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Guest Articles

This section includes various documents that Peter either asked to be included on his website, or that friends asked if they could include about Peter or about joint friends already mentioned.

Peter’s father Henry Hector MacFie was a Hydro engineer but was also much involved in the preservation of historic engineering sites about Tasmania. Peter has collected some of this work and in due course it will be included here.

In Memory of Peter MacFie

In Memory of Angus Downie

In Memory of Peter’s father, Henry H. MacFie

 

Areas of Professional Interest

Peter was particularly interested in the convict era of Van Diemen’s Land, and especially that of the southern parts of the colony. However, his knowledge was wide and, as a social historian, he was always interested in taking contracts that wove together the stories of the lower classes. This page selects out some of the themes that he returned to many times, but some are not yet comprehensive.

Convicts and Settlers: Colonial life, craftsmen, tradesmen, artists

Convict subcultures: Gangs, bushrangers, black markets

History as a Process: How it has been dealt with, mistakes and untruths

Irish Tasmania: Social history: colonial towns, immigration, communities

Local History: Local communities, local issues, largely in southern Tasmania

Military History: Colonial era, World Wars I and II

Music and Musicians: Music, musicians, instrument makers, entertainers

Environment and Conservation: Gardens, wildlife, harvesting the wilderness

Port Arthur and Point Puer: Convict period: Port Arthur, Point Puer,Tasman Peninsula, related sites

Working Tasmania: Land use: farming, gardens, forestry, mining, conservation

His Musical Life

A Brief Musical Biography

A 6th generation Tasmania, Peter was a graduate of the University of Tasmania, and has been a teacher and public historian, including site historian at  Port Arthur 1983-1991. Peter was active in the  community, helping form several local history societies and instigated the Professional Historians Association of Tasmania. He also published numerous reports, papers and books and delivered many talks on topics musical, historic, or both.

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Publications and Projects

All Works by Peter MacFie

*   indicates link page complete
**  indicates index online

*** indicates download available

Books

Year(s) Topic Index
2022 See No Evil: A childhood mostly on The Glebe, Hobart 1946 – 1953: Peter H. MacFie 2022 **
2022 The Wesleyans of Port Arthur: Peter H. MacFie 2022 **
2020 The Newsprint – A Social and Forest History of Maydena 1920 – 2020: Peter H. MacFie 2020 **
2013 A History of North West Bay and Margate, Tasmania 1792 – 2000: Peter H. MacFie 2013 **
2010 On the Fiddle from Scotland to Tasmania 1815 – 1863: Peter H. MacFie 2010 **
2008 Underground Hobart: The World Beneath the City: Peter H. MacFie, 2008 **
2002 Stock Thieves and Golfers: A history of Kangaroo Bay and Rosny Farm, Tasmania 1803 – 1998: Peter H. MacFie, 2002 **

DVDs

Year(s) Topic Index
2019 Pitt Water Fiddle Excursion: Peter H. MacFie et.al. 2016 *

Books – Unpublished

Year(s) Topic
  Dulcot: A Surviving Colonial Community: Peter H. MacFie
  A History of Campania House: Peter H. MacFie, 2012 (early draft was for private commission).
  Mount Field book: Peter H. MacFie

Book Entries

Year(s) Topic Index
2005 Australian Newsprint Mills, entry, Alexander, Alison (ed) Companion to Tasmanian History. *
2003 William George Crooke, founder of Mt Field National Park. Supplementary Volume, Australian Dictionary of Biography. *
2000 Oxford History of Gardens, ed R Aitken, 2000. Entries for Royal Botanical Gardens, Port Arthur, Maydena/Lutana, Cascade Gardens, Peter MacFie  

Insights and Essays

Year(s) Topic Index
2018 The Successful Fight to Save the Miller’s Cottage, Richmond, in 1983 *
2018 Yours, Jerry Lee Lewis: Rockin’ at the Hobart City Hall 1959-1960 **
2014 Misleading Maps? The WHA Extension in the Styx Valley & Florentine Valley 2013 *
1998 Richmond Street Life: The lives of Emancipists, Paupers and Settlers, Richmond Tasmania 1870-1900. Peter MacFie 1998 **

