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Ashton Gate History
On the orders of Governor King of New South Wales, a party of soldiers in 1804
was dispatched to form a settlement in the north of the island to thwart any attempt
by the French to establish themselves there.
At the centre of a fertile farming belt, Launceston became a bustling agricultural town by 1840 however it hit its peak in 1870s when gold, silver and coal were discovered in the north.
Andrew William Birchall (b 1831, Manchester) on arrival in Hobart in 1853 gained employment as a reporter with the Colonial Times. He married Miss Harriet Ward in 1856 whom he had known prior to sailing to the Antipodes. In 1858 they moved to Launceston where AW managed and subsequently purchased a book selling business.
An extract from the Launceston Examiner Friday, July 16, 1880 reads...
At the corner of Arthur-street and High-street, a family residence of thirteen rooms, with two bay windows and verandahs back and front, has been erected by Mr Russell for Mr A. W. Birchall, and is nearly completed. The rooms are both spacious and lofty, the dining- room measuring 22ft.by 15ft., and the principal bedroom is of the same dimensions. The drawing-room measures 18ft. by 18ft., and the second bed-room is of the same dimensions. The entrance hall is six feet wide. In addition to the before mentioned rooms are nursery, smaller bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, scullery, etc. The house, when completed, will be found to be a most convenient and commodious residence.
The property was named Moss-Side and stayed in the Birchall family until 1921.
Three more owners called Moss-Side home and in 1951 the Shallis family purchased and converted it into a guest house and subsequently sold Ashton Gate Guest House to William Salt Turner. At that time the Land and buildings were valued at eight thousand pounds and Chattels and Goodwill valued at three thousand five hundred pounds.
Ownership changed hands three more times and the current owners, Miss Jennifer Beavers and Mr John White became custodians of this delightful Victorian home in 2007.
Numerous documents, archival material and papers which chronicle the 19th century life and times of its first owner Mr Andrew William Birchall are on display and invite your inspection at Ashton Gate.
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