A Coastal Pioneer
The death occurred yesterday afternoon of Mr. Henry Carter, one of the pioneers of the North West Coast, at his residence Steele Street, Devonport, at the age of 93 years. The deceased was one of the most familiar figures in Devonport, where he had resided for close upon 60 years, and had acquired considerable property. He has been gradually declining for the past three months, and the end was not unexpected. The funeral will take place at the Don cemetery to-morrow afternoon. Mr. Carter was born at High Burton, near Huddersfield, in January 1824, and has had a somewhat varied career. He was apprenticed to a well-known Yorkshire firm of cutlery manufacturers, and at the age of 30 years he was with many others at that time attracted to the colonies. Having accepted an engagement with the Launceston mining syndicate as blacksmith, he sailed from London in the ship Balmoral in 1854, the year of the Crimean War. Under the same agreement Allan Beaumont, Michael Wood, George Laycock and Thomas Lodge, who have since passed over to the Great Beyond, sailed in the same ship as Mr. Carter. The voyage though rough, was uneventful, and 15 weeks elapsed before the party reached their destination. At that time Launceston was a town not nearly so large as Devonport now is, Mr. Carter’s early experiences in the Tamar city were far from pleasant ones as in one day he witnessed the execution of two prisoners, the old regime of Van Diemen’s Land then being in full swing. A stay of three days was made in Launceston, as a week’s holiday was granted by the employers after the long voyage out. At the expiration of that period Mr. Carter was dispatched to Dulverton, where the production of coal was being carried on. The terms of Mr. Carter’s employment was for a period of three years at a salary of 104 pounds per annum, with rations and house to live in. It will therefore be observed that the rates for artisans in those times compared very favorably with the present-day wages; in fact they were better, as the cost of living was much cheaper. Coal was quickly located, but the seam was but 20 inches thick, and it was then that the company considered that the body was too small a dimension to work profitably with a tramway, and naturally were anxious to terminate the agreements made with the party. At this time a gold boom was experienced in Victoria, and money was so abundant that it was a common occurrence to see a person light his pipe with a note. Several of the party were attracted to the mainland, and the success of the move was varied, but Mr. Carter insisted on the agreement being adhered to, and he had the satisfaction of receiving 30 pounds from the company in addition to his last quarter’s salary. Mr. Carter was then compelled to seek fresh fields and pastures new. He decided to settle at a spot where now stands the prosperous town of Devonport. It was an uninviting place for anyone to make their abode; dense bush was encountered in every direction; there were no roads, bush tracks served as the thoroughfares from one settlement to the other; there was little habitation. It indeed must have required a considerable amount of determination to have carved a home out of the forest, but it was done, and at his death Mr. Carter could claim to be one of the most extensive landowners in the town. Was he then not entitled to the distinction of being the pioneer of the town? For he has lived here ever since, and he has watched it grown from nothing to its present prosperous state, and besides, practically everything he possessed was in the town. The reasons many times advanced by Mr. Carter for settling here was the harbour, and he had been confident from the start that the river would prove an attraction. This forecast proved correct, as before his death Mr. Carter had the satisfaction of seeing the harbour brought up to date, and its scope of usefulness extended by the inauguration of the limestone industry. One of his first ventures was to open a blacksmith’s shop, but there was not enough work offering to make it a profitable undertaking, not even when worked in conjunction with a small farm, which was situated near to the present bacon factory. He very soon disposed of these businesses, and he then accepted the contract for the carriage of mails between Torquay (now East Devonport) and Forth. A ferry service connected Torquay and Formby, and a charge of one shilling each way was made. Of course, there were then no shops on the Formby side of the river. On the east side Mrs. Stephenson conducted a hotel, and a good deal of country between Torquay and Northdown was under cultivation, but it was nevertheless wild, which is evidenced by the fact that a tribe of aborigines roamed along the seashore between Port Sorell and Torquay, the former settlement being their headquarters. This tribe subsequently speared Mr. Jocelyn Thomas to death at Pardoe. For two years Mr. Carter carried the mails by foot, and was compelled to cross the Don River on a log, but at low tide he was able to wade across the stream lower down, while at high tide a man with a boat ferried him across. Mr. Carter on two occasions had an exciting experience with bushrangers, and was held up. However Mrs. Carter saved the situation by supplying them with food, and no damage was done. One gang induced one of Mr. Carter’s men to join them, and when captured some time later he was sentenced to a couple of year’s imprisonment. Upon the expiration of the mail contract Mr. Carter went in extensively as a dealer, and within a few weeks of his last illness he was as keen on a deal as ever, and so being a Yorkshireman, he seldom secured the worst end of the bargain, as is demonstrated by the amount of property he has since amassed. He has seen the changes and chances of farm life, and has seen potatoes selling at 12 shillings per ton and as high as 40 pound, while he saw the time when flour could be purchased at 5 pound per ton, while wheat at a later period reached one pound per bushel. On many occasions he has assisted to drive cattle across the Mersey bar, which could be many years ago forded at low tide, and the cattle were invariably driven round the beaches in preference to the road. There is perhaps no one who has seen such a transformation brought about on the coast. Latrobe, Ulverstone, Burnie, or Wynyard were practically unheard of, and it may be gauged from this fact that the business settlements on the coast were on a small scale. During his 60 years’ sojourn in Tasmania he never once visited the mainland while only on two occasions did he visit Hobart. Almost up to the time of his death he retained his faculties, and was truly a marvellous man.