Glebe House, a typical gracious and historic home in Kempton

Kempton
Charming historic township north of Hobart
A small and charming colonial settlement which is registered as a classified historic town, Kempton is located 49 km north of Hobart just off the Midland Highway.

The district was first settled by Europeans in 1814 and was known as Green Ponds - a name which is still retained as the local municipality. In 1816, Anthony Fenn Kemp, a thoroughly unpleasant and despotic soldier-merchant, who seems to have spent most of his life fighting with governors and trying to manipulate the political scene in both New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land settled in the district.

Kemp arrived in Australia in 1795 and served two years at Norfolk Island as a commissioned ensign in the New South Wales Corp. In 1799 he established a shop on the corner of King and George Streets in Sydney where he managed, due to his privileged position as treasurer of the Committee of Paymastership, to sell goods to his fellow soldiers at huge profits. One contemporary report suggests that he bullied his fellow soldiers into buying from his shop and marked up his goods by 100 per cent. Attempting to maintain this lucrative sideline he ended up brawling with Governor King over a shipload of brandy, waged a pamphlet war against Governor King, and was instrumental in the overthrow of Governor Bligh.

In 1804 he was appointed second-in-command at Port Dalrymple (Launceston) and from August 1806 to April 1807 was in charge of the infant colony.

He settled in Van Diemen's Land in 1816 and by the 1830s, through a combination of grants and purchases, had 4100 acres in the Green Ponds area. It was here that he established and developed Tasmania's infant wool industry, bred horses and cattle, and introduced a hardy, North American, variety of corn.

In some quarters he is known as the 'Father of Tasmania' but this has much to do with the fact that his family (who married extensively into the upper echelons of Tasmanian society) consisted of seven sons and eleven daughters.

It is not surprising, given the size of Kemp's holdings, that Green Ponds was renamed Kempton in 1840.

Things to see:  

St Mary's Church of England
The major historic buildings in the town include the National Estate listed St Mary's Church of England, a sandstone Gothic Revival building which was probably designed by James Blackburn. It was completed in 1844 and is notable for its square tower, its interesting cemetery, and its position as a central feature of Kempton's townscape.

Congregational Church
Nearby is the Congregational Church (1840) which is a simple stone Georgian church which also has an interesting old cemetery.

The Wilmot Arms

Wilmot Arms Inn
The Wilmot Arms Inn (1844) in the Main Road was built by convicts and operated as a licensed inn until 1897. It is said that the proprietor suddenly got religion and stopped making alcohol and fed all his spirits to the pigs. From 1897 it became a private residence. It fell into disrepair but was restored in 1978. Today it is part of Tasmania's Colonial Accommodation circuit.

Dysart House
Another coaching inn in the area was Dysart House (now a private residence) a large two storey Georgian stone inn which was built in 1842. It is recognised as one of the finest coaching inns on the old Midlands Highway.

CD406214.JPG Glebe House, a typical gracious and historic home in Kempton

CD406215.JPG The Wilmot Arms

	Hotels
	Huntington Tavern Main Rd Kempton TAS 7030 Telephone: (03) 6259 1292
	Bed & Breakfast/Guesthouses
	Wilmot Arms Inn Bed & Breakfast Main Rd Kempton TAS 7030 Telephone: (03) 6259 1272 Rating: ****