Launceston & Surrounds & G.V. Brooks High Pictorial History

Launceston & Surrounds & G.V. Brooks High Pictorial History On the 3rd of February, 1948 the Newnham Hall Community School was opened with 160 students. Brooks Feel free to post your old photo’s and stories.

Later that year on the 12th of August 1948 Tasmania’s Premier and Minister for Education laid the foundation stone and renamed the school the G.V. This page has been created by an ex High School student from Brooks High and an ex boarder from Newnham Hall Hostel. I have also included other Hostels from around the Launceston area with photos and history. Research had taken most of 2010 and will con

tinue after I publish my page, so make sure you return as I will keep adding photos and information as I continue my research, gaining more information to post. My photos and history covered, mainly takes in the years 1948 to 2010. I will acknowledge all those that have helped and assisted me this year with information, photos and stories. There are 2 other Brooks High pages, however these pages are mainly visited and joined by ex students who have no interest what so ever about their schools ! Please show respect to ex students and teachers when you make a post to my page. There are 53 Year Books published to date, Years 1962 through to 2015- 63 Photo albums,including 31 albums of Historical photos from around Launceston & Tasmania, 8 Albums on the Newnham hall Hostel, with over 5,000 photos, documents and newspaper/magazine clippings posted, so please make sure you navigate to each page in the photo’s tab. I hope you will enjoy my page, as I have had much pleasure the past, researching and putting all the information together, which has been scattered about the internet and public domain. Most of the images that are contained within this page have been accessed from the public domain and not intended for commercial purposes. This is a non profit page !

From QVMAGQVM:2023:P:0323A Stanley Martin black and white photograph proof, of the visit to Launceston, Tasmania, of nor...
07/09/2026

From QVMAG
QVM:2023:P:0323

A Stanley Martin black and white photograph proof, of the visit to Launceston, Tasmania, of north-east State schools, 16 April 1932.

This photograph shows 11 students from the Pioneer State School at City Park. The photograph was published in “The Weekly Courier”, Thursday, 21 April 1932, p. 25.
Photo: Martin, Stanley

Inscription on verso: North East Coast State Schools at Launceston. Children from Pioneer S.S view with admiration the fine dahlias in the City Park.

Research From Gage:Been looking more into the Treherne and Mansfield properties at Newnham.In 1864, Alexander Murray Mil...
07/09/2026

Research From Gage:
Been looking more into the Treherne and Mansfield properties at Newnham.

In 1864, Alexander Murray Milligan purchased a lot of 105 acres. In 1872, Alexander sold 90 acres of that to William Hill. This 90 acres became Mansfield (later on in 1898 James Peters purchased Mansfield ).
Alexander kept the 15 acre lot over other side of George Town Rd which Treherne house sat on and kept that parcel of land until he died at Treherne in 1883 it seems.

The SS Koomeela - was a well-known coastal steamship operated by the prominent Tasmanian shipping company William Holym...
07/09/2026

The SS Koomeela - was a well-known coastal steamship operated by the prominent Tasmanian shipping company William Holyman & Sons.
For decades, it served as a vital lifeline for isolated communities along Tasmania's East Coast before the advent of reliable, sealed road networks.

Ship Specifications & Background
• Built: 1912 in Sydney for Wm. Holyman & Sons.
• Size: 191 gross tonnes.

• Role: The Koomeela was brought in to replace an older Holyman vessel, the SS Koonookarra (161 tonnes). It plied Tasmanian waters—predominantly trading out of the River Derwent in Hobart up along the rugged East Coast—carrying supplies, mail, livestock, fuel, timber, machinery, and passengers. It remained in service right up until the outbreak of World War II.

Trips to St Helens and the East Coast

Before highways connected the region, towns like Bicheno, Coles Bay, Swansea, and St Helens relied almost exclusively on coastal steamers for survival.
The Koomeela was a mainstay on the Launceston–St Helens–Hobart run

• The Route: A typical voyage saw the ship loading or discharging goods at Launceston, heading down the East Coast to negotiate the notorious sandbar entry into Georges Bay at St Helens, and continuing south to Hobart.

• St Helens Wharf: The ship was a frequent sight at the historic St Helens Wharf, unloading essential infrastructure and loading local primary produce, particularly timber from nearby mills.

• Lighthouse Resupply: Alongside commercial cargo, the vessel also assisted in crucial Commonwealth Lighthouse Service runs. It brought relief supplies and mail to remote outposts near its route, including Eddystone Point just north of St Helens, as well as Swan Island and Deal Island.

