The next Launceston Historical Society event will be:

The 33^rd John West Memorial Lecture

 Dr Eric Ratcliff

John West’s Launceston and where it went

 Friday 12 March 2021 – 8pm,  Sir Raymond Ferrall Centre, University of Tasmania, Newnham.

John West came to Launceston at the end of 1838 and left in 1854. The lecture examines how the town had come to be, what it was like when he arrived, who lived and worked here, what it consisted of, and what it looked like. Was it a ‘company town’, dependent on government, or an English provincial town a long way from London, or a self-reliant and enterprising community, or something else? Was it in any way exceptional? What happened to it during West’s fifteen years of residence, and after his departure, what has become of it since, and what is happening to it now?

Eric Ratcliff is the author of the four-volume A Far Microcosm: Building and Architecture in Van Diemen’s Land and Tasmania 1803-1914.

Entry is free and everyone is welcome.

Bookings essential on Eventbrite, accessed through the Launceston Historical Society website / Activities / John West Memorial Lecture:

http://launcestonhistory.org.au/activities/john-west-lecture/