Derby ( ) is a small Australian town located in the northeast of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

History

The greater Derby area was inhabited by the indigenous North East nation for over 10,000 years prior to the

British colonisation of Tasmania The British colonisation of Tasmania took place between 1803 and 1830. Tasmania was a British colony from 1856 until 1901, at which time it joined five other colonies to form the Commonwealth of Australia. By the end of the colonisation in ...

. The area was surveyed in 1855, but was not settled until 1874, when George Renison Bell discovered

tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...

in the area. The Krushka brothers discovered a large lode of tin, and set up a mine (named The Brothers Mine) in the area, assuring the town's economic future. The town was originally known as Brother's Home until renamed Derby (believed to be after

Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, (29 March 1799 – 23 October 1869, known before 1834 as Edward Stanley, and from 1834 to 1851 as Lord Stanley) was a British statesman, three-time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ...

the

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern ...

).Derby
''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

'', 8 February 2004. ''Brother's Home'' Post Office opened on 1 August 1882 and was renamed ''Derby'' in 1885. Derby reached its peak in the late 19th century, when its population reached over 3,000, and the Brothers Mine (renamed the Briseis Mine after the winner of the 1876

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melb ...

) was producing upwards of 120 tonnes of tin per month. On 4 April 1929, the Briseis Dam used by the mine burst after heavy rains and the Cascade River flooded the town, killing 14 people. The mine was closed, but re-opened five years later although it never reached the same level of output as it had in the last century and closed in 1948. Derby was served by a branch railway line which extended from Launceston to Herrick, 4 kilometres (2.4 mi) short of Moorina. The line through Derby station opened on 15 March 1919 and ran through the hills 2 km (1.2 mi) from the town. The railway closed in April 1992.

Mountain biking in Derby

In 2015 the

Tasmanian Government The Tasmanian Government is the democratic administrative authority of the state of Tasmania, Australia. The leader of the party or coalition with the confidence of the House of Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Tasmania, is invit ...

called for tourism developments in national parks and as a result approved a mountain bike tourism experience called the Blue Derby Pods Ride. In 2015 a network of Mountain Bike trails opened in the wooded hills surrounding Derby. The of trails are called Blue Derby. The Derby trail network has been commended around the world as one of the best. In April 2017, Derby hosted a round of the Enduro World Series. It was the first time the Enduro World Series has been held in Australia. In March 2019, Derby hosted round two of the Enduro World Series. The changes to the town have also caused friction between tourists and some locals. After the success of mountain biking in Derby, several mountain bike trails opened on Mount Heemskirk on the West Coast in 2020.

Festivals

Until it was discontinued in 2018 due to a lack of volunteers, Derby hosted the Derby River Derby in October—an annual friendly river race featuring homemade or inflatable rafts. In 2008, the race had an attendance of approximately 4,000 people and attracted up to 1,000 competitors from around the state.

References

External links

Derby Online Access Centre
{{authority control Towns in Tasmania Mining towns in Tasmania North East Tasmania Localities of Dorset Council (Australia)