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As a garrison village, from the 1820sWestbury’s first settlers were predominantly Irish – ex convicts, retired soldiers and free settlers. Military pensioners were each granted a 5-acre block of land complete with a well and pear tree. By 1850, the community had become the largest military community in Tasmania, 3,000 strong (twice the size it is today).
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Westbury’s largest landowner, Irishman Richard Dry, was himself a political exile (pardoned 1819). He was sympathetic to his fellow Irishmen and helped many establish land rights on his vast Quamby estate (30,000 acres). Richard Dry’s son went on to become Tasmania’s first native-born Premier and Knight of the Realm.
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Seven patriotic leaders of the Young Ireland independence movement were transported to Van Diemens Land in 1848 as political exiles. Four of them escaped – the two most radical, Thomas Francis Meagher and John Mitchel were harboured and aided in their escape bythe people of Westbury. The 7 Young Irelanders went on to leave their mark on three continents and are revered Irish heroes today. Westbury has forever won special recognition in Ireland for this service.
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Westbury’s first resident Catholic priest was Father James Hogan (1850). He inspired the building of the Holy Trinity Church and in 1887 established The first order of the Sisters of St Joseph in Tasmania with five Irish pioneer nuns. On his death in 1899, he was succeeded by Rev. Thomas Kelsh who continued his work in the parish until his death in 1928. Together, these two Irish priests served the Westbury community continuously for almost 80 years. They are both buried in Westbury.
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Westbury features echo its Irish legacy:
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