A residential and commercial centre to the south of Hobart, Kingston offers many attractions including safe swimming at Kingston Beach, fishing, golf and shopping centres. Nearby Blackmans Bay, Tinderbox and Howden offer excellent views of the Derwent Estuary and across the D';Entrecasteaux Channel to Bruny Island.

Local Designers and Producers Markets
Kingston Beach Community Hall, Beach Road, Kingston Beach
Trading: Sundays.; approximately every 2 months, 10am - 2pm
Type: Art & Craft, Designers, Produce. Mobile: 0438 299 691
A community market held approximately every 2 months featuring local designers and producers displaying their handmade clothing, accessories, handbags, art, homewares and jewellery.

Golfing enthusiasts will also enjoy a round of golf at the Kingston Beach Golf Club. Known as one of Tasmania's premier golf courses it features an 18-hole championship layout making use of the Browns River with great ocean views. The golf club also has excellent clubhouse facilities including a dining room and spike bar.

Piersons Point

With the outbreak of World War II, the Department of Defence acquired land at Piersons Point, Tinderbox, and South Arm on the opposite bank of the Derwent Estuary, where Fort Direction was built. The Piersons Point guns, though no longer used, are still in place. Throughout the war, a 24-hour watch was maintained every day, and the site was usually manned by at least 15 Royal Australian Navy personnel. A record of every ship entering the Derwent River between 1940 and 1945 was kept. Between 1941 and 1944, both guns were regularly used for training exercises.

Although never used in hostile action against enemy vessels, the guns were fired in anger once. A liberty ship entering the mouth of the Derwent River failed to obey instructions issued from the Naval Command on the hill above the fort, and one shell was accurately fired across her bow, which immediately resulted in the liberty ship hoving to.

The only enemy action to ever affect Hobart happened on 1 August 1942, when a submarine-launched Japanese spy plane flew from the submarine’s mooring in Great Oyster Bay south along the east coast of Tasmania, before flying northward along the Derwent River surveying Hobart and then returning to its mother submarine. Although both emplacements detected the flight, the plane was at too high an altitude to fire upon, and no aircraft were available to intercept it. After this event, two anti-aircraft guns were positioned on nearby hills, but the Japanese never returned to Tasmania again during the war.

On the opposite western shore of the Derwent River, the second emplacement - Fort Direction - was constructed with one four-inch (102 mm) gun. Several huts to house men were constructed at that location as well as a complicated tunnel and command structure. Local residents recall barbed wire still surrounding the site well after the war and the site’s de-commissioning. Nearby Goat Bluff was also the location of further tunnel systems.

Prior to 1954, the Hobart Pilot Station was at Piersons Point, being on the western shore of the Derwent Estuary at the entrance to D'Entrecasteaux Channel. The Pilot or his Deputy used to leave from here to board vessel of the Iron Pot Light, and then guide them up the Channel to Hobart. All overseas vessels had to employ the pilot. In 1954 the Maritime Voard of Hobart closed the Piersons Point Station, moved the Pilot to Hobart and re-located the Pilot Line up-river.

The Pilot Station was replaced by a fixed light, which looks more like something left behind from the set of a 1960s science fiction movie than a lighthouse. With a focal plane 87 metres, it flashes a white or red light, depending on direction, every 8 seconds from its 5 metre, partially enclosed square pyramidal metal tower. This light and the Iron Pot Island Light frame the entrance to the Derwent Estuary.

Alum Cliffs

The Alum Cliffs walkway also offers some eminently photographic views. At the end of the walkway is the Blackmans Bay blowhole. The scenic delights of the area can be enjoyed from the walkway, or on the coastal drive through Blackmans Bay, Tinderbox and Howden or the views of Droughty Point, Bruny Island and D'Entrecasteaux Channel from Piersons Point. The route followed by today's Alum Cliff Track has long been a coastal path used by local people. The Alum Cliffs walking track commences on the top of the bluffs above the southern end of Hinsby Beach and runs along the top of the 50-100 m high Alum Cliffs for 2 km to Tyndall Beach. Approached from Kingston, Alum Cliffs Track begins at the northern end of Kingston Beach. There are multiple entrances along the route at Tyndall Rd, Harpers Rd, Taronga Rd. Metro bus stop is 100m south of the intersection of Taronga Rd and Channel Highway. Track notes

