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'Launceston' is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia, population approximately 90,000 (Greater urban and 99,100 statistical division), located at the juncture of the North Esk, South Esk, and Tamar rivers. It is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart.
Launceston is Australia's third oldest city (after Sydney and Hobart) and has many historical buildings and sights.
Like many Australian places, it was named after a town in the United Kingdom—in this case, Launceston, Cornwall. (Note, however, that while the Cornish Launceston is pronounced or , the Australian one is pronounced .)

Contents

History

Government

Geography and landmarks

Transport

Culture, sport, notable achievements

Launceston Firsts

Inveresk Precinct

Industry

Notable people from Launceston

Notable residents of Launceston

Sister cities

References

External links

History

Europeans originally settled at the mouth of the Tamar River (historically called Port Dalrymple^[1]) at George Town in 1804 but moved to the present site of Launceston in 1805. Between 1803 until the proclamation of Van Diemen's Land in 1823, Launceston was the administrative capital of one the dependencies of New South Wales on the island.
Launceston was once the home of John Batman (see History of Melbourne). From Launceston, Batman planned and designed the city of Melbourne, and in 1834 he sailed with John Pascoe Fawkner across Bass Strait to settle at Port Phillip, Victoria. (Note: The spelling of John Batman's surname is 'Bateman' in some literature.)
For some years after 1848, Launceston was the place of exile of the Irish nationalist leader Terence MacManus where his cottage still stands.

Government

Almost the entire city is part of the City of Launceston Local Government Area. Some outer suburbs are part of adjacent council districts; Riverside and Legana are part of the West Tamar Council; Prospect Vale and Blackstone Heights are part of the Meander Valley Council. The state government is also run from a certain head office in Launceston.
Launceston is also home to AFL football in Tasmania.

Geography and landmarks

Launceston serves as the commercial hub for the north of the state and, like many parts of Tasmania, is a major tourist centre. Some points of attraction are:

★ The Cataract Gorge, a natural wonder of Tasmania and only five minutes walk from the city

★ The City Park, which includes an enclosure for Japanese Macaque monkeys, a gift from the sister-city of Ikeda, Japan

★ The Tamar River and tributaries

★ The Tamar Valley, which is home to some of Australia's best vineyards

★ The Boags Brewery, which produces one of Australia's premium beers.

★ Aurora Stadium - The State's only venue for Australian Football League matches
The city is home to a large collection of magnificently preserved Victorian architecture.
The Launceston General Hospital is one of 3 major public hospitals in the state. The Launceston Remand Centre serves as the area's detention facility.
Launceston is the hub for the state's medical retrieval service. The Royal Flying Doctor Service is serviced by the state's ambulance service, and doctors from the Launceston General Hospital.
The University of Tasmania has a large campus close to the city, at Newnham. The Australian Maritime College is located on the grounds.

Transport

Launceston has a public bus service operated by the Tasmanian government owned company Metro Tasmania. Buses operate on an irregular time table and take commuters between city suburbs. Services run from some stops per hour, Monday to Friday and with only a few services on weekends.
Launceston is the hub of five of the state's major highways:

★ The Midland Highway, the primary route to Hobart

★ The Bass Highway, the primary route to Devonport and Burnie

★ The Tasman Highway, the alternate scenic route to Hobart via Scottsdale and the east coast.

★ The West Tamar Highway and East Tamar Highway, on either side of the Tamar River.
The city is served by Launceston Airport (IATA code LST), just south-east of the city. There are direct flights to and from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
The Tamar river is used for tourist cruises.
Although there is no passenger rail system in Tasmania, the main freight rail route links Launceston with Hobart.
Like many of the larger cities in Australia, Launceston operated a tramway system between 1911 and 1952, which consisted of 29 trams and was first planned in 1909 after observations of efficiently working systems in Melbourne and Adelaide. For a decade before the tram system was abandoned, Launceston had begun converting to trolleybuses, especially for the hilly routes and operated one of the most extensive trolleybus networks in Australia. The network was finally ripped up in 1952 to make way for cars and buses and a single tramway museum in Inveresk is all that remains.