The Koomeela no longer exists, and she did not return to Tasmanian waters after her service in World War II.
While Tasmanian maritime records often note that she "quietly disappeared" from local coastlines at the outbreak of the war, her final years took her far from home:

• World War II Service (1942): In May 1942, the Koomeela was acquired by the United States Army Small Ships Command. Her steam engines were stripped out and replaced with an 8-cylinder General Motors diesel engine. She was sent into the Pacific theater—operating out of ports like Tulagi in the Solomon Islands—to transport troops, supplies, and prefabricated landing boats for General Douglas MacArthur's campaign.

• Post-War Disposal (1945): After surviving the war, she was sold off by the Commonwealth Disposals Commission in 1945. She was briefly registered in Brisbane in 1946.

The Final Move to Timor (1947): In 1947, her Australian registry was officially closed when she was sold to the Government of Portugal. She was sent to the territory of Portuguese Timor (now East Timor) for local commercial or administrative use

The "Priestman" - The highly significant, long-serving dredging plant on the Tamar River that operated on a completely d...
06/09/2026

The "Priestman" - The highly significant, long-serving dredging plant on the Tamar River that operated on a completely different mechanical mechanism than the bucket-ladder design of the Ponrabbel. It was a steam-driven grab/bucket crane dredge featuring a distinctive slewing (rotating) gear, with its machinery originally manufactured by the famous Priestman Brothers engineering firm in Hull, UK.

The history of the Priestman plant on the Tamar spans two distinct iterations:
1. The Original SS West Arm (1885–1936)
In the 1880s, the Marine Board of Launceston faced an aggressive siltation crisis as larger steamships began making the journey from Melbourne and Sydney. Needing a versatile machine that could widen and deepen tight berths, they imported a Priestman dredging plant from England.

• The Vessel: The machinery was transported across the world aboard the barque Lanoma. In Launceston, a 60-foot iron-riveted floating pontoon hull named the SS West Arm was constructed in early 1886 to carry the plant.

• The Career: The Priestman dredge entered service in April 1886. Unlike the massive Ponrabbel which dug long, straight channels, the nimble Priestman was used for precise dock work—clearing mud from around the Tamar Street Bridge, the Town Pier, and industrial sites like the Mount Bischoff Tin Smelting Works Wharf.

• Retirement: The original SS West Arm worked tirelessly for exactly 50 years until it was decommissioned in 1936. Its hull was left on the banks of the Tamar at Beauty Point, eventually being converted into a private houseboat in 1948
The 1938 Rebuild (The "Wombat" Conversion)
Because the Priestman crane machinery itself was incredibly robust and still highly functional, the Marine Board chose not to scrap it.

• The New Barge: In 1938, the Marine Board commissioned the prominent local firm Glasgow Engineering Co. in Launceston to construct a brand-new, massive steel dredge pontoon.

• The Construction: Built during a bitterly wet winter using a hand-riveted process with pneumatic riveting guns, the new 100-ton, 71-foot barge cost £4,000 to construct.

• The Transplant: The original steam-driven Priestman crane plant—which had been temporarily sitting on an old vessel called the Wombat—was lifted and permanently installed onto this new, modern barge.

•
This resurrected Priestman dredge went right back to work clearing the upper reaches of the Tamar. Decades later, its aging steam engines were finally converted to a diesel motor, keeping the historic Priestman mechanical design alive on the river long into the 20th century.]

Photo Credits:

Dredge and barge on the Tamar River near Launceston
Item Number:
LPIC147/7/20
Start Date:
Circa Decade 1930
End Date:
Circa 1939
Source:
Tasmanian Archives

Postcard - Trevallyn from Royal Park, Launceston, Tasmania. Rose series P12385Item Number:LPIC147/7/82Start Date:Circa 1...
06/09/2026

Postcard - Trevallyn from Royal Park, Launceston, Tasmania. Rose series P12385
Item Number:
LPIC147/7/82
Start Date:
Circa 1948
End Date:
31 Dec 1948
Source:
Tasmanian Archives

We have a follower that has asked for: any information and photos on the building/s behind Waverley Woolen Mills, in the...
06/09/2026

We have a follower that has asked for: any information and photos on the building/s behind Waverley Woolen Mills, in the 1940's onwards.

Looks like it was built in the late 40's to early 50's and half gone by the early 70's then completely gone by 1976 or thereabouts.

See images ⬇️

The current property address is 16-30 Waverley Road.

Any ideas or help, would be appriciated, thank you.

The Metropole Hotel and Inquest
05/09/2026

The Metropole Hotel and Inquest

Vale Albert Taurian
05/09/2026

Vale Albert Taurian

Address

Newnham, TAS

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Launceston & Surrounds & G.V. Brooks High Pictorial History posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share