For about 190 years, the little village of Windermere has stood on the banks of what we now call the Tamar River, just north of Launceston in Tasmania. The area is the deep time traditional land of the Leterrermairrener Clan who for over 10 000 years knew the area as Kanamuluka.

Windermere village has its origins as a 2500-acre parcel of land, granted to Dr Gaunt in the 1830s. In 1842, Dr Gaunt and his wife Frances granted an acre of the land for the singular purpose of building a Church and a burial ground.

They called it St Matthias’ Church. It is renowned as Dr Gaunt’s legacy.

But, between 1841 and 1844 – a crucial time in the church’s history – 30 convict labourers were assigned to Dr Gaunt. One of them was my 4x great grandfather, James Goodson.

Recently, I set out to answer a question – what if the hands of these 30 men actually built the historic Tasmanian church?

In researching each of their stories, I discovered that family history and local history are sometimes inseparably intertwined.

If you’d like a copy of my latest book, In the Service of Dr Gaunt, please get in touch via the ‘contact me’ tab on the landing page.