Back River is an area close to New Norfolk that includes the ‘suburbs’ of Lawitta and parts of Gretna. The Back River rises on the western side of Mount Dromedary and flows into the Derwent River about 2 kilometres west of New Norfolk. The area was settled by small landholders who had been moved from Norfolk Island and were given allotments between New Norfolk and Back River. The Wesleyan-Methodist church at Back River is one of the oldest in Tasmania and its opening in 1837 coincides with the start of Queen Victoria’s reign. The reach of the Methodist Church first extended to the Back River district in 1820 with lay-preacher Samuel Dowsett conducting a service in one of the settler’s homes. In the following year Rev. William Horton, who was resident Methodist minister in Hobart Town, extended his ministry to the Derwent Valley, and he occasionally visited Back River. Reverend Nathaniel Turner, who was on his way to New Zealand in 1822, and was detained In Hobart Town owing to the Ma
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