Professional Papers

Year(s) Topic Index
2011 Nugent Farm, Richmond: the history and restoration of the last Tasmanian home of William Smith O’Brien. 18th Australasian Irish Studies conference, National Museum of Australia.  
2011 From Cork, Ireland to Shamrock Valley, Van Diemen’s Land – The First Ten Irish Convict Family Reunions, 1818 & 1822. Galong History Conference, New South Wales.  
2011 Thomas Meagher, Sgt Daniel Murphy and the Bennett Family: Some Enduring Connections at Richmond, Tasmania. Tasmanian Historical Research Association. April 2011. *
2009 John Curtin – a Tasmanian connection. 40 [degrees] South, No. 54, Spring 2009: 21-24. *
2008 First World War Soldiers of the Richmond Municipality. Tasmanian Historical Research Association. December 2008, pp222-234. *
2008 Popular Music Culture in Southern Tasmania 1950-1985. AIML Conference, Hobart, 2008 ***
2007 Tasmania, Home for Tasmania’s Forgotten Rebels of 1848, in ed. Brownrigg et al, Echoes of Irish Australian – Rebellion to Republic, Canberra, 2007. *
2003 ‘A Florentine Slice….. from Canada!’, Forest Practices News, Vol 5/3, June 2003, p18. **
2003 Harold Gatty: his Richmond Village and Cambridge Aerodrome connections, Tasmania. Peter MacFie, in Coal River Valley Historical Society Inc. Journal, No. 2, March 2003 **
2002 Government Sawing Establishments of Van Diemen’s Land, 1817-1832’, in P&P of Australian Forest History Society, Australia’s Ever-changing Forests, ed Dargavel Gaughwin and Libbis. 2002, pp105-131. **
2002 Prize Fights, Profanities and Ploughing Matches: Making Past Times Acceptable in 19thC Tasmania, Tasmanian Historical Research Association, 2002. **
2001 Burtons Circus at Richmond 1855, Coal River Historical Journal, 2001 **
2000 Point Puer Boy Convicts’ Establishment, Van Diemen’s Land [Tasmania] : the first 68 boys, January 1834 – see “The Empire’s First stolen Generation, 1999”: Peter MacFie & Nigel Hargraves, c2000. **
1999 Maydena, the Rise & Fall of a Logging Town, P & P, 4th Australian Forest History Society Conference, Gympie, Queensland. **
1999 The Empire’s First ‘Stolen Generation’; The First Intake at Point Puer 1834 – 39, Peter MacFie and Nigel Hargraves, Tasmanian Historical Studies, Vol 6, No.2, 1999. **
1997 ‘Young Hopeful Men’; Henry Hector MacFie 1869-1957, Biennial Local History Conference, Tasmanian Historical Research Association Papers & Proceedings, Vol. 45, No 2, June, 1998. **
1996 Coach-building & Related Crafts in Tasmania, Peter Macfie, Biennial Local History Conference, Tasmanian Historical Research Association, 1996. **
1996 Before and After Sunday Afternoon – Reflections on the Port Arthur Massacre, Island Magazine, 1996. **
1995 Silent Impact – the Irish in the Richmond District, Tasmania, P & P Biennial Irish- Australian History Conference, Hobart, 1995. **
1994 William Crooke, journalist, conservationist and ‘father’ of Mt Field National Park. Tasmanian Historical Research Association. **
1994 Irish-Catholics in the Coal River Valley, Richmond, Tasmania, Canberra Historical Society Conference, Galong, NSW. *
1993 The Historian as Trouble-maker’ – Cultural Heritage, Tourism & the Public Historian. Peter MacFie. The Future Role of the Historian Symposium Papers, Tasmanian Historical Studies, History Department, University of Tasmania. **
1992 Whose Past? Whose Present? Tourism & Local History, Peter MacFie. Tasmanian Historical Research Association, v 39, No. 1 March, pp 54-60, 1992. **
1991 Cultural Tourism or Tourism Culture? A Survey of the Impact of Tourism on Tasmanian Sociey 1860 – 1991: Peter MacFie. Centre for Tasmanian Studies, UTAS August, 1991. **
1990 Carnarvon Cemetery, 1877-19…?: Peter MacFie. Tasman Peninsula Chronicle No 5, Nubeena, 1990. **
1989 ‘Fruits of an Evil System’ – Some Notable Failures of the Pt Puer Juvenile Prison, Port Arthur, Tasmania: Peter Macfie. Paper presented to the Australian History Teacher’s Conference, Port Arthur, August, 1989. (unpubl) **
1989 Changes and Continuations: The Post-Penal Settlement of Tasman Peninsula, 1877-1914, in Symposium Papers, ed. S. Smith, Is History Enough? Royal Society of Tasmania. **
1988 Dobbers and Cobbers: Informers and Mateship Among Convicts, Officials and Settlers on the Grass Tree Hill Road, Tasmania 1830-1850. Tasmanian Historical Research Association Papers & Proceedings. Sept. 1988. **
1988 The Rare Retreat of Alexander North, Tasman Peninsula Chronicle No 4, Nubeena, 1988. **
1988 Eagle Hawk Neck – Prison or Pleasure?: Tasman Peninsula Chronicle No 4, Nubeena, 1988 **
1988 Letters from Lufra c 1900, Tasman Peninsula Chronicle No 4, Nubeena, 1988. **
1987 40th Battalion Database Handbook: Tasmanian Education Department.Tasmanian Education Department, 1987. (Peter MacFie, Major Contributor).  
1987 Schoolboy Tourist at Port Arthur 1889, Tasman Peninsula Chronicle No 2, Nubeena, 1987 **
1987 Point Puer lads : Tried and transported, the Point Puer lads and their prison, 1833-1849: Peter H. MacFie, Robin Maclachlan, Malcolm H. Mathias. State Computer Centre, Moorabbin, Vic, 1987 **
1987 Seventy Birds of Tasman Peninsula, Tasman Peninsula Chronicle No 2, Nubeena, 1987. **
1987 Knowing the Past – the Use of Local History and Personal Records for Cultural Awareness, Conference Papers, Australian School Librarians Association, Hobart. 1987.  
1986 The Impact of World War One on the Tasman Peninsula, Tasman Peninsula Chronicle No 1, Nubeena. **
1986 The Point Puer Lads – A Reappraisal with the Aid of a Computer, Tasmanian Historical Research Association P & P, June 1986. **
1985 The Royal Engineers in Colonial Tasmania, in Papers of the Second National Conference on Engineering Heritage. **
1982 Oral History and the Demise of Folk Culture in the Richmond District, Tasmania. Tasmanian Historical Research Association P & P, Nov. 1982. **

