I’ve never been to Derby before.
It’s an old mining town: tin, discovered in the 1870s. The town grew up — the population was about 3000 at one point — the mine went away, the town dwindled. The population at the 2006 census was 300. Although it is still a busy little town, except on Saturdays at 4 pm, because of the Tin Centre.
It also feels like the town is clinging to the side of a hill.
In November 1853 a local bank, the Bank of Tasmania, was established with capital of £200,000 comprised of 4,000 shares of £50. Like other banks, it profited from its proximity to the Victorian markets and goldfields and aimed to stop profits from banking being absorbed by the London-run banks. Locals gave increasing support to the Bank of Tasmania, but it experienced difficulties in late 1884 when it suffered crippling losses and defalcations. It also endured the major bank robbery of the nineteenth century when armed men robbed the Beaconsfield branch of £2100 in notes and £500 in coin and bullion in 1884.
In 1885 the Bank of Tasmania was reorganised as the National Bank of Tasmania after a report by a Melbourne public accountant George Horne, who was appointed general manager. Under Horne, the bank steadily grew and he skilfully guided it through the reefs and shoals of the depression.
The National Bank of Tasmania survived the 1890s depression by avoiding the more glittering but risky trade indulged in by some local and mainland banks and steering clear of overtrading. Throughout the 1890s the National prudently strengthened its reserve and capital accounts against possible emergencies, which reduced the dividend for shareholders, but inspired confidence in the bank’s careful management. In 1897 George Dalrymple Gleadow became manager and the bank prospered in the agricultural and mining districts. It was taken over by the Commercial Bank of Australia in 1918 [which later became part of Westpac. Stefan Petrow, Launceston’s National Bank
There’s a sign around the corner that says it’s Tasmania’s oldest timber bank building. Now it’s touristy sort of shop. I think. It wasn’t open, and it’s also for sale.
In terms of lives lost, Tasmania’s most severe flood occurred in 1929 after heavy rains covered the whole of the state. The once prosperous tin mining centre of Derby was practically wiped out when the Cascade Dam (containing 188 million gallons of water) burst on 5 April and flooded the Briseis Tin Mine. Fourteen lives were lost in the only dam-burst in Australia’s history to have taken human life. Houses were crushed like matchsticks as a twelve-foot wave of water swept through the town. A ten-ton granite boulder which had travelled two miles was among the mountain of debris left in its wake. The influx of water caused the Ringarooma River above Derby to run uphill for nearly six hours. The Companion to Tasmanian History – Floods
The resultant flood broke the dam, and a huge wall of water surged down the river valley towards the town, engulfing several houses and other buildings and pouring into the workings of the Briseis Mine. Fourteen lives were lost, including one family of five who were sitting down to a meal when their home was carried away. Senior Constable William Taylor was awarded the Royal Humane Society Medal and the King George Medal for bravery in saving eight stranded miners. John Beswick, Briseis Dam Disaster, The Companion to Tasmanian History
This seems to be an early photo of the hotel. The upper storey windows and roofline of the right hand building on the postcard match that of the current building.
Now to go back down the other side of the street.
I tried to find some older photos of the town. This one shows the whole. It’s a bit hard to make out details, but seems to be a substantially bigger town with slightly barer hills. This one shows the main street c.1905. It hasn’t changed much, except the highway has been sealed.
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