Kempton is a village in the local government area (LGA) of the Southern Midlands in the Central LGA region of Tasmania. The locality is about south-west of the town of Oatlands. The 2016 census recorded a population of 386 for the state suburb of Kempton. In a low rainfall region of plains and low hills, it is mostly used for grazing sheep.
History Originally the home of the Big River tribe of Aboriginal people, Kempton was first settled by Europeans in 1820.Kempton The companion to Tasmanian History "Green Water Holes" was its original name, but by 1820 it had changed to "Green Water Ponds", which was then abbreviated to Green Ponds in 1821. Two convict stations were situated in Green Ponds and a military barracks at Glenfern Estate.T. R. MacLeod, A History of Green Ponds, Hobart, 1962, pp. 6-7; J. and J. McDonald, Three William McDonalds, Canberra, 2010, pp. 15-17; cf. http://www.discovertasmania.com/destinations/hobart_and_surrounds/kempton . In 1838 the town was renamed after early administrator and businessman Anthony Fenn Kemp, who established the property Mount Vernon immediately to the north of where the township later grew. The hotel at Kempton was a popular first night stop for the trip from Hobart to Launceston. Green Ponds Post Office opened on 1 June 1832 and was renamed Kempton in 1895.
A railway line connected the town with Hobart from 1891 until 1947.A Short History of the Apsley Branch Line Stokes, H. J. W. Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, July, 1971 pp152-160 Kempton was gazetted as a locality in 1970.
Geography The Jordan River flows through the north-west corner.
Road infrastructure National Highway 1 (Midland Highway) passes through from south to north-west.
References