Time Tours

14/10/2021

For a number of reasons, I no longer run tours of Richmond. Thanks to all who joined me.

08/04/2020

One thing we are known for at Prospect House is the sharing of history and telling of tales. Without our guests we are missing this ever so dearly and have decided to instead bring the stories to you! Each week we will share with you a piece of our history, a tale or a titbit that makes Prospect House so special.

#1 - Black Market Bricks...
The bricks of Prospect are all convict made and nearing 200 years old. The two brothers who built Prospect - James and Henry Buscombe - each had slightly different methods, and perhaps slightly different moral compasses... James was the upstanding citizen; married, 2 children and a fine business man. Henry however remained unmarried through his life and was often caught "frolicking" with the maids of the house in varying bedrooms and barns of the property... He was also quite the cost-cutter and well known for purchasing building items through black market means, which included convict bricks. These bricks - whilst economical - were of a very poor quality. Can you tell from the image attached which bricks are James's and which might have been purchased by Henry?

12/01/2020

This is one of many pages in the Comptroller-General's list of convict deaths. There is no recognition of the human story behind the name, the conditions endured or even the cause of death. It makes sober reading. John Conroy was 33 when he died from an unknown cause. A convict, even in death, the details recorded are the ship he was transported on and whose service he was in. He's buried somewhere in St John's Cemetery in an unmarked grave.

11/01/2020

I’m currently researching the occupants of Richmond’s historic graves. My search has taken me to Clark and Son’s funeral records. These are interesting snapshots into a time gone by. These two entries are particularly noteworthy. Arthur Ogilvy’s wife was murdered by Christina Cooley’s son, Arthur.

03/01/2020

Here’s a great opportunity to have a look inside Government House without the Open Day crowds.

25/12/2019

On Christmas Day 1840, six-year-old Alfred Robins was accidentally shot by his father. He is buried at St Luke's Cemetery and his is one of many sad stories concerning how those buried there died. Next year I hope to publish a guide to the historic parts of Richmond's three cemeteries. Watch this space.

01/12/2019

Just spent a lovely 90 mins at the annual Advent concert to raise funds for the ongoing restoration costs of St John’s Church. Beautiful music in a historically significant setting. Look out for it next year if you missed out.

19/10/2019

At the Female Convict Research Centre seminar. This time the focus is on the convict women admitted to the New Norfolk Asylum.

17/10/2019

Went to an interesting lecture at the synagogue tonight. Our synagogue is the oldest still standing in Australia - built in 1845 by James Alexander Thomson, the man who did the internal roof work at St Luke’s Church, Richmond.

30/09/2019

At night time it’s incredible how well red light shone from the side shows up worn headstone inscriptions that you’ve little hope of reading during the day.

30/09/2019

I’m working on an interesting research project at the moment. More details when I am able. This photo is of a letter sent to William Bignell at La Belle Alliance Farm at Cambridge (Hollow Tree). I’m amazed at the wax seal, the penmanship and the desire to use every part of the paper.

25/09/2019

So sad to see vandalism at St Luke’s Cemetery. Apparently, some people raid graves for sandstone to use in their gardens.

11/08/2019

Who says there’s nothing to do in Richmond at night? Join in a 90 minute evening tour to experience the darker side of colonial Richmond. Be entertained with some not so well-known stories of Richmond's past. Hear about corrupt magistrates, dodgy businessmen, an amateur taxidermist and a grumpy miller. Find out why there was an almighty brawl in Bridge Street outside the Lennox Arms Inn in 1856. Discover what a hated convict, a former butcher and a four-year-old girl have in common.
There are spaces available on tours running on Saturday the 17th and Friday the 30th of August. For each person who books, $5 will be donated to the CRVHS. Go to https://timetours.com.au/bookings/details/149609/richmond-after-dark-gossip-ghosts-and-graft/

20/07/2019

Have a look at this 360 degree virtual photograph of colonial Hobart Town - it’s great. The Virtual Hobart Town page has lots of other digital representations of early Hobart. Fascinating.

Images are good, videos are better, but with a 3D digital model we can jump inside the virtual world and take a look around!
Join us on the Timber Jetty on Hunter Island, near today's First Settler's Memorial on Hunter Street.

Use you mouse (or smartphone) to pan around!

01/06/2019

Today I went to the official opening of the restored Commissariat building at Oatlands. The work they have done to the store, cottage and shop is incredible. Even more exciting, it is to be the hub of a training centre for heritage crafts. Absolutely fantastic.