The name 'Alum Cliffs' is descriptive. Permian Mudstones contain Iron Pyrites. As the rock weathers, the Pyrite oxidises and produces Sulphuric Acid which reacts with the limey clay to produce Alum. Alum was and is used as a mordant in dyeing fabrics particularly wool where it helps to lock the colour into the wool fibres. The name is said to be taken from Alum Cliffs on the Isle of Wight, England, which are of a similar geological composition.

Tyndall Beach

Tyndall and Kingston beaches are located to either side of the sandy mouth of Browns River, with the centre of Kingston located 1.5 km to the west. The northern Tyndall Beach is a southeast-facing 300 m long sandy beach that extends from the southern rocks of 40 m high Bonnet Point to the usually narrow sandy river mouth and associated sand shoals. Tyndall is a relatively safe beach with usually low wave to calm conditions. Stay clear of boating activity in the southern corner and watch for deep water off the beach. Track notes

Kingston Beach

Kingston Beach is the first main swimming beach southwest of Hobart. The beach is patrolled by the new Kingston Beach SLSC, a branch of Clifton Beach SLSC. The area surrounding the beach is highly developed with Kingston Beach shopping area and housing behind the beach, and residential development on the southern slopes overlooking the beach. Kingston Beach= commences at the river mouth and curves to the south for 1 km to the first rocks of Boronia Point. The beach faces east-southeast receiving waves travelling up the Derwent estuary and averaging about 0.5 m, which break across a 30-50 m wide low tide terrace. A seawall, narrow reserve, picnic area and playground back the beach. Towards the south there is a boat ramp across the beach and the Kingston Beach Sailing Club in the southern corner, with a hotel behind.

Kingston Beach is a relatively safe beach with usually low wave to calm conditions. Stay clear of boating activity in the southern corner and watch for deep water off the beach. It is backed by a car park with a capacity of 100 cars.

Browns River

Brown’s River, or Promenalinah, as it was known the Aborigines who enjoyed its bounty before the advent of white settlers, divides Kingston Beach into two shifting halves - Kingston Beach and Tyndall Beach. The river's present name recalls Robert Brown (1773-1858), a drop out medical student from Edinburgh who had an enquiring mind and botanical obsession that led to him being recommended by nobe other than Sir Joseph Banks to join Matthew Flinders as a surgeon and botanist aboard the Investigator, leaving Britain in December 1801 and ending in Sydney in June 1803. Brown stayed in Australia until May 1805. He published the results of his collecting in his famous "Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae" in 1810. Flinders had been commissioned to chart the coast of what was then still known as New Holland for the British Admiralty.


Robert Brown

Brown accompanied Flinders and George Bass on their voyage to Van Diemen's Land, which their expedition cirumnavigated. Accordingly, Robert Brown spent a lot of time collecting plant specimens. He was perhaps the first post-settlement European to venture down the North West Bay River – even if accidentally. Attempting to find a route from the face of Mt Wellington to the Huon River, Brown had traced down a stream, only to arrive at North West Bay. In May 1804, he and mineralogist Adolarius William Henry Humphrey finally found a route to the Huon River, tried to find its source, and returned exhausted through the bush to North West Bay.

Brown stayed in local waters for nearly four years, the 3,600 specimens collected by Brown eventually made their way back to the UK. Many of Brown's biological discoveries from this area turned out to have been already discovered and documented by La Billardière on Bruny D’Entrecasteaux’s 1792 expedition. After the division of the Natural History Department of the British Museum into three sections in 1837, Robert Brown became the first Keeper of the Botanical Department, remaining so until his death. He served as President of the Linnean Society from 1849 to 1853.

When Kingston was founded it was originally known as the Brown River Settlement. Brown’s River Probation Station was establshed there in the 1840s as a base for 300 predominantly road building convicts. All that remains are remnants of a kiln used for brickmaking. As the years have unfolded some of the bricks once part of structures or left lying about have been removed and incorporated into new structures or lost altogether. Bits of the station are scattered through local gardens now and there’s a house with a swimming pool built into an old quarry.

