Andover
Andover was named by Lieutenant Francis Tabart in 1831 after his arrival in Van Diemen's Land from Andover in England.
Andover has always been more a locality than a town, although the siting of a Tasmanian Government Railway station here did provide a boost. However, Andover is probably best known for the ‘Fonthill’ estate, founded by Lieutenant Francis Tabart in the early 1830s.
Lt Tabart and his family emigrated to Van Diemen’s Land in 1830, and was granted land at the ‘Eastern Marshes’ (now Andover). By the mid 1830s, Tabart had built a substantial log house (still standing), gardens, sheep yards and mens’ huts. By 1842, when Canadian convict William Gates took up work on the estate, Fonthill had grown to more than 6,000 acres, including a flock of 10,000 sheep. Having succeeded in his ambitions, Tabart proceeded to build a homestead “fit to set himself alongside the best of the country gentry in the land”. The result was Fonthill homestead, one of the most picturesque homes in colonial Van Diemen’s Land. Built in the Gothic style popular in 1830s England, the sandstone homestead is built on the side of a hill, overlooking the estate which takes its name.
