Mowbray is a suburb of Launceston in the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n state of

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

and is the site of Mowbray Racecourse, home of the Launceston Cup. Mowbray also contains the minor suburbs of Mowbray Heights and Vermont. The suburb of Mowbray is located on a flat-topped,

alluvial Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...

shelf, known as Mowbray Hill (formerly Paint Mine Hill), roughly 28m above the

Tamar River The Tamar River, officially kanamaluka / River Tamar, is a estuary located in northern Tasmania, Australia. Despite being named a river, the waterway is a brackish and tidal estuary over its entire length. Etymology The Tamar River was named ...

and its flood plains.

Origin of Name

The name "Mowbray" was adopted from an early homestead property formerly located within what is now the

Launceston Church Grammar School Launceston Church Grammar School (informally Launceston Grammar or simply Grammar, commonly abbreviated to LCGS) is an Anglican co-educational private school in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia for Early Learning through to Grade 12. Although f ...

, it was named and owned by Martin Mowbray Stephenson. The Mowbray Racecourse was a substantial part of this property, and racing meets have been held there from as early as 1830. The name itself stems back to

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and literally means "mud hill".

Suburban development

Suburban development did not begin in Mowbray until the late 1800s when a small grid of streets was laid out on the southern slopes of the hill on the eastern side of Invermay Road and Button Street extending towards

. After WW1 more streets were added north of Button Street and Vermont Road, forming a crude grid extending north towards Newnham, east towards the racecourse and west towards the escarpment where the hill drops into the

. These streets were named after allied soldiers and commanders who took part in the war such as Haig Street.

References

External links

Mowbray Golf Club website

Tasmanian Turk Club website
{{Launceston suburbs Suburbs of Launceston, Tasmania Localities of City of Launceston Populated places on the Tamar River