Blackmans Bay

Blackmans Bay, to the south of Kingston, was named after a James Blackman who occupied land there in the 1820s while another 'Blackman Bay', near Dunalley (also in Tasmania) was so named in 1642 because of the presence of Aboriginal people. The town is located adjacent to Kingston, and is approximately fourteen kilometres south of Hobart, to which it is connected by the Southern Outlet motorway.



There is a blowhole near the northern end of the beach, which in reality is more like a large rock arch where waves can be seen coming in and crashing on the rocks. There are numerous cliffs and viewpoints along Blowhole Road. On the southern side of the beach there is a track that leads to Flowerpot Point. This is a popular spot for fishing, although snags are an issue because of the prevalence of seaweed and rock ledges beneath the water.

Tinderbox Peninsula

The Tinderbox Peninsula, approximately 5.5 km long, points south east and rises steeply from the water. It’s forested with eucalypts that make their living on hungry soil. The peninsula is bounded by three bodies of water: the Derwent, the D’Entrecasteaux Channel and North West Bay. Mount Louis, Tinderbox’s highest point, is forested in eucalypts.

One could be excused for thinking that the peninsula was named because it is from time to time a fire hazard and prone to bushfires. That might well be the case, but the name has a different origin. In the early 1800s, a Joshua Fergusson lived above what is now known as Tinderbox Beach. A retired Scottish sea captain who migranted to Van Diemen's Land in 1816, Fergusson planted a crop of tobacco, hoping to service the needs of local pipe smokers.



One day while walking along the beach he came across a silver tinderbox inscribed in French, an indication that some thirty years before, early French expeditioners, perhaps travelling with Nicolas Baudin, or more likely Bruny D’Entrecasteaux, who it is known had spent some time ashore in the vicinity. Perhaps they visited this beach and used the tinderbox to light a fire, dropped the object in the sand, and then sailed back to France, leaving the momento of their visit behind. From the time he found the tinderbox, Feruggon refered to the locality as Tinderbox Beach, a name which was soon adopted for the whole peninsula.

Tinderbox Beach lies close to the northern (Storm Bay) entrance and the gap between Bruny Island and mainland Tasmania is particularly narrow and also shallower here. As a consequence, a few boats have been caught out and come to grief on its shore. On 6 July 1822 a government vessel (name unknown) sailed from Hobart and capsized in Tinderbox Bay. Two men drowned. On 21 May 1887 the Alice, a ketch, dragged her anchors and went ashore in Tinderbox Bay. On 12 March 1925 the Rebecca, a ketch heading from Hobart to Strathblane, was overwhelmed off Tinderbox Point by a massive squall, blew out her mizzen sail and drifted on to the rocks.

Back in 1948 the Government planned a vehicular crossing between Tinderbox and Nevada Beach at Dennes Point, Bruny Island. as it was both reasonably close to Hobart, as well as the narrowest point. As plans for the crossing were being fornulated, a number of storms hit and the idea of a ferry crossing here was shelved indefinitely. Tinderbox Beach was declared a marine reserve in 1991.

Brief History of Kingston

Records show that French navigators were the first Europeans to explore the area of Kingston and its Municipality. In 1792 a French expedition, under Rear Admiral Bruny D'Entrecasteaux, entered the waters of the River Derwent.

It was not until 1808 that the first white settlers arrived in the district at what is now known as Brown's River. The aboriginals had given the river the lyrical name of "Promenalinah". Before European settlement, this tannin-coloured river provided shellfish and crayfish for the 300 natives who camped nearby, hunting wallaby and kangaroo in the dense scrub.

In 1808 Norfolk Islanders Thomas and Anne Lucas received a grant of 530 acres at Brown's River. The Lucas family set about building a crude timber dwelling and with the help of their four sons cleared four acres and sowed wheat and barley. Thomas Lucas died in 1816 and his four sons, Thomas, Richard, John and Nathaniel, all became substantial landholders in the district and were prominent citizens.

