Cygnet

Cygnet is a town in the Huon Valley, south of Huonville, Tasmania.

Cygnet is a town in the Huon Valley,south of Huonville, Tasmania.

The bay on which Cygnet sits was originally named by the Indigenous people who occupied a large territory in South East Tasmania, including Cygnet, Hobart and Bruny Island.Tasmanian leader & elder, Wooraddy, came from Bruny Island. The bay was later named Port des Cygnes (Port of Swans) by French navigator Bruni D'Entrecasteaux in 1793, because he observed a large number of black swans in the area.

The first European settler in the district was William Nichols in 1834. Nichols received a grant for three hundred and twenty acres of land on the north side of Port Cygnet in 1829. After the land had been cleared and accommodation built, Nichols moved his family to this property. At the time the property was only accessible by a walking track from Browns River or up the river by boat.

His grandson, John Wilson, established a shipbuilding business at what was now known as Port Cygnet.Until the end of the 1850s, timber was the main source of income as land was cleared. Timber was exported from the area for firewood, house building and fence palings.

In 1840 the township of Port Cygnet was surveyed. Land was advertised for sale to the public in 1848.The Post Office opened on 1 January 1854. The town was known as Port Cygnet until 1895, Lovett until 1915 and then Cygnet.