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Baskerville, near Bridgewater in Tasmania

Baskerville is a rural district on the western side of the Derwent Valley, and about 25 kilometres north of the Tasmanian capital of Hobart. There is no village or town of the name, which applies to a rural locality.

map source: Moon, R & V (Eds)., Discover Australia by Road, Hema Maps Pty Ltd., Eight Mile Plains (Queensland) 2004: 'Hobart and Surrounding Area', map 386.

This place was identified by John Baskerville in 2005 when he emailed me as follows:

You might be interested to add Baskerville, Tasmania to your website. This small rural district/area still bears the Baskerville placename, though there is no town as such. It is just north of Hobart, near Bridgewater, and the property developed by Henry and Ellen is now the home of the Baskerville motor racing circuit but at least the name lives on.

The 'Henry and Ellen' referred to are Henry and Ellen Viveash, who in 1834 were living at 'Baskerville' when Mrs Viveash wrote to one of her relatives living at 'Baskerville' on the upper Swan River in Western Australia. The nature of the relationships between the Viveashs in Tasmania (then called Van Dieman's Land) and the Tanners in Western Australia (often called 'Swan River' at that time) is not clear as yet, but there is possibly a common descent from a Baskerville ancestor as both families chose this name for their respective colonial estates.

Baskerville is mainly known today as the site of the Baskerville Raceway, a car racing circuit that opened in 1958, and is now the longest operating such circuit in Australia.

The environmental impacts of settlements around the Baskerville area have been the subject of conservation works since 1998 designed to reduce pollution of Tasmania's waterways.

Any further information on this place, especially its history, and including links, maps and pictures, would be much appreciated.