Historical Databases

Year(s) Topic Index
1987 Contributor, 40th Battalion Database and Handbook, Tasmanian Education Department.  
1986 The Point Puer Lads – A Reappraisal with the Aid of a Computer, (Peter MacFie, with Dr Robin McLachlan) Tasmanian Historical Research Association Papers & Proceedings. June 1986.  
1985 The Point Puer Lads Database, McLachlan & MacFie, (National Parks & Wildlife Service & Mitchell CAE, Bathurst, NSW.) (90 pp) **

Playscripts

Year(s) Topic Index
2011 A fiddler, a Juggler and Mrs Champ: Peter H. MacFie (2011) *
1985 Branded – A Point Puer Story: Peter H. MacFie, contributor, playscript, Salamanca Theatre Co & Port Arthur Conservation Project, 1985  

Heritage Reports

Year(s) Topic Index
2006 The Evolution of Some Historic Sites – Recherche Bay, Tasmania 1792 to 2006, Tasmanian Heritage Council. (65 pp) *
2006 From Dublin to Tasmania, the Family of John Quinn and Catherine Nelson. (15pp) (Private contract)  
2002-2004 Bellerive to Richmond Convict Trail, signage documentation, Clarence City Council. (55 pp approx)  
2002 Military Drill Halls in Tasmania, parts 1-5, Department of Defence, Brisbane, (100 pp)  
1999 Subterranean Hobart Study, Hobart City Council. (71 pp)  
1998 Port Arthur Visitors Centre Interpretation, Carnarvon Era Proposal.  
1997 Pt Puer Conservation Study: Peter MacFie Background notes, for Freeman & Assoc.1997  
1997 A Brief History of Human Use in the Meehan Range: Peter MacFie, for the Meehan range Management Plan. Clarence City Council (5pp) **
1995 The Pontville Historic Environment study. Part 1, A social history of Pontville, Part 2, Management recommendations: MacFie, Morris-Nunn & Dudley  
1995 Cultures of the Wellington Range, Mt Wellington Range Study, Part II. (with DeGryse & Hepper) (29 pp) *
1993-94 An Historical Survey of the Port Arthur Garrison and Military Barracks (Peter MacFie with Dr Robin McLachlan, for Fox & Assoc., Canberra, and the Port Arthur Management Authority) (105 pp) *
1994 All One: A History and Analysis of the the Derwent Distillery and Artillery Brewery, Hobart Rivulet. (for Cripps & Assoc.) (25pp) **
1994 Clarence historic site survey. Part 1, Part II, Photographs and sites / Audrey Hudspeth with Lindy Scripps, Public History Partners, and with Peter MacFie, 1994.  
1993 & 1999 Stock Thieves and Golfers: A History of Rosny Farm and Kangaroo Bay, Tasmania 1803-1998. (City of Clarence) (Museum text & publication) (72 pp)  
1992 Valley Farm & Saw-mill, National Park, Tasmania. (D. P. W. & H.) (28 pp)  
1992 A History of Corinna & the Pieman River (D. P. W. & H.) (130 pp) *
1992 Mt Field – The Evolution of Tasmania’s First National Park. (D. P. W. & H.) (155 pp)  
1991 The First Cement Works & Brickfields Industrial Site, Maria Island, Tasmania, (1888-92) (D. P. W. & H.) (187 pp)  
1991 The Iron Cliff Mines including Thoresby’s Tunnel, Ferndene Reserve, Penguin, Tasmania. (D. P. W. & H.) *
1991 A History of Schouten Island (Department of Park Wildlife & Heritage, Tasmania.) (87 pp) *
