Place names

​The names of Tasmanian towns have changed over the years. 

This guide will help take the guesswork out of finding their locations and origins.

What is on​​​line?

• The Pretyman Index to Tasmanian Place Na​mes​- A digitised card index detailing the origin of Tasmanian place names.
• Historic maps online

What else is there?

• A dictionary of Tas​manian place-names by John Taylor and Wayne Smith.

Notes

Significant place name changes include:

• Port Dalrymple - now George Town, site of first settlement in Northern Tasmania at the mouth of the Tamar River
• Carnarvon - now and previous during the convict era Port Arthur
• Clarence Plains - now Rokeby
• Green Ponds - now Kempton
• Horton - now Burnie or Circular Head
• Macquarie Plains  - now Gretna​
• Morven - now Evandale
• Norfolk Plains - Longford
• Penghana - now Queenstown
• Victoria - now Huon District

Related

• Tasmanian ne​wspa​pers
  
• Guide to Maps in the Tasmanian Parliamentary Papers, 1856-1981  by John McQuilton
  
• Tasplaces: over 16 000 Tasmanian placenames and where to find them: your  alphabetical guide to almost every Tasmanian place, most with bits and pieces of discovered historical and relevant background notes by John Tait
  
• Tasmanian nomenclature: the place-names of the state: a record of origins and dates: [being newspaper cuttings from the "Mercury"] by Moore-Robinson, James
  
• Bailliere's Tasmanian gazetteer and road guide; containing the most recent and accurate information as to every place in the colony (1877) compiled by Robert. P. Whitworth
  

What c​an I find from other organisations?

• Tasmanian Place Names and Changes -  the Tasmanian Family History Society, a valuable source of information
• A guide to district names (Ancestry.com)
  
• Geoscience Australia Place Name Search
  
• Nomenclature Board of Tasmania
  
• Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia​
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