No. 1625 - Belle Vue - Private Chapel

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Belle Vue is a property overlooking the South Esk river east of the Midland Highway near Epping Forest. Belle Vue was originally granted to Launceston brewer William Barnes, who managed nearby Clyne Vale. It is likely that Barnes did not occupy the property, for he soon exchanged it for land near his brewery in Launceston, which he named Trevallyn. In 1828 David Gibson of Pleasant Banks acquired the land on which Belle Vue now stands.

A stone building had been erected on the property by the 1840s and the estate was managed until James Gibson (1829-1906), son of David Gibson, took up residence in the 1850s. The Eskvale Presbyterian chapel was built in the vicinity of Belle Vue in 1846. In 1885 the Eskvale chapel was closed following the construction of a new Presbyterian church at Epping Forest. The land on which the chapel stood was sold to Gibson in 1885. It is likely that it was about this time a private chapel was built at Belle Vue.

While little information is available about the James Gibson’s chapel, it is a visible legacy of a man who had a deep commitment to the Presbyterian church. In April 1867 Gibson was ordinated “as a ruling elder of the Presbyterian Church of Campbell Town” and was for many years a Trustee of the Presbyterian church at Kirklands.

Gibson’s prominence dates to the early1860s when he began to give attention to the improvement of Merino sheep and he went on to produce some of finest Merino in the Commonwealth. Gibson was a prominent and active member of the Tasmanian Agricultural and Pastoral Society and he represented South Esk in the Legislative Council for eleven years, having been first elected in 1866. Gibson’s funeral was held at Kirklands Presbyterian church July 1906.

Under the terms of James Gibson’s will, Thomas Muirhead, a long-time manager of Belle Vue, continued to run the Belle Vue estate until its sale to Lewis Burbury of Conara in 1928.


The chapel at Belle Vue - Libraries Tasmania - Item Number  LPIC1/4/31


James Gibson 



Belle Vue house. The chapel is visible on the left margin of the photograph. Source: Libraries Tasmania - Item Number  LPIC1/4/26


Belle Vue - Source: Libraries Tasmania - Item Number  LPIC1/4/25


Sources:

The Mercury, Saturday 29 June 1867, page 2
The Tasmanian, Saturday 5 September 1885, page 24
Daily Telegraph, Monday 16 July 1906, page 5

Robertson, E Graeme & Craig, Edith N. 1966 Early Houses of Northern Tasmania abridged edition. Georgian House, Melbourne.

https://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/resources/about-parliament/historyindex/members/gibsonj205






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