1989 ‘Fruits of an Evil System;’ some notable failures from the Pt Puer Juvenile Prison, Port Arthur, Tasmania, 1834-48, unpublished paper given at the Australian History Teacher’s Conference, Port Arthur, 1989. (15 pp) **
1987 Historical Research for the Foreman of Works House, Norfolk Island. (Council for Norfolk Island. ) (49 pp)  
1986 Interpretation Training Programme, Port Arthur Historic Site, Port Arthur Conservation Project. (50pp)  
1986 Conservation Study of Mt Pleasant Homestead, Devonport, Tasmania: Peter McFie, Co-Author (Port Arthur Conservation Project & National Trust Tasmania)  
1986 The Moral Lever : education & teachers of convicts & free children at Port Arthur & Point Puer Juvenile Prison, Tasman Peninsula, 1830 – 1877. Fiona Burton, Ed. Peter MacFie, National Parks & Wildlife Service, 1986 (61pp)  
1985 The Signal House, Mulgrave Battery. (Australian Heritage Commission) (30 pp)  
1985 Convict Health & Diet at Port Arthur & Tasman Peninsula, MacFie & Bonet, (Port Arthur Conservation Project) (49 pp) **
1985 Contributor, Port Arthur Alive Education Kit, (National Parks & Wildlife Service & Tasmanian Education Department.)  
1985 The Point Puer Lads Database, McLachlan & MacFie, (National Parks & Wildlife Service & Mitchell CAE, Bathurst, NSW.) (90 pp)  
1984 The Tower Windmill & Miller’s Cottage, Richmond, Tasmania. (National Trust, National Estate.) (42 pp)  
1984 Henry Laing, Convict Architect. (Port Arthur Conservation Project.) (36 pp)  
1983 Colonial Gardens of Port Arthur: an archival survey. (Port Arthur Conservation Project, NPWS.) (157 pp) *
1983 A History of the Lower Cricket Ground – Hobart Railway Station. Historical Research & Site Report with Crawford, Cripps & Wegman, (Commonwealth Department of Administration Services.) (47 pp)  
1983 Stables & Stores, Anglesea Barracks, Hobart. (Commonwealth Department of Administration Services.)  
1981-82 The Use of National Estate Funds in Tasmania: Peter MacFie with Greg Young ( Historical Architect, NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service). Joint Report Commissioned by National Parks & Wildlife Service. (22 pp)  
1981 Tasmania’s Engineering Heritage. Six reports funded by the National Estate for the Institution of Engineers, Australia (Tasmanian Division) including:  
  “Historic Roads & Bridges”  
  “Historic Wind, Water, Steam & Other Flour Mills”  
  “Breweries of Tasmania”  
  “Prominent Tasmanian Engineers”  
1980 Historic Sites, Tasman & Forestier Peninsulas, Tasmania. Report based on Research, Field Work, Photography for National Parks & Wildlife Service.  
1980 The State of Historic Conservation in Tasmania, Report for the Australian Heritage Commission. ( National Parks & Wildlife Service.) 1979-80 (140 pp)  

Resources

Year(s) Topic Index
2018 Point Puer Bench Book data Peter MacFie, 2018 **
2016 The Petition from Fourteen Fiddlers 1848 Peter MacFie, 2016 **
2010 The Teachers at the Dulcot School, 1870-1910 Peter MacFie, 2016 *
2003 On the Canadian Patriot’s Trail. Peter H. MacFie, 2003  

