Swansea, Tasmania

The first European to explore the Swansea area was Captain John Henry Cox sailing from England to Sydney. He took his ship, the Mercury, up the eastern coast of Tasmania. On 3 July 1789, having heard of vast colonies of seals in the area, he sailed along the western shore of Maria Island and into a stretch of water he named Oyster Bay.http://www.mariaislandferry.com.au/Maria_Island_Facts_&_History.html {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090915065604/http://www.mariaislandferry.com.au/Maria_Island_Facts_%26_History.html |date=15 September 2009 }} accessed on 23 February 2009

Image:Swansea Tasmania, Schouten House.JPG

Swansea was not settled until 1821 when more British settlers, George Meredith, his family and workers, arrived from Pembrokeshire, Wales. Meredith obtained a grant from Lieutenant Governor William Sorell to farm in the area around Oyster Bay. The land was developed and made suitable for seasonal crops and grazing stock and a tannery and flour mill were established by the Meredith River. Whaling stations were also set up on nearby islands to enable the export of whale oil.{{cite web |url=http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020192b.htm |title=Meredith, George (1777–1856) |author=David Hodgson |website=www.adb.online.anu.edu.au |access-date=23 February 2009}} Swansea was originally called Great Swanport and Meredith built the family home, Cambria, which is now in private hands. There are other important buildings in the town including Morris’ General Store which has been owned and run by the Morris family for over 100 years. The Swansea Bark Mill which processed black wattle bark was used in colonial times in the tanning industry and is now a combined museum, tavern and bakery. Schouten House is a fine early Victorian colonial house built in 1844 and is now a hotel.

Waterloo Point Post Office opened on 6 September 1832 and was renamed Swansea around 1863.{{Cite web | last = Premier Postal History | title = Post Office List | publisher = Premier Postal Auctions | url = https://www.premierpostal.com/cgi-bin/wsProd.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=Tas&country= | accessdate = 16 June 2012}}

• William Lyne, politician who served as Premier of New South Wales from 1899 to 1901, and later as a federal cabinet minister under Edmund Barton and Alfred Deakin.
• Violet Mace, potter known for the 'proclamation cup', based on Governor Davey's Proclamation.

Swansea is home to colonies of short-tailed shearwaters (muttonbirds) and little penguins. The nearby Freycinet National Park has quolls, wallabies, native microbats, possums and Tasmanian devils. Offshore, there are dolphins, whales and seals.

{{Weather box|width=auto

|location = Swansea

|metric first = Yes

|single line = Yes

|Jan record high C = 40.4

|Feb record high C = 39.2

|Mar record high C = 36.8

|Apr record high C = 30.1

|May record high C = 27.0

|Jun record high C = 21.1

|Jul record high C = 24.0

|Aug record high C = 24.3

|Sep record high C = 29.6

|Oct record high C = 33.9

|Nov record high C = 36.0

|Dec record high C = 41.1

|year record high C = 41.1

|Jan high C = 22.2

|Feb high C = 22.1

|Mar high C = 20.9

|Apr high C = 18.6

|May high C = 15.9

|Jun high C = 13.8

|Jul high C = 13.3

|Aug high C = 14.2

|Sep high C = 16.0

|Oct high C = 17.7

|Nov high C = 19.1

|Dec high C = 20.6

|year high C = 17.9

|Jan low C = 11.7

|Feb low C = 11.8

|Mar low C = 10.3

|Apr low C = 8.2

|May low C = 6.2

|Jun low C = 4.4

|Jul low C = 3.6

|Aug low C = 4.4

|Sep low C = 5.8

|Oct low C = 7.2

|Nov low C = 9.0

|Dec low C = 10.5

|year low C = 7.8

|Jan record low C = 2.4

|Feb record low C = 1.3

|Mar record low C = 0.0

|Apr record low C = -1.3

|May record low C = -3.1

|Jun record low C = -4.0

|Jul record low C = -5.0

|Aug record low C = -4.2

|Sep record low C = -4.0

|Oct record low C = -1.9

|Nov record low C = -1.4

|Dec record low C = 1.0

|year record low C = -5.0

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 49.4

|Feb precipitation mm = 42.7

|Mar precipitation mm = 50.4

|Apr precipitation mm = 51.1

|May precipitation mm = 46.1

|Jun precipitation mm = 57.5

|Jul precipitation mm = 47.8

|Aug precipitation mm = 44.0

|Sep precipitation mm = 41.1

|Oct precipitation mm = 53.2

|Nov precipitation mm = 51.6

|Dec precipitation mm = 59.9

|year precipitation mm = 594.8

|Jan rain days = 8.4

|Feb rain days = 7.3

|Mar rain days = 9.0

|Apr rain days = 9.5

|May rain days = 9.6

|Jun rain days = 10.6

|Jul rain days = 10.9

|Aug rain days = 10.8

|Sep rain days = 11.0

|Oct rain days = 11.6

|Nov rain days = 10.3

|Dec rain days = 10.0

|year rain days = 119.0

|source 1 = {{cite web |url= http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_092038_All.shtml | title = Climate statistics for Swansea | publisher = Bureau of Meteorology}}{{cite web |url= http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/climate/extremes/daily_extremes.cgi?period=%2Fcgi-bin%2Fclimate%2Fextremes%2Fdaily_extremes.cgi&climtab=tmax_high&area=tas&year=2019&mon=12&day=30|title=Highest daily maximum temperatures for Tasmania – 30 December 2019|author= |date= |website=www.bom.gov.au |publisher= Bureau of Meteorology|access-date= 3 January 2020|quote=}}

|date=August 2010

}}

According to the 1996 census, the town's population was 495. Of the population, 25.1% were above the age of 65 – making it the Tasmanian town with the largest percentage of over-65-year-olds.

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Category:Towns in Tasmania

Category:Localities of Glamorgan–Spring Bay Council