Bothwell, Tasmania facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bothwell Tasmania
View north-east along Clyde River in Bothwell, Tasmania
Bothwell Location in Tasmania
Population	499 (2021 census)
Postcode(s)	7030
Elevation	352 m (1,155 ft)
Location	76 km (47 mi) N of Hobart 51 km (32 mi) NW of Brighton 16 km (10 mi) W of Melton Mowbray
LGA(s)	Central Highlands Council
State electorate(s)	Lyons
Federal Division(s)	Lyons
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 16.6 °C 62 °F 3.9 °C 39 °F 541.7 mm 21.3 in

Bothwell is a small town in central Tasmania, Australia. It sits on the River Clyde in a wide valley. In 2021, about 499 people lived there.

Bothwell is known for its beautiful lakes and for being a great place for hunting. It's part of the Central Highlands Council area. In 2022, the town celebrated its 200th birthday! Other towns nearby include Hollow Tree, Hamilton, Ouse, and Kempton.

Bothwell's Past: A Look at Its History

For thousands of years before Europeans arrived, the Bothwell area was home to the Mairremmener people. They moved between the mountains and the coast each season. Their leader, Tongerlongerter, bravely fought against the new settlers. This time was part of what is called the Black War.

Bothwell officially started in 1822. Several families from Scotland settled here and named the town after Bothwell in Lanarkshire, Scotland.

The town was first planned in 1824 by surveyor Thomas Scott. A more detailed plan in 1837 set aside land for a market, a school, police, and a church. The town grew over the years. By 1900, the market place was named Queen's Square. The school also got a bigger spot where it is today.

The Castle Hotel, a very old building, opened in 1829. It's the second oldest hotel in Tasmania that has been open non-stop.

St Luke's Presbyterian Church opened in 1831. It's a very noticeable building near Queen's Square. Both Anglicans and Presbyterians used it until the Anglican church, St Michael and All Angels, opened in 1889.

The Bothwell Post Office started its service on June 1, 1832.

In 1842, the first count of people in Tasmania showed Bothwell had 947 residents. By 1891, the population had grown to 1,482 people.

After 1848, Bothwell was a place of exile for two Irish leaders, John Mitchel and John Martin. Their old home, Mitchel's Cottage, can still be seen today.

Bothwell was also home to a radio telescope. It was built in the 1960s by Grote Reber, a famous scientist who studied radio waves from space.

Golf's Early Days in Bothwell

The very first game of golf in Tasmania happened in Bothwell. It was also one of the earliest games played in all of golf in Australia. The golf course at the Ratho property was once thought to be the oldest in Australia.

People believed it was built in the mid-1850s. Jane Williams, whose father owned Ratho, wrote in 1890 that golf began there before 1860. She said it was popular as long as Scottish people lived in the area.

Alexander Arthur Reid, a grandson of Ratho's first owner, wrote in 1930 about his father starting a golf club. This club had about 15 or 16 members in the early 1860s. He also remembered the "queer-shaped old clubs."

In 1911, a newspaper reported on the new Ratho golf links. It said the course was "excellent" with "naturally suitable" turf and "wonderfully good" grass greens. The 9-hole course was 2,551 yards long.

The first reliably recorded golf match in Australia was played in Sydney in 1839.

Today, Bothwell is home to the Australian Golf Museum. It's located in an old sandstone school building.

Bothwell's First Book Club: The Literary Society

Australia's first country-town literary society started in Bothwell in 1834. It was a debating club created by a Scottish minister, Rev. James Garrett.

The society built its own meeting place in 1837. That same year, Sir John Franklin became its special supporter. In this building, the society created one of Australia's earliest public libraries.

In 1852, John Mitchel wrote about the library. He said Bothwell had a "very tolerable public library." He noted that no village of its size in Ireland had such a good one.

The library's last big addition was in 1892. Walter Gellibrand, a local politician, gave 81 books. In 2017, the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery in Launceston bought the library's entire collection.

Bothwell's Unique Buildings: Architecture

Bothwell has many interesting building styles. These include Georgian, Queen Anne Revival, and Victorian. Many buildings are listed on heritage registers. This means they are important old buildings, from stone cottages to churches.

Wentworth House: A Grand Old Home

One of the biggest houses is Wentworth House. It's a two-story Georgian-style home on Wentworth Street. Convict builders started building it in 1830. It was for Captain D'Arcy Wentworth Jr., who was an early police magistrate in Bothwell.

The house was first called Inverhall and had only one floor. Later, Major Charles Schaw added more to the house. It's a very unusual two-story Georgian house with a fine garden.

St Luke's Church: A Historic Landmark

St Luke's is the second oldest Presbyterian church in Australia. The oldest is the Ebenezer Church in New South Wales. St Luke's is a sandstone Georgian-style chapel. It was built between 1828 and 1831.

The church has a square tower with a special top like a castle. It also has tall, narrow windows and a Gothic-style doorway. This doorway was fixed up in 1968.

Look closely at the carvings above the main doorway. A talented convict stonemason, Daniel Herbert, is said to have made them. He also carved images on the bridge at Ross. These strange carvings might show old Celtic gods. Herbert was known for his funny sense of humor!

Nant Mill: A Working Watermill

The Nant property was started in 1821 by Edward Nicholas. His family was among the first European settlers in Bothwell. The property has a main house, other buildings, a cottage, and a mill.

The old watermill was built in 1857. It uses the power of the Clyde River to work. It's a two-story building made of sandstone in the Georgian style. There was an even older mill built in 1825. Only a brick barn from that first mill remains today.

In 2007, the 1857 mill was carefully fixed up. It was also turned into a whiskey distillery by a famous Tasmanian architect, Robert Morris-Nunn.

Famous People from Bothwell

Many interesting people have lived in Bothwell:

• John Frost: A Chartist leader and convict who lived in Bothwell.
• Keith Sydney Isles: A well-known economist and vice-chancellor of the University of Tasmania, born in Bothwell.
• Maria Lord: A wealthy businesswoman and convict who ran a shop in Bothwell.
• John Martin: An Irish nationalist leader and convict who lived in Bothwell with John Mitchel.
• John Mitchel: Another Irish nationalist leader and convict who lived in Bothwell with John Martin.
• Harold Sprent Nicholas: A judge in the New South Wales Supreme Court, who grew up at his family's property, Nant, in Bothwell.
• Sir Robert Officer: A politician and doctor who lived in Bothwell.
• Charles Myles Officer: A farmer and politician who lived in Bothwell.
• Grote Reber: A radio astronomer who lived in Bothwell and built a radio telescope there.
• Charles Rowcroft: A novelist and one of Bothwell's earliest settlers.
• D'Arcy Wentworth Jr.: A soldier and politician who was a police magistrate in Bothwell.
• William Weston: The 3rd Premier of Tasmania, who lived in Bothwell for a time.
• John Dennistoun Wood: An Australian politician born at Dennistoun farm in Bothwell.

Bothwell's Weather