Historical Research and Studies

Year(s) Topic Index
2010 A History of the Two Dulcot Schools. (draft)  
2010 Launch of publication, On the Fiddle , (co-written with Steve & Marjory Gadd) at the National Folk Festival, Canberra (documenting the Life of Alexander Laing , Scottish convict, fiddler, composer & Sorell district resident.  
2010 Profile of the Boyer Newsprint Mill for Environmental Engineering Consultants.  
2009 Drafting Historical Text for Signage at Barilla Bay Restaurant.  
2008 Consulting Historian, Mace and Sword Project, Tasmanian House of Assembly.  
2008 Historical records consultant & tutor, Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery.  
2007 A Short History of “The Carlton”, Southern Tasmania. See The Carlton *
2007 State Library Fellowship: Establishing a Rock and Folk Memorabilia Collection. See Popular Music Culture *
2006-7 A History of Pittwater, Barilla Bay Restaurant & Clarence Council  
2004-5 Oral History Project, Forestry Tasmania  
2004-22 Mill Cottage to Peppercorn Gallery: A History of the Military Pensioners of Richmond ***
2002-04 Bellerive –Richmond History Trail, Clarence City Council.  
1999-2000-05 Underground Hobart Study, Hobart City Council.  
1998 Consultant, historical interpretation, Port Arthur Visitors Centre.  
1995-2004 Social History of the Maydena District; Oral and Archival Record of a Logging Community, for Australian Newsprint Mills. See Maydena – the Rise & Fall of a Logging Town *
1995 Lambert Park and Skyline Reserve, Historic Review for the Hobart City Council. See Lambert Park & Skyline Reserve *
1994-5 Team Historian, Mt Wellington Management Plan, part 2, (de Gryse & Hepper.) See Cultures of the Wellington Range) *
1994-5 Pontville National Estate Study. (Historian/ project leader, with Morris-Nunn & Dudley)  
1993-4 Clements & Marshall Consolidated, Oral History Project.  
1993 Consultant, Clarence Regional National Estate Study, for Public History Partners. See Clarence Historic Site Survey  
1988 Co-ordinator (with Jerry deGryse) Cemetery Point, Impression Bay, Management Plan.  
1987-92 Historian/ Interpretation Officer, Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority. (Responsibilities included guide management and training, historical publicity, signs, and tourist industry liaison.)  
1984-86 Historian, Port Arthur Conservation & Development Project.  
1983-4 Tasmanian Interviewer for the Oral History Program, Federal Parliamentary Library’s Bicentennial Publication Project.  
1981-3 Part Time Teacher, Elizabeth College, Rosny Secondary College.  
1979-82 Public history research.  

 

Talks and Walks

Year(s) Topic Index
2017 Alexander Laing New Norfolk Fiddle Excursion 2017 Peter MacFie for Friends of Willow Court, 14 May 2017 *
2016 Alexander Laing Sorell Fiddle Excursion 2016 Peter MacFie *
2012 Alexander Laing Sorell Fiddle Excursion 2012 Peter MacFie *
2007 Round Pittwater Excursion  
2006 Richmond to Risdon via Grass tree Hill Road and Strath Ayr Farm  
2004 Bellerive Village Walk 2004 Peter MacFie, 2004 *
2003 Inns & Hotels of Richmond  
2002 Campania House Weekend: Old Homesteads & New Wineries of the Coal River Valley, Tasmania  
2002 Prospect House Weekend: Old Homesteads & New Wineries of the Coal River Valley, Tasmania  
2002 Bellerive Excursion  
2000 Excursion to Strath Ayre, Glen Ayr & Weeroona  
2000 Point Puer Juvenile Establishment 1834-1849 Excursion  
1999 The Convict Coal Mines of the Tasman Peninsula  
1999 Barilla Bay Excursion  
1999 Richmond to Cambridge Excursion  
1996 Cartela Cruise 1996 Peter MacFie, 1996 *
1996 Historic Pontville Excursion  
1993 Historic Walk Around Pontville  
1993 Everyday Life of Port Arthur Convict Patients & Doctors  
1993 Campania Village Excursion  
1990 Free Settler’s Homes of Tasman Peninsula  
1986 Tasman Peninsula at War 1914-1918. The Impact of World War I on the Local Community: Peter MacFie. ANZAC Day Presentation at Nubeena District School, April 1986 *
1985 Excursion to the Coal Mines on Tasman Peninsula Peter MacFie, 1985 *

 

Founder or co-founder of the following:

Year(s) Topic
1992 Coal River Historical Society
1991 Glamorgan & Spring Bay Historical Society
1990 Bellerive Historical Society
1989 Hamilton Historical Society
1988 Bruny Island Historical Society
Peter MacFie, Historian ~ Copyright © 2017 Peter MacFie