The Royal George coach Royal George, Tasmania, Australia
By nutwood on 27-Jul-12. Waypoint GA4506

This is one of my favourite short-cuts between Launceston and the lower East Coast.  As with all the best short-cuts it's a bit longer and a bit slower than travelling the Lake Leake Highway, but much more interesting. At either end of the section through the hills there's a sign stating "Built by convicts, re-opened by residents 1959" This piqued my curiosity and I did a bit of research into the history of this road. It goes back a long way and I was a bit surprised at how little information I was able to turn up.

The earliest map I have found, showing this road, dates from 1832. A map from 1824 shows a road travelling out through what is now Royal George and following the St Pauls River. It also shows a road following the Swan River up from the south, but the connecting link is missing. In the early writings the road is simply mentioned as a bridle track, so it's possible that the earlier map simply didn't recognise it.

In 1845 Charles Meredith, husband of Louise Meridith, moved his family from Swansea to Port Sorrell and took this route. In his wife's 1852 recount of her time in Tasmania ("My Home in Tasmania", still in print) is noted the presence of a probation station along the way. The location is given as being at "Hop Pole Bottom" where she describes "a large assemblage of huts and other buildings, almost like a village, erected for the accomodation of a Probation road-party who the neighbouring settlers innocently expected would have made the fearful track we had traversed conveniently passable". I dug further into the history of this Probation Station and concluded that she was refering to Leipsic which is described as abandoned before it was occupied.

According to Louise Meridith, it was the custom of the Comptroller-General to not do any work on a road if there was a suspicion that it might benefit a political rival; "..for, as the officer had uncontrolled power, and rather a lengthy list of private feuds, it became extremely difficult to plan a road, in any quarter, which should not directly or indirectly benefit some of the objects of his undying and vindictive dislike..." I had a good chuckle at this; the more things change , the more they stay the same! Anyway it seems that, although there was a convict probation station right on the spot, there's no record of any convict work actually being done on this road. There was another convict outpost at Avoca, a sub-post of Fingal, but I couldn't find any record of them working out past Mt Henry on this road.

I pursued it up into the late nineteenth century, long after the convict era and found little more information. The road is solidly there on the maps but there's no reference to it as a coach road. When I originally started researching this I thought I might have encountered an old back route to Launceston. Follow the Swan north, then follow the St Pauls, cross the South Esk at Avoca, nip around the base of Ben Lomond to Evandale and so on to Launceston. I soon gave up on this theory when I realised there was little demand for a Swansea/Launceston connection. People in the Swansea area were clamouring for a link to the port at Hobart, those who went north simply went to Avoca then west to the Main Rd (Midland Highway). I just can't see the demand that would have resulted in this convenient short cut being upgraded to "Coach Road" status.

My personal opinion is that this road is a very old route, probably pre-dating settlement , that links two major valleys  together.  It would only ever have been a hard days walk over the hills and you move from the St Pauls valley over to the Swan valley, which is effectively a connection from the Fingal Valley to the East Coast. Big step if you're a nomad!  I would suggest the early settlers in the area simply adopted the route and over the years it became more established, however it was always a convenience rather than an economic necessity. Hence the low status. Much of the above is conjecture and I'd love it if someone can add to my research. I'll happily edit my description and give credit where credit is due. In the meanwhile, enjoy the drive, contemplate the history and sign our log book. The swaps are unashamedly equestrian but feel free to change the theme!

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