Sheffield Tasmania History

History

The area was explored by the surveyor Nathaniel Kentish in 1842 who was given the task of finding a route from Deloraine through to Tasmania's north west coast. The accident of Kentish's last name has led to the area being called the Kentish District and the area around Sheffield being called Kentish Plains. This area was opened up to settlement but was neither surveyed nor settled until 1859. This was probably due to the dense forest which existed in the surrounding area.

By 1862 thirty lots of land had been sold and the settlement of Sheffield had been named. It is now widely accepted that 'Sheffield' as a name was probably chosen by Edward Curr, the manager of the Van Diemen's Land Company, who was a native of Sheffield in England.

The area grew slowly but the commencement of the Mersey-Forth Power Development Scheme in 1963 saw the town grow dramatically. The completion of the power scheme - seven dams and seven power stations - in 1973 saw the town's population decline. Today it has grown to become the centre of the surrounding Kentish district.
 

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