Elwick
The name of the division of Elwick has been synonymous with Glenorchy in Hobart's northern suburbs for more than 150 years. Today it is reflected in one of Australia's premier racecourses, Elwick Road and Elwick Bay on the Derwent River.
In the early days Glenorchy (originally known as O'Briens Bridge) was a largely rural community. In the 1840s two-thirds of its several hundred residents were engaged in farming.
Other residents living closer to what is now central Hobart commuted to work. One of these was chemist John Norton Wilkinson, who owned a property named Elwick.
Wilkinson arrived in Tasmania about 1830. It is probable that he named his land after what may have been his birthplace in England (there is a small village of Elwick—derived from the name Ella and the suffix wick for town—in County Durham).
His holding covered what is now Elwick Racecourse and continued further on to the Derwent River.
In 1874 the Tasmanian Racing Club (formed 1870) acquired the property as a racecourse and the homestead at Elwick was demolished. The first races were held in February 1875. A half holiday was declared; 5 000 people attended, many of them arriving on the newly-introduced railway service. The Governor Sir Frederick Wells was among the spectators.
Wilkinson lived for another 11 years and his obituary in the Tasmanian newspaper in November 1885 noted that he was " . . . a colonist of over half a century's standing in Tasmania and the oldest chemist and druggist in the colony. It continued: "He was respected by all who knew him and by frugality obtained a competence for life".
Glenorchy, and the surrounding area, is now very much a part of Hobart's urban landscape, but its rural past lives on through the name Elwick.
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