George Town

Distinguished and Famous people from George Town

🧭 William Paterson

William Paterson led the British expedition that established a settlement at Port Dalrymple in 1804. Its initial base was at Outer Cove, in the area later known as George Town, before the settlement shifted to York Town. Paterson brought a substantial party and prefabricated buildings, making this a planned colonial undertaking. George Town’s historical society traces these beginnings as part of the Tamar district’s settlement history. The expedition established a colonial presence on country already inhabited by Aboriginal people.

🛍️ Roelf Vos

Roelf Vos opened a shop at George Town in 1956, adding to the gift-shop business he had begun at Deloraine. The second outlet allowed him to stop working his door-to-door sales round. Finding limited prospects for growth, he sold the businesses in 1957 and moved into food retailing at Launceston, where his supermarket chain developed. George Town belongs to that early entrepreneurial chapter, an actual business location before the larger stores and property ventures. It also records a useful part of commercial life: recognising when a promising small enterprise might offer fewer opportunities than a different line of trade.