31/05/2019

Look at this sad one from 3/8/1879. Agnes Riley is listed as the late domestic of Josiah Wade, Rose Hill, Richmond. Magistrate Winston Churchill Simmons committed her for trial at the next sitting of the Hobart Supreme Court. I have yet to follow up the outcome.

31/05/2019

Yesterday afternoon I found myself in the lovely position of having some time to do some research. I looked through POL582/1/1, the charge book from the Richmond police station. It contains entries from 3/4/1872 - 26 June 1900 and is interesting on a variety of levels. The overwhelming impression I get is of ageing convicts who are struggling with alcoholism. Some names appear with alarming regularity, such as Thomas/Tommy Shaw or Tommy the Roundhead, who seems to have an entry for being drunk and disorderly on every second page. Edward Sloane and Patrick Keady are regularly charged too. As are a number of women. Interestingly though, the women are often imprisoned for being drunk while the men are simply fined. Details below.

24/05/2019

The Coal River Valley Historical Society will launch their fifth journal, 'Remember When...', at Oak Lodge at 2.00 pm on Sunday 26th May. It contains anecdotes from people who grew up in the Valley and provides interesting information about the area in the early to mid-twentieth century. The journal includes numerous photos of individuals and community groups including school classes and sporting teams. You can buy it at Oak Lodge for $20.00.

24/03/2019

Whilst walking through St David’s Park this morning, I was delighted to find the headstone of Henry Buscombe. Henry built a number of the buildings around Richmond. Find out which ones on the night tour, Gossip, Ghosts and Graft. At the end of Daylight Savings, the new starting time for the tour will be 6.00 pm. By the way, due to the softness of the sandstone it looks like he was 10 but up close you can see the inscription says he was aged 40 and died in 1844.

03/03/2019

Come out to Summer Hill today to catch a
glimpse of Richmond in earlier times at the Heritage Farm Machinery Expo. You can see wheat threshing, bullock teams and working horses plus a host of other interesting things.

02/02/2019

Today I had the absolute pleasure of having a snoop around Prospect House. The work that the Pooleys have done is absolutely lovely. It is now a private hotel and they are talking about hosting cooking classes too. Have a look and see what you think.

25/01/2019

There is a great opportunity coming up to have a look inside one of Richmond's prominent buildings. On Saturday 2 February from 11-2 the newly restored Prospect House will be open to the public in its latest incarnation as a private hotel. The building has a rich history, beginning with its construction out of convict brick for James Kestell Buscombe in the early 1830s.

He died there in 1851 and is buried in St Luke's cemetery. His wife, Elizabeth, became distrustful and forgetful before she died in 1860. The gossip goes that she decided to hide her jewels somewhere in the house or on the property but couldn't remember where she'd hidden them. They still haven't been found but it seems that she's still looking. It is said that the figure of a woman dressed in old-fashioned clothing and a white frilly hat wanders about the house. Perhaps she's looking for her lost jewels.

You can hear more about James Kestell Buscombe and his brother, Henry, and about the cannon that shattered all the windows in the house, on my night tour. See the website for details.

22/01/2019

If you’re coming out to Richmond why not try the augmented reality experience offered by the very new Uist app. It shows you what Buscombe’s windmill may have been like and much more. If you’re interested in what you see and want more detail why not book one of my tours?

11/01/2019

The Richmond Barracks offers award winning accommodation in a heritage setting. The Barracks may be among the oldest of Richmond's buildings and is a lovely place to stay when visiting. Simone, the personable and welcoming host, has won a Certificate of Excellence from Trip Advisor, a Hotels Combined Recognition of Excellence and Stellar Stays award. Why not stay at the Barracks and book a night tour on a warm summer's evening?

27/11/2018

My friend Robyn Everist is about to release this fabulous book. It’s a field guide to colonial Hobart’s churches. You can save $5.00 if you order now. A great Christmas present for yourself - or somebody else!
https://www.hobarthistory.com.au/books/

A field guide to the Churches of Colonial Hobart Available mid December 2018: Get in early and pre-order your copy now RRP $25 Your special pre-order price $20 Thank you for your interest in the churches of colonial Hobart. To pre-order your copy, please fill in the form below. I shall be in touch t...

24/11/2018

The former Prince of Wales Hotel is just up from Saleyard Corner on Franklin Street, Richmond. The back part of it may be the oldest rammed earth structure in Australia. Look closely and you can see shell fragments in the mortar of the facade, used to give lime to the mix. At one time, John and James McGowan ran the establishment. Both men came out on the ‘Minerva’ in 1818 and were important members of Richmond’s Irish community. You can find out more about Irish Town on my Cemetery Tour. See the website for details.

