Austins Ferry

About Austins Ferry

Austins Ferry is a residential suburb in the City of Glenorchy in the greater Hobart region of Tasmania, located 9 kilometres north of the Glenorchy centre on the western shore of the River Derwent. Named after James Austin, a convict transported to Port Phillip in 1803 who with his cousin John Earl established a ferry service across the river in 1818, later replaced by a punt which became the main vehicular crossing between Hobart and the northern regions. In 1821 Governor Lachlan Macquarie renamed the village Roseneath but the original name was eventually restored. James Austin's original cottage is preserved as a tourist attraction open on Sundays. The suburb is home to Saint Virgil's College, a private Roman Catholic co-educational school.