 Census recorded Ralph Dodge was the mail contractor through Carlton and Richmond to Port Arthur.
1823 More land grants were made north of the Carlton River.
1824 Lieutenant Joseph Steele built ‘Carlton House’ on his grant on Fulham Road. He began cultivating the land, breeding sheep and cattle.
1827 Escaped convicts raided the houses of Mr Quinton and Lt Steele and stole numerous items of their property.
1828 Martial law was declared.
1829 In June a band of Oyster Bay and Big River warriors led by Tongerlongeter attacked Carlton River settlements.
1829 Lt Joseph Steele granted an additional 1000 acres and applied for a further 50 acres of tidal flats at the Carlton River which was approved. He was appointed as Justice of the Peace.
1830 As hostilities between settlers and Aboriginal people escalated, the Government instigated the infamous Black Line. Soldiers and settlers camped in the Carlton district as part of the Black Line. Governor Arthur camped near Carlton House.
1831 Carlton school was opened with Charlotte Dodge, wife of Ralph Dodge, the teacher. She taught in her homestead until a school house was built in 1837 behind the Congregational Chapel.
1831 Carlton Watch House built. A magistrate, usually Lt Steele, heard cases in the Watch House.
1832 Lt Joseph Steele purchased 640 acres at Carlton. Ralph Dodge and his son William Dodge’s land were combined to become the Lovely Bottom farm.
1837 School House was built. John Hall McGinnis donated land for a church, school and cemetery.
1838 Colonial Missionary Society prayer meetings held in the homes of Carlton settlers.
1838 Henry Morris interred, the first burial at Carlton River Cemetery.
Headstones remaining today mark the graves of: Thomas Gulley 1841, Charlotte Dodge 1866, Ralph Dodge 1871, John Luttrell 1872, Richard Newberry 1912, Charlotte Morris Thorne 1915, William Henry Thorne 1920, George Newberry 1928, Eliza Dodge 1929. From 1839 to 1875 the sandstone-capped Steele Family vault became the final resting place of Lt Joseph Steele and several relatives.
Three headstones remain next to the chapel: Hugh McGinniss 1905, William Harrold Dear 1886, John Dutton 1871.
1839 Mumirimina man John Shinall dies. His body is mutilated and his severed head preserved in alcohol and sent to Ireland. Returned from Dublin University to the Tasmanian Aboriginal people in 1990.
1840 Carlton River Congregational Chapel built on the McGinnis donated land.
1841 The first service held in the chapel. Rev Alexander Morrison, who was appointed to the District of Richmond, preached in Carlton every fortnight.
1841 Carlton Inn, also known as the Prospect Inn, was operating with John McGinnis as the licensee. A store was also located at this site.
1841 Ralph Dodge was the first postmaster. He was the mail contractor for the Carlton area and received a wage of 185 pounds a year.
1842 Carlton Post Office opened with Mr William Chester as the postmaster.
- Oct 1842 Mr William Chester
- Feb 1845 Mr John McGuiness
- Oct 1845 Mr William Morris
- Aug 1888 Miss Emily Thorne until 1905
- Oct 1898 Telephone station opened
- Apr 1905 Miss Ada Thorne
- Dec 1914 Ada became Mrs Newberry
- Mar 1918 Ada Newberry retired
- Aug 1920 Mr Maxwell Thorne
- May 1932 Mr Burke
- Nov 1932 Mrs Barker
- Mar 1938 Captain Nicholas until closure 1949
1842 Lady Jane Franklin visited the post office on her way to Port Arthur.
1842 John McGinnis licensee of Carlton Inn, “with accommodation to be afforded to two Officers, six Private Soldiers and six horses, belonging to Her Majesty’s Service”.
1848 Joseph Foote was Richmond’s Congregational Minister and preached at Carlton.
1852 On the death of John McGinnis the hotel was registered as the Carlton Arms by Hugh McGinnis.
1865 The land and chapel were in possession of the Joseph brothers and William Morris who “held the property in trust that they should at all times allow the chapel buildings to be used as a place of worship”.
1877 The township of Carlton prospered until Port Arthur was abandoned and the Sorell Causeway came into use.
1898 Telephone communication commenced at Carlton.
1900 A service was held at the Carlton River Chapel to welcome home the Tasmanian contingent from the Boer War which included two of the McGuinness family.
1903 Carlton School held a concert to fund repairs to the chapel.
1919 Welcome home event was held at the chapel for returned soldier Clarence McGuinness (AIF #3677).
1930 Last service at the Carlton River Chapel and closing of the cemetery.
1939 During WWII a military camp is stationed at end of Convoy Road, Carlton.
1949 Carlton Post Office closed, with the last postmaster Captain Nicholas. Fred (Sonny) Steele lived there for 25 years after which the building was abandoned.
1950 Trebilco Aged Care Home at Carlton (a branch of St John’s Park).
1951 Family properties at Carlton were subdivided.
1952 Camp Carlton purchased by the YMCA. First schoolboys camp 1953, sold 1978.
1957 Carlton Surf Life Saving Club established.
1960 Ambulance and First Aid station operated by Barry Neave from his Carlton home.
1975 Carlton Park Surf Life Saving Club formed with merging of Carlton and Park clubs.
1980 Camp Carlton re-opened with Wally & Joan Crosswell leaders.
1987 Sorell Council leased the Carlton River Cemetery through to 2008.
1990’s Camp Carlton closed and Salvation Army opened.
1994 With teacher Moya Sharpe, Sorell School students cleaned up the old Carlton Post Office building and raised funds to restore the walls and chimney. An historical sign was installed.
1997 The community-led Sandcastles Occasional Childcare began, based at a house in Moomere St and later at the Salvation Army premises.
2003 Southern Beaches Historical Society (SBHS) formed.
2004 Okines Community House Inc operated from the Salvation Army premises until 2011.
2007 Peter MacFie published A Short History of The Carlton, updated 2018.
2013 Kath Lonergan published Kindred Connections about the Dodge and McGinnis/McGuinness family history.
2020 Judy Pearson published The Dodges Ferry I Knew – through the eyes of the ferryman’s great-granddaughter
2021 180-year celebration hosted at the Carlton River Chapel by owners Sally Dakis and Chris Wisbey.
2023 Southern Beaches Historical Society members research and design a history sign at Carlton River Cemetery.
2024 SBHS and the Lions Club of Sorell host a history festival at the Carlton River Chapel and Cemetery to promote the area’s hidden heritage.
