This site (formerly advertising Lebrina Licensed Restaurant) and its associated blog, aims to chronicle the story of notable house, Lebrina, and aspects of the story of New Town Tasmania, of which Lebrina is an important part, historically and architecturally.
Lebrina, during the Restaurant Years, its beauty & symmetry undimmed, 170 years after being built by Thomas White
1805 land grants
New Town History
New Town developed quickly as the suburb of choice for Free Settlers arriving in Van Diemen’s Land. It is the oldest suburb of Hobart, its buildings, both public and private, reflecting the stages of Hobart’s development.
The free settlers who arrived with Lieutenant Governor, Col. David Collins, in 1804 were granted 100-acre lots (there were 10 of these grants made) on the banks of the New Town Rivulet near Stainforth Cove. The authorities considered it desirable to separate the free settlers from the convicts.
Within a week of tents being pitched in Hobart at Sullivans Cove, white occupation in the environs of New Town was underway. These 'granted' lots were located on both the north and south side of the New Town Rivulet. The decision to settle this area was due to its ‘anticipated fertility’ and the existence of a reliable source of water in the form of the New Town Rivulet’.
Lebrina, built by Thomas White, around 1845, on an acre of the 100 acres of land that was originally granted to Thomas Hayes and later subdivided by Captain Charles Swanston, is central to and a very important part of the built history of New Town.
New Town Park, sometimes known as Swanston House, built by White and Seabrook, for VDL entrepreneur Captain Charles Swanston
People
Three people occupy a central place in the story of Lebrina Historic House: its builder and first occupant Thomas White, who, at the time of his death in 1885, was described as one of New Town’s oldest and most universally respected citizens; his friend Mr Frederick Robert Seager who bought Lebrina after White’s death and became the Superintendent of the New Town Charitable Institution at St John’s Park, residing at Lebrina unitl his death in 1911; Captain Charles Swanston of the Derwent Bank for whom Thomas White and brother-in-law, Seabrook, built New Town Park, Swanston’s gracious residence, soon after the pair arrived in VDL. Capt Swanston subdivided his New Town farm, enabling Thomas White to by one acre of prime New Town land, on which he built Lebrina.
These three notable citizens of Hobart and New Town were closely linked throughout their lives by personal and professional ties.
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Are you a descendant of Thomas White or Frederick Seager and have biographical information about either of these families or a photo that you’d like to share, thereby embellishing the history and ensuring it is not lost in the mists of time. Alternatively, you might want to share a unique perspective on an aspect of New Town history.,