Horfield Creek

You know that childhood card game of 'Snap' where you match the pairs? Well this little genealogical exercise is a bit like that.

Thomas and Ann Stone migrated from Bristol, England to Hobart, Van Diemens Land in 1819. They lived in Hobart for a while (to keep a long story short) and moved to Constitution Hill, near Green Ponds and Bagdad in Tasmania's Midlands. They named their property 'Horfield'.

It's taken me a while to sort out the location and I still don't have a good understanding but it doesn't help that some of these names are obsolete. Green Ponds is now Kempton, Constitution Hill (the area not the hill) is now Dysart, Van Diemens Land is now Tasmania.

Bagdad area, Australia. Source: Google Maps

Constitution Hill, Dysart, Tasmania

And Horfield? Several years ago I was on holiday in Tasmania and drove through the Bagdad area just to get a feel for what the area looked like. We weren't actually doing any research because of time restrictions. But I had to stop to take the following photo because the main Midland Highway just north of Bagdad crosses Horfield Creek.

Horfield Creek, Bagdad

I knew immediately that the creek must have been named after the Stone's property. And if we go back a step, the property was named 'Horfield' after the birthplace of Thomas Stone. He was born in Horfield, Bristol, England in 1796. Prior to our visit I had no idea that there was a Horfield Creek!