Mount Nelson, Mount Romney, Mount Direction, Mount Knocklofty, and more. There’s even Mount Wellington, better known these days as kunanyi. Tasmania, and Hobart in particular, are full of Mount this and Mount that.
So if you thought that Mount Stuart was just another jumped-up hill named after someone called Stuart … you’d be wrong.
Mount Stuart is a Hobart suburb that is located on a ridge that extends from Knocklofty, a foothill of kunanyi.
On 16 August 1836, Lieutenant-Governor Sir George Arthur and his family left Van Diemen’s Land for England on the barque Elphinstone.
Mount Stuart Road and Elphinstone Road were first recorded on Surveyor-General George Frankland’s 1836-37 street map of Hobart.
Hobart from Mount Stuart, line drawing 1890s.
Frankland named the roads after Mountstuart Elphinstone, who briefly served under the first Duke of Wellington in 1803 as his aide-de-camp and political advisor. Frankland also served in India, and no doubt met Elphinstone while there. It has been assumed (probably incorrectly) that the arrival and/or departure of the Elphinstone in Hobart prompted him to do so.
It is almost certain that the two roads were named after the person rather than the ship. The suburb of Mount Stuart was named after Mount Stuart Road much later.
These days Mount Stuart is a pleasant residential suburb with approximately 1100 houses including many stately residences, sweeping views, a primary school, and a memorial hall managed by a community association.
So there you have it. If you happen to love the suburb and feel like naming one of your children Mountstuart, go right ahead!
A modern-day view from Mount Stuart.
