Triabunna (Spring Bay)

Triabunna (Spring Bay)

The ‘Big Smoke” of the region with a population of 800, Triabunna is situated on Spring Bay, 9Km north of Orford and 59Km south of Swansea. Formerly a garrison town for the convict settlement on Maria Island, it has progressed from a whaling base and its economy is now centred around woodchipping, tourism and the scallop & abalone fishing industries.

The first European to visit the area was the French explorer Nicholas Baudin who sailed into Spring Bay in La Geographe in 1802. With the establishment of a penal colony on Maria Island some of the officers decided to settle on the mainland. One of the earliest European settlers was Major Thomas Lord who was the Commandant of Darlington Penal Settlement on Maria Island from 1825-32. He called his property Okehampton and had a signal station set up so he could communicate with his officers on the island. It was around this time that whalers moved into the area and by the mid-1820s there were four whaling stations operating along the coast.

As a result of all this activity farmers moved into the area and by 1860 Spring Bay had been declared a municipality. The local Council chambers were built in 1862.

Today the town is surprisingly ordinary. A town for fishermen and timber workers rather than a place full of interesting history. The current Spring Bay Hotel falsely claims on it’s front that it is circa 1838.

Daniel & Ann settled in Triabunna in 1857. They are both buried there.