- Pieman River
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It is formed near Tullah by the confluence of the Macintosh and Murchison rivers. Rising on the western edge of the central highlands, it is about 70 mi (115 km) long and flows west to the Indian Ocean. There was some gold and tin mining in the area during the 1870s and 1890s. It was named for an infamous convict, Alexander Pierce (Jimmy the Pieman), who was recaptured at its mouth after escaping from the Macquarie Harbour penal colony.
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river, northwestern Tasmania, Australia. It is formed near Tullah by the confluence of the Macintosh and Murchison rivers. The 61-mile- (98-kilometre-) long main stream is fed by the Huskisson and Stanley rivers and then flows generally west to its estuary, which also receives the Donaldson, Whyte, and Savage rivers at Hardwicke Bay on the Indian Ocean. It was long thought that the river was named for one Alexander Pierce, but it is now widely believed that the honour belongs to another convict, Thomas Kent, who is thought to have been a baker. The river was the scene of some gold and tin mining during the 1870s and '90s. After 1965 the development of iron-ore mining on the Savage River and increased copper-mining activity at nearby Mount Lyell provided the impetus for the harnessing of the Pieman's hydropower potential. Some timber gathering has persisted.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
