Part Nineteen

Though no grant deeds were signed for land in ths State by the Governor-General in 1822, Lieutenant-Governor Sorell was busy attending to the laying out of Hobart town and Launceston, and on 20th May, 1822, wrote the following letter to G. W. Evans, Deputy Surveyor-General:—

The Deputy Surveyor-General is requested to have a clear understanding with the applicants for ground to build stores on Hunter's Island, and in line of the jetty; that the ground is allotted on condition of immediate building in the allotment last ordered, viz., Mr. Thornton's and Mr. Bunster's, this understanding may be necessary as no personal communication or explanation had taken place, and the stores built are not to be of less than two stories in height,— W.S."

Memo of conditions on which each party obtaining authority to build a store, along the pier or Hunter's Island is to consider himself bound:

  1. Not to commence fencing or building without notice to the Deputy Surveyor-General, and ' having the exact lines of the allotment marked by him or his assistant
  2. To commence building or at least collecting stores, etc., on the spot in six months from the first of this.
  3. No fence to be put up till the building is carried up, say, six feet, because it is not intended that fencing should in the case of these allotments, be admitted as giving any title. No fencing is, therefore, allowed till the building is advanced.
  4. Any party to whom authority to build on an allotment on the line of Hunter's Island or the pier has been given, and who shall move from the colony, shall be deemed to relinquish his claim unless he provides adequate bondsmen for carrying on the building as herein prescribed during his absence.
  5. The stores are to be not less than two story high; to be built exactly on the line laid down by the Deputy Surveyor-General.

W. SORELL,
Lieutenant-Governor.

This was followed on 29th May, 1822, with the following further letter:—

You are hereby authorised to locate the following allotments in the line of stores adjoining Hunter's Island:
One to Mr, R. W. Fryet.
One to Mr. T. W. Midwood.
In Hobart Town, one town allotment to be reserved for Deputy Assistant Commissioner-General Hull in Launceston; one allotment for Dr. Cameron; one for Mr. Simpson; one for John Dell; and one town allotment in Launceston for Surgeon Priest.
Mr. Simpson wishes to have his allotment measured where the old barracks, are offering to pay for the building at a valuation when Government can vacate them, you will report if the ground be disposable.—
(Signed) W. Sorell.

You will be so good as to send instructions to Mr. Massey respecting his allotment in Launceston, specifying the numbers of each. Mr. Fryett relinquished in favour of Captain Wilson, with Lieutenant- Governor's approbation.—W.S.

This is a brief history of the actions which led up to the construction of the line of stores which front on Hunter Street; It only remains to say that the conditions laid down by Governor Sorell were, generally speaking, carried out fairly faithfully by the grantees, and the row of two story stores was a feature on the landscape until recent years, when H. Jones and Co. and others remodeled them, and placed more up-to-date buildings on the various grants.

Governor Sorell was faced with the difficulty of the Hobart Town Rivulet spreading itself over and spoiling a large area of valuable town land. He therefore decided on a modest scheme of reclamation, by building these stores and by placing the spoil at the rear or them. The rivulet was confined within moderate bounds, and it is to his credit that his plan has been elaborated upon and developed, but never entirely discarded by modern engineers. The rivulet. even within its confined banks, was a source of trouble to the City Council, the Government, and the Marine Board of Hobart for the first hundred years of the history of the city. About ten years ago, the three bodies referred to above decided to make, at their joint expense, a new channel for the rivulet, by tunneling under the Queen s Domain. This work has now been completed, and the old bed of the creek, from Macquarie Street to its old outfall in the harbour, is filled up with spoil, and the merchants whose lands adjoin have purchased the reclaimed creek bed at very considerable prices. 1