View source for Perth, Tasmania

{{Use Australian English|date=October 2013}}{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox Australian place
| type      = town
| name      = Perth
| state     = tas
| image     = Perth Post Office Tasmania.jpg
| caption   = Post office in Perth, Tasmania
| coordinates = {{coord|41|34|23|S|147|10|17|E|display=inline,title}}
| pushpin_label_position = right
| lga       = [[Northern Midlands Council]]
| postcode  = 7300
| est       = 1821
| elevation = 164
| maxtemp   = 
| mintemp   = 
| rainfall  = 
| stategov  = [[Division of Lyons (state)|Lyons]]
| fedgov    = [[Division of Lyons|Lyons]]
| dist1     = 182
| dir1      = N
| location1 = [[Hobart]]
| dist2     = 100
| dir2      = SE
| location2 = [[Devonport, Tasmania|Devonport]]
| dist3     = 17
| dir3      = S
| location3 = [[Launceston, Tasmania|Launceston]]
| dist4     = 50
| dir4      = NNW
| location4 = [[Campbell Town, Tasmania|Campbell Town]]
| near-n    = [[Devon Hills, Tasmania|Devon Hills]]
| near-ne   = [[Western Junction, Tasmania|Western Junction]]
| near-e    = [[Evandale, Tasmania|Evandale]]
| near-se   = [[Powranna, Tasmania|Powranna]]
| near-s    = [[Powranna, Tasmania|Powranna]]
| near-sw   = [[Longford, Tasmania|Longford]]
| near-w    = [[Longford, Tasmania|Longford]]
| near-nw   = [[Carrick, Tasmania|Carrick]]
}}

'''Perth''' is a town in the Australian Island of [[Tasmania]]. It lies {{cvt|20|km}} south of [[Launceston, Tasmania|Launceston]], on the [[Midland Highway (Tasmania)|Midland Highway]]. The town had a population of 3,233 at the [[2021 Australian census|2021 census]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=2021 Perth (Tas.), Census All persons QuickStats |url=https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/UCL615017 |access-date=2024-06-12 |publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics}}</ref> and is part of the [[Northern Midlands Council]].

Like nearby [[Longford, Tasmania|Longford]], Perth is a historic town with many buildings dating back to the early 19th century. It is the first major town out of Launceston on the route to [[Hobart]], and also serves as a major junction for people bypassing Launceston on the route from Hobart to the northwest of the state.

==History==
Perth was settled in 1821 by Governor [[Lachlan Macquarie]]. He was staying nearby with the pastoralist David Gibson and named it after Gibson's hometown of [[Perth, Scotland]].<ref name="nmc">{{cite web|url=https://www.northernmidlands.tas.gov.au/perth|title=Perth|publisher=Northern Midlands Council|accessdate=21 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Australian Dictionary of Biography|first=M.|last= Gibson|id2= gibson-david-2091|title= Gibson, David  (1778–1858)|year=1966|volume=1, MUP|accessdate=21 August 2019}}</ref> It was proclaimed as a township in 1836.<ref name="nmc"/>
John Skinner Prout painted a view of the town in 1845, with various parts of the [[Central Highlands (Tasmania)|inland mountains]] showing in the painting.<ref>{{Citation | author1=Prout, John Skinner | title=Perth, Tasmania | publication-date=1845 | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/8932897 | access-date=7 September 2020}}</ref> Edward Paxham Brandard engraved the picture in 1874.<ref>{{Citation | author1=Brandard, Edward Paxman | author2=Prout, John Skinner, 1805-1876, (artist.) | title=Perth, Tasmania | publication-date=1874 | publisher=Virtue & Co | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/238137390 | access-date=7 September 2020}}</ref>

==Landmarks==
=== Baptist church ===
The Perth Baptist church, opened in 1862, is notable, due to its history, size and architecture.<ref>{{Citation | author1=Rowston, Laurie | author2=Baptist Union of Tasmania | title=Church news Perth 1862-2006 | publication-date=2009 | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/35501183 | accessdate=2 April 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation | author1=Jones, S. J, (photographer.) | title=Perth Baptist Church, Tasmania | publication-date=1900 | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/167582600 | accessdate=2 April 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation | title=Baptist Church. Perth NG2762 [Records] | publication-date=1865 | publisher=LINC Tasmania | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/157372270 | accessdate=21 August 2019}}</ref>
[[File:Church in Perth, Tasmania.jpg|thumb|left|Perth Baptist church]]

=== Gibbet Hill ===
[[Image:QueensHeadInn, Perth Tasmania.JPG|thumb|left|100px|Queen's Head Inn, Perth Tasmania]]
In 1837, five years after the practice ceased in England, the body of John McKay was [[gibbet]]ted near the spot where he murdered Joseph Wilson near Perth.<ref>Pedder C.J., ''[http://www.law.mq.edu.au/sctas/html/1837cases/RvMcKay,1837.htm Rex v. McKay and Lamb]'' (Supreme Court of Van Diemen's Land), originally published ''Hobart Town Courier'', 5 May 1837, republished by the Division of Law, Macquarie University and the School of History and Classics, University of Tasmania in ''Decisions of the Nineteenth Century Tasmanian Superior Courts''. Accessed 19 December 2007.</ref> There was great outcry, but the body was not removed until an acquaintance of Wilson passed the spot and, horrified by the spectacle of McKay's rotting corpse, pleaded with the authorities to remove it.

The location is still marked by a sign reading, "Gibbet Hill" on the right when heading to Launceston.

This was the last case of gibbeting in a British colony.

== Demographics ==
The population of Perth was 2,965 in the 2016 Census.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2016 Perth (Tas.), Census All persons QuickStats |url=https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2016/SSC60498 |access-date=2024-06-12 |publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics}}</ref> It had grown to 3,233 people in the 2021 Census.<ref name=":0" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Wikivoyage inline|Perth (Tasmania)}}
*[http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=gibbet+hill+rise,+tasmania&sll=52.37019,-1.548753&sspn=0.007101,0.017209&ie=UTF8&ll=-41.557922,147.170105&spn=1.11393,2.202759&t=p&z=9&iwloc=addr&om=1 Map showing Perth's location and that of Gibbet Hill] (maps.google.com.au)

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Localities of Northern Midlands Council]]
[[Category:Northern Tasmania]]
[[Category:1821 establishments in Australia]]