Culture, sport, notable achievements

Launceston Firsts

Launceston was the home of several firsts:

★ first use of anaesthetic in Southern Hemisphere

★ first Australian city to have underground sewers

★ first Australian city to be lit by hydro-electricity (see Duck Reach Power Station)

★ longest single span chairlift in the world at the Cataract Gorge

★ first telephone call in Australia

★ first laminated tennis racket

★ first use of two way radios in taxis

★ first shopping mall in Australia

★ first breeding of seahorses in captivity, in the world

★ first First-class cricket game played in Australia (at the NTCA Ground between Tasmania and Victoria)

★ youngest female elected mayor in Australia
From 1999 to 2003, Launceston was the home of three of the four Gone South music festivals. Since 2006 it has also been the host of MS Fest, a music festival to raise funds for multiple sclerosis research.
Launceston is also the home to Australia's oldest bookshop. A.W. Birchall & Sons (Birchalls) opened its doors in 1844 at its current site in Brisbane Street.^[2]

Inveresk Precinct

This precinct, near Royal Park, hosts the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery (the largest museum and art gallery in Australia located outside a capital city), Chinese Temple, Railway Workshops and a Planetarium.
The latest addition to the precinct is the new Launceston Tramway Museum. Included in the museum is the fully restored No 29 tram, the fully restored 'Mary St' shelter shed and a host of memorabilia. The restoration has taken place over a number of years and the museum is run entirely by bogans.
Launceston is the home of Aurora Stadium (a.k.a. ''York Park''), which is the state's only first-class sports ground equipped with lights for evening games. It hosts several first class Australian rules events, including the Northern Tasmanian Football League and Victorian Football League team, the Tasmanian Devils Football Club. The Melbourne team Hawthorn (and previously St Kilda) have played a small number of AFL (Australian football) games there each year. Launceston holds the record attendance for a VFL/AFL crowd in Tasmania (20,961) set on June 18, 2006 when Hawthorn played Richmond Football Club.
There is heated (but friendly) rivalry between residents of Launceston and the southern capital Hobart. The AFL games mentioned above are an example -- Hobart residents are disappointed about missing out -- while Hobart hosts all international cricket games played in the state at the Bellerive Oval.
Launceston is also the city where the controversial finish to the St Kilda v Fremantle game occurred, on April 30, 2006.
The city was also one of the venues for the 2003 Rugby World Cup attracting a record crowd of 19,891 for the sport of rugby union in Tasmania to a game between Romania and Namibia at York Park.
Launceston is the only city in Tasmania to have hosted national soccer matches. A National Soccer League game was held at Aurora Stadium in 2002 between Perth Glory and Melbourne Knights, attracting 5,324 fans. An A-League pre-season cup game was played at the same venue between Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United on 16 July 2006 in front of a crowd of 6,834.

Industry

Launceston is a major service centre for the north of the island of Tasmania, powering a small finance, education and entertainment industries.
The city is also has a large minerals and manufacturing base. Air quality is a concern in the city, which has the highest levels of atmospheric pollution in the state [1].
It is also a hub for the major agricultural region.
Tourism is also an important industry in the city.

Notable people from Launceston

★ Marcos Ambrose (racing car driver)

★ Simon Baker (actor)

★ David Boon (cricket player)

★ Daniel Geale (boxer)

★ Alastair Jesse (famous actor)

★ Graeme Murphy (choreographer)

★ Ricky Ponting (cricket player)

★ Peter Sculthorpe (composer)

★ Allan Stone (tennis player)

★ Rachael Taylor (actress)

★ Tim Lane (sports commentator)

★ Hudson Fysh (aviator)

Notable residents of Launceston

★ Allan Sallsbury (cartoonist best known for Snake Tales)

Sister cities

★ 'Ikeda', Japan ''(1965)''

★ 'Seremban', Malaysia ''(1976)''

★ 'Napa', United States of America ''(1988)''

★ 'Taiyuan', Peoples Republic of China ''(1995)''

References

1. http://www.lib.mq.edu.au/all/journeys/places/placesl_q.html#port_dalrymple
2. Birchalls - About us

External links