James Scott 1810 - 1884 - A Surveyor of Van Diemen's Land, An… - Australian & Colonial - Leski Auctions Pty. Ltd.

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James Scott 1810 - 1884 - A Surveyor of Van Diemen's Land, An important group of items from the estate of James Scott, brother of Thomas Scott (1800-1855), surveyor and landowner, from Berwickshire, Scotland. Thomas came to Hobart Town in 1820 in the Skelton and temporarily became superintendent of government stock. The following year he was appointed by Governor Lachlan Macquarie as assistant surveyor under the deputy surveyor general, George Evans. He was active in his profession and responsible for surveying much of the early settlements. Between 1822 and 1824 Thomas explored parts of the east coast, laid out the town of Bothwell, and published his chart of Tasmania which showed much more detail than earlier maps., James Scott, his younger brother, arrived in Hobart in the Ann Jamieson in 1832. He was trained as a surveyor by his brother Thomas and worked with him, and on his resignation in 1838 joined the staff of the Survey Department. The appointment was short-lived. The next year, when contract surveying was introduced he was approved as a surveyor to be paid on piecework. Of strong physique and an excellent bushman, he became the Chief Surveyor in the North of the island., James Scott is best known for his explorations of the north-east but the journal detailed below [Item 3] adds considerable detail to his previously published surveying activities. In April 1852 he was engaged by the government to find a bridle road for stock from the last settlement on St Patrick's River to Cape Portland, a vast area not previously crossed by Europeans. He went up St Patrick's River, passed north-west of Mount Maurice to what he thought was Forester's River, over a tier to the Ringarooma River, which he followed south-east of Mount Cameron to Cape Portland, and then returned to Launceston along the coast. He reported adversely: any track would be very costly and devoid of resting places for stock. He proposed instead a line by way of Piper's River, across the Little Forester about 4.8 km above Bowood and then north-east to the Tomahawk and Ringarooma Rivers. In October 1852 he marked out this road. In January 1853 he applied for government assistance to open up a line of communication from St Patrick's River along his former route to the Ringarooma River. He was promised £40 for this task but declined on the grounds of ill health and other business. However, both he and his brother George applied for land on the Ringarooma River at what is now Legerwood, and by November 1853 he reported that he had completed a bridle road and that the land supposed to be on the Great Forester's River was on the main branch of the Ringarooma River. A little later he found fertile land in the near-by Scottsdale district, which was named after his family., For most of the 1850s Scott was the only surveyor in Launceston. In 1853 the department ceased to give him work, but not for long as no other surveyors could be found. When again offered a government post he refused it and continued to work on contract. He did much of the early survey of Port Sorell and Devonport. When the lands of the Cressy L& Co. were broken up about 1854 he did the survey. He did not like 'teaching young men who might oppose me later', but in 1856 when Thomas's two sons arrived he trained the elder, James Reid Scott. After 1860 he restricted his activities as a surveyor. He owned many properties and an interest in a coal mine at the Don River, was a director of the British and Tasmanian Charcoal Iron Co., and a foundation director and later chairman of the Mutual Fire Insurance Co. He was appointed a justice of the peace in 1862. He served on the Launceston City Council, and in 1879 was chairman of the Launceston General Hospital Board. For some years he was chairman of the Paterson's Plains Road Trust. Independent of any political party, he was a member of the House of Assembly for George Town in 1869-77 and for South Launceston from 1878 until his death in 1884., 1: James Scott

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Unclassified