History

If you have any photographs or documents relating to Atherfield,
we would be very grateful to purchase them from you, or obtain
copies. You can contact us on 0403 85 8210 or write to us at:

PO Box 640, New Norfolk, TAS, 7140.

THIS PAGE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION


 
  • 1813 Original land grant of 32 Acres to Thomas Gay/Guy


  • 22 July 1831, Ann Bridger purchased the property for 90 pounds and 10 shillings.

    •  
  • In 1852, William Davis purchased the house and land for 180 pounds with a mortgage from Ann Bridger.
    • And so began the period of 20 or more years where Atherfield served as an Inn.
     
  • 1864 John James Aston Watkins and Mary Agnes Watkins purchased for

    • 400 pounds with a mortgage to William Davis. John was born in england in 1817 and died in Hobart in 1866. He married Mary Agnes Myerscough in Hobart in 1841. It appears they had no children.
     
  • 1879 Thomas Gethin Coote purchased property for 610 pounds
    • Thomas Coote married Janet McKean in 1879 in New Norfolk. They had 2 children, Thomas born in 1879 and Chidley born 1880. Chidley died in infancy in 1881.
     
  • 1884 Edward Duthoit and Albert Duthoit (3 pieces of land for 1,290 pounds)

    •  
  • 1887 came into possession of Everard Duthoit (son of Edward)

    •  
  • 1892 Sydney Edward Underwood and Elizabeth Catherine Underwood
    • Sydney Edward Underwood married clergyman's daughter Elizabeth Catherine Hughes March 1869 Haverfordwest, South Wales (vol 11a page 898). By 1882, they had five children (William aged 22, Sydney aged 20, Alice aged 18, Hugh aged 16, Reginald aged 14 and Percy aged 12 all born in the UK). They had 2 more children while living in New Norfolk - Beatrice born 1884 and Horatio born 1888. In 1898 Percy died aged 19 years from ***********. He is buried in the cemetary at New Norfolk. In 1899, William married Kathleen Whitchurch in Brighton. Kathleen was born in Longford Tasmania. Sydney Senior died in Redfern, NSW in 1918. Elizabeth was born at Oxford, UK and died in Sydney in 1929 at the ripe old age of 81 years. She is buried in Rookwood Cemetary.
    purchased for 1,700 pounds. Many books say he lived there in 1881.
    This appears to be incorrect unless he was renting from the Duthoits.
     
  • 1900 Trust Julian George Brown, Elizabeth Mary Brown and Henry Jones

    • It gets a bit hard to follow what happened here because it involved several
    trustees. We'll investigate this at a later stage.
     
  • 1922 property was sold to John Burke for 2,300 pounds
    • Burke, John born 1868 Green Ponds Died 4 November 1929 Jane Hay born 1859 New Norfolk Died 6 July 1932 Married 18 April 1898 at Zeehan Jane aged 39 John aged 30 No recorded Children
     
  • 1934 Lease to Graham Eric Dixon - Dixon never owned the property.

    •  
  • 1945 sold to Leslie George Wright Bromfield for 1,092 pounds.


    • Click HERE to read about our visit from Pat Bromfield on Sunday 14 September 2003
     
  • 1955 sold to Keith Henry Fisher and Ethel Ellen Fisher for 3,400 pounds

    •  
  • 1972 sold to Gordon Joseph Griffin and Diedre Margery Griffin for $19,000

    •  
  • 1976 sold to Warren Douglas Soundy for $50,500

    •  
  • 1981 sold to Roy Carl Fehlberg and Betty Mary Fehlberg for $56,500

    •  
  • 1992 sold to Thomas Raymond James and Susan Olivia James for $175,000
    •
    The property was sold to a Sydney couple in 1999 who were unable to live at
    Atherfield, so the house was empty for long periods of time during which the
    condition of the house deteriorated. In 2003 they decided to sell and that is
    when we became the new "caretakers" of Atherfield. My hope is that there
    will be generation after generation of Chapmans at Atherfield....