22/11/2018

Don’t know what to buy that certain someone for Christmas? 🎁 🎉🎁
What about a gift voucher for a walking tour of Richmond? 🎄🎄🎄

Check out our reviews on Trip Advisor. There’s a link on the homepage of our website.

18/11/2018

Who was the woman living in Richmond who had been at the centre of an international scandal? What was the gossip about? Why was the miller living in the cottage on the Village Green feeling grumpy? How do being an undertaker and an interest in taxidermy go together? The answers will be revealed on a night tour running this Wednesday 21st. There are still spaces available. Just go to the website to book and select Richmond After Dark: Gossip, Ghosts and Graft.

Time Tours offers well-researched and entertaining guided tours of Richmond, Tasmania. Our tours have been developed through extensive research undertaken with incredible interest and passion. We offer an evening tour of Richmond, which focuses on gossip and corruption with the occasional ghost stor...

14/11/2018

I have spaces available this Saturday for a two hour walking tour of Richmond. Join me to hear about Richmond’s development from a place to cross the Coal River to a major Police District. A highlight of the walk is a guided tour through the historic gaol. The newly restored Gaoler’s House (shown below) was officially opened to the public just last Friday. Come along and have a look inside with me. The tour will run from 11.00 - 1.00. Please contact me for details.

10/11/2018

Dr Stuart King lectures in architectural history at the University of Melbourne. His tour touched on two people who were involved in building Richmond’s icons. The first (unqualified) Colonial Architect, William Wilson, oversaw the initial stages of construction of the Richmond Bridge. He is also responsible for the court building below left.

Former convict James Alexander Thompson (who worked on the wooden ceiling of St Luke’s Church) set up his own practice in Hobart Town as an architect/engineer/surveyor and is responsible for many buildings including the two below right.

09/11/2018

Waiting for the ‘Designing the Nineteenth Century City’ walking tour to begin. It’s part of Open House for 2018.

27/10/2018

Excited to be at the Female Convicts Research Centre Spring Seminar. What new connections to Richmond will I discover?

02/09/2018

My research into the Benwell murder case is suggesting that Charles Benwell was framed for the murder of George Lowe. It’s too detailed to go into here so I will write a post for my blog which you can access on the Time Tours website. I’ll post here to let you know when the blog entry is finished. Let’s just say that Constable John Byron (buried in the Catholic cemetery at Richmond) was one of the first to speak to the man who would become the star witness.

27/08/2018

Wondering what to give your dad for Fathers Day? How about a gift voucher for a tour of Richmond? You can choose from a night tour focusing on gossip, ghosts and graft, a tour of convict Richmond or a tour of Richmond’s cemeteries? Just send a PM here or go to the website and use the contact form provided: www.timetours.com.au
Tours will run with a minimum of two people.

21/08/2018

An intriguing little document. It was published to ‘show the dreadful depravity of the human heart’ and ‘the awful danger of yielding to temptations’.

23/06/2018

During a tour of Anglesea Barracks with THRA (Tasmanian Historical Research Association) I saw two headstones which are relevant to Richmond and the Coal River Valley. I’ve posted pictures with explanations below.

Established in 1811, Anglesea Barracks is the oldest continuously used barracks in Australia. The Georgian buildings are gorgeous. The military museum is open to the public at selected times and well worth a look, especially for the new display of war medals.

23/04/2018

I'm always amazed at the way serendipity brings people together. Yesterday during a break in the Female Convicts Research Centre autumn seminar, I wandered out into the foyer of the Town Hall. My eyes were drawn to a man's name tag because it's the name of one of the people I talk about on my cemetery tour. It turned out that he and his wife had traveled from Victoria to attend the seminar to find out more information about her - and I had some. We met today in Richmond and I was able to provide some details about her convict record and took them to see the solitary cells at the gaol, the court house and St Luke's Cemetery, all of which played a part in Elizabeth McConchie's story. What a privilege. Thank you, Ian and Sue McConchie, for a lovely afternoon.

If you're interested in Elizabeth McConchie's story, join me on the cemetery tour. I am happy to run a tour with a minimum of two people.

18/04/2018

Here's a Trip Advisor review of the Cemetery Tour that you can attend this Saturday at 11.00. Go to the website to see more reviews and to book.

"A great experience doing the time tours cemetery tour. Michelle did an outstanding job highlighting the past in Richmond. Michelle’s research and knowledge was truly remarkable. Although the focus was historic, there were many links made to today. One member of the tour actually recognised the name of a person on a tombstone and made connections with her family ancestry. I would highly recommend this tour. It was informative, interesting, engaging, relevant and heart warming. It made me want to learn more about my family ancestry. Well done Michelle and thank you for the wonderful experience."