Fingal, Tasmania

Fingal
Tasmania
Fingal; Tasmania
	Aerial photo from south east. South Esk River visible.
	Fingal
Coordinates	41°38′19″S 147°58′02″E / 41.6386°S 147.9672°E
Population	405 (2016 census)
• Density	79.6/km2 (206/sq mi)
Established	1827
Postcode(s)	7214
Elevation	232 m (761 ft)
Area	4.6 km2 (1.8 sq mi)
Location	19 km (12 mi) W of St Marys ; 72 km (45 mi) E of Launceston ; 150 km (93 mi) NE of Hobart ;
LGA(s)	Break O'Day Council
State electorate(s)	Lyons
Federal division(s)	Lyons

Fingal /fɪŋˈɔːl/ is a small Australian town in Fingal Valley in the north-east of Tasmania, on the Esk Highway.

History

The Fingal area was surveyed in 1824 by Roderic O'Connor and John Helder Wedge, and is believed to have been named after Fingal's Cave in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland rather than Fingal in Ireland.^[2] The town of Fingal came into existence in 1827 as a convict station, and experienced a boom when Van Diemen's Land's first payable gold was discovered in nearby Mangana.^[3]

Fingal Post Office opened on 1 June 1832.^[4]

^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "2016 Community Profiles: Fingal". 2016 Census of Population and Housing. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
^ A letter found among the correspondence of the Lands and Survey Department, dated 30 November 1827, written by Roderic O'Connor (one of the Commissioners with Frankland, appointed to divide the colony into Counties, Hundreds and Parishes, and set aside reserves for townships etc) reads as follows: "The township which we have selected between Talbot's and Grant's is an admirable one as it embraces all the points from the South Esk and Break of Day Rivers ... we abandon the one on marked on the chart at the head of Mr Talbot's grant reserving only as much as will suffice for the Parish. We have called the Township 'Fingal' in honour of Mr Talbot whose family rank high in Ireland" (1/LSD 71/196) Letter from E R Pretyman 19/07/1961 (F/353). https://www.placenames.tas.gov.au/
^ Fingal: Quiet and attractive rural town, The Sydney Morning Herald, February 8, 2004.
^ Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Retrieved 16 June 2012.