Tasmanian historian and author Dane McCormack has begun working on a book about the history of Latrobe, the town in which he grew up.

“It is a small regional town these days,” McCormack told Tasmanian Times.

“Back in the 1800s, though, it was the third-biggest town in Tasmania. All roads led to Latrobe back in colonial days, to ship produce from the surrounding plains.”

McCormack added that, unlike Hobart and Launceston, which were built with convict labour, Latrobe was carved out of the densely forested banks of the Mersey River by “intrepid explorers and farmers”.

“That culture helped me carve out a career amongst the dense corporate politics of multinational companies,” he said.

“I also have a personal connection to all of its history, so I’m really enjoying working on the book.”

McCormack explains that he started working on it while he was still writing Exiled to Exalted, a book about his great-great-great grandfather, James Magee, which he self-published late last year.

“I usually have a couple of projects on the go,” he said. “[The book about Latrobe] started out as an article, but it quickly morphed into a book. I was like, ‘Oh, hang on, this is a book!’”

McCormack was diagnosed with cancer in 2018 and spent a year in hospital. The toes of his right foot were taken off, he had 20 centimetres of his bowel removed, and he lost his long- and short-term memories, along with his sense of smell and taste.

Because he lost his memories, McCormack embarked on a mission to recover them and wrote his autobiography. This journey reignited his old passion for writing and history.

“When I started writing my autobiography, it emphasised how important history is and how it shapes the future and makes us who we are.”

McCormack explained that Antill Ponds became his favourite historical place in Tasmania while he was delving into his James Magee’s story for Exiled to Exalted. Magee was found guilty of stealing in 1829 and was subsequently transported to Van Diemen’s Land for 14 years. Upon arrival in the colony, Magee was assigned to John Presnell, the owner of the Half Way House pub in Antill Ponds at the time.

“I didn’t even know Antill Ponds was a town [before Exiled to Exalted],” he confessed.

“Oatlands is close by, and [Magee] would have had a fundamental role in shaping that as well. That personal connection makes it more interesting, doesn’t it?”

McCormack said there are many useful resources that are available to Tasmanian historians.

“The Tasmanian library is amazing,” he said.

“The images they’ve got take you back to what it was like in those days – they just transport you back. When I was working on Exiled to Exalted, I found an image of what Hobart looked like when James [my great-great-great grandfather] arrived in 1830. I was like, ‘Wow! Buildings everywhere, the colony was only 20-odd years old.’ James would have been impressed.”

Exiled to Exalted is currently available on Blurb.com for $33.

McCormack and his niece Gaby at the remains of the Half Way House in Antill Ponds.


Callum J. Jones studied English, History, and Journalism at the University of Tasmania. He has written fiction and non-fiction for Tasmanian Times since 2018, and can be traced by the smell of fresh coffee.

Follow him on Twitter (@Callum_Jones_10) and Facebook (@callum.j.jones.creative).