Launceston: A Walk Along Historic Cameron Street

Launceston, TAS, Australia
Est. 1.9km / 1 hr 14 mins / Map

The traditional owners and custodians of the land on which Launceston is situated are the Panninher and the Leterrermairrener people. The creators of this walk acknowledge them and pay their respects to their elders past, present and future.

Launceston: A Walk Along Historic Cameron Street - Cya On The Road

Launceston is Australia's third oldest European settlement, established in 1806 after Sydney (1788) and Hobart (1803). The city is renowned for its well preserved historic buildings. Cameron Street in particular is overflowing with fine examples. A stroll from the Albert Hall in the east to the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery in the west, is a delightful introduction to Launceston's unique architectural and social heritage.

Until the 1880s the Launceston streetscape was dominated by Georgian buildings. Then the city experienced a period of great prosperity, arising largely from the success of mines on Tasmania's west coast. New buildings were erected and old structures given new fronts to such an extent that the city took on a Victorian flavour.

Inspired by Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887, the patriotic citizens of Launceston named the city's two most imposing buildings, both completed in 1891, after their revered monarch and her beloved consort Prince Albert. Victoria and Albert were one of history's most devoted couples. Their blissfully happy marriage produced nine children. When Albert died in 1861 Victoria plunged into deep mourning, withdrew from society and wore black for the remainder of her life. Surviving him by four decades, she had statues erected across Britain in his memory. In Launceston a walk from the Albert Hall along Cameron Street to the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery is a fitting reminder of a great era in the city's past, a great monarch, and a great romance.

This walk was developed by the Launceston Historical Society for National Trust Heritage Month in May 2013. It was rewritten in 2021 and recorded by Ron Camplin in the studios of City Park Radio, 43 Tamar Street, Launceston

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