Nathaniel Lucas built an impressive Georgian house, known as the "Red House" which still stands and is used today by the Kingston Golf Club as their clubrooms. The original township of Kingston grew up on John Lucas' estate.

By the 1830's the district was still sparsely populated - and barely civilised. There was no church, no school, no post office - in fact, no regular communication with Hobart Town.

The district began to progress in the 1840's with the arrival of the Russells. They became the district's first postmasters - receiving mail at irregular intervals from Hobart Town by steamer. They also brought education to the district with the first school.

It was not until the opening of the road to Hobart Town, known as Proctor's Road, in 1835, that great impetus was given to the area. In 1830 a Mr Proctor who owned a farm at Brown's River decided to construct a road between Hobart Town and his property at Brown's River. It took Proctor five long years to complete it. Ironically, soon after Proctor's Road was finished the Government, having refused to provide any financial assistance to Mr Proctor, declared the road a public thoroughfare.

Governor Denison proclaimed the district a township on January 27th, 1851. The name Kingston was advocated by the then Police Magistrate, Mr Lucas. Although his exact reason for deciding on the name of Kingston is unknown, there are many theories. His parents, Thomas and Anne Lucas, the district's first settlers, lived at Norfolk Island before coming to Van Diemen's Land and the capital of Norfolk Island was Kingston. Another possible reason is that Thomas was born in Surrey, England in a village close to New Kingston. Finally some people suggest it was named after King, who was the Governor of Norfolk Island, when the Lucas family lived there. Whatever the reason, the district became known as Kingston and over the years the old name of Brown's River was gradually dropped.

Of course, the municipality had a number of thriving townships outside Kingston. Snug had settlers as early as l822 and Woodbridge, once known as Peppermint Bay, was settled by Mr. E. Miles in l847. Taroona, one of the first settled districts in the area, is noted for its historic landmarks, such as the Shot Tower, established as a flourishing industry in l870.

The district has one special claim to fame - it was the birthplace of the now famous Keen's Curry. In about 1877 Joseph Keen, the local baker, was working in a tiny room at the rear of his bakehouse experimenting with curries and sauces. Using coriander and various herbs grown at nearby Tinderbox, he created the distinctive flavour of Keens' curry.

By 1890 the population of Kingston was 249. In this year George Lucas built the Australasian Hotel which was to become a local landmark in the years to come at Kingston Beach. Kingston developed into a holiday village, a weekend and summer holiday retreat. A number of the early holiday dwellings still exist at Kingston Beach and in the older part of Blackmans Bay.

The surrounding rural area concentrated on timber felling, fishing, fruit production and dairying. The small rivers and streams flowing eastward from the Wellington Ranges, Snug Tiers and Woodbridge Hills provided small pockets of fertile alluvial soils and at the mouths of these streams were reasonable anchorages for small boats.

The settlements at the mouths of these locations - Kingston, Margate, Snug, Kettering and Woodbridge, took advantage of their location. Small fishing fleets operated out of the settlements exploiting the D'Entrecasteaux Channel fishing grounds and small local timber mills were established to make use of the available timber resources.

With the clearing of land for timber production, agriculture became established on the lower and flatter land around each of the settlements. Early crops were orchard and stone fruits and berry fruits, and pasture for dairy and meat production.

Small coastal freight ships plied between the Channel ports and Hobart, supplying the main market for products from this area.

Between 1900 and 1947, the population grew slowly, reflecting the slowly expanding agricultural base. The end of the Second World War brought in major changes. There was a rapid increase in agricultural activity with soldier settlers returning from the war and taking up land under government sponsored activities. This resulted in a rapid expansion of the apple industry on small farms.

During the 1960's further significant land use changes occurred. The first of these was the gradual decline and then the rapid collapse of the apple industry. This was caused largely by the collapse of the export fruit market. The 1967 bushfires virtually ended large-scale fruit production in the Municipality and many orchards were not re-established after the devastation of that event.

In 1969 the Southern Outlet road was completed from Hobart to Kingston. This road had the effect of bringing Kingston and Blackmans Bay within easy commuting range of Hobart. Kingborough began to experience rapid urban growth.

History of Kingston source: Kingsborough Council.