Cohen & Associates Land and Aerial Surveyors

Cohen & Associates Land and Aerial Surveyors Land and Aerial surveyors based in Launceston, Tasmania operating statewide including Flinders Island and King Island.

Cohen & Associates Pty Ltd has operated throughout Tasmania in all aspects of surveying since being established by well respected surveyor John Cohen in 1946. Cohen & Associates Pty Ltd is owned and directed by Adrian Fairfield, a Registered Land Surveyor and RPAS Pilot. We maintain a permanent office in Launceston and provide a full range of land and aerial surveying and planning consultancy serv

ices throughout the State. We make regular visits to Flinders Island and can assist with any surveying and subdivision matters on the Island.

A most interesting rock—proof that you're never far away from history.This granite boulder, like many in the area, is th...
28/08/2026

A most interesting rock—proof that you're never far away from history.

This granite boulder, like many in the area, is the exact one noted on a 1908 survey by Henry Frank Miles. Miles and Percy Henry Winter Sams completed several surveys around here. As if the dense vegetation and brutal terrain weren't enough, they couldn't find a single original survey mark from James Scott’s 1844 work.

Why the discrepancy? It might have something to do with Scott allegedly surveying "800 acres" in a single day. When Sams and Miles resurveyed the entire area, they also discovered it actually contained 955 acres!

When James Sprent visited Cape Raoul in 1850, he noted a 4 foot 9 inch high stone cairn with a pole. That original pile ...
21/08/2026

When James Sprent visited Cape Raoul in 1850, he noted a 4 foot 9 inch high stone cairn with a pole. That original pile was broken down into smaller piles by a survey party in 1979—remains visible here in the 1981 photo.

While the area today features a network of well-maintained tracks, it was a very different story in the 1830s.

On November 19, 1834, Captain Charles O'Hara Booth set off: "Started to visit Starkeys Gang at Cape Raoul, a very heavy road..."

By day two, his party ran out of food. By day three, they "toiled the whole of the day without a Morsel over most desperate ground and could make out nothing - all exhausted... no grub - to add to our misfortune could not get the tinder to ignite more cold and miserable than words can utter."

Finally, at noon on day four, with hope almost gone, they arrived at the head of Opossum Bay (now Carnarvon Bay), utterly spent.

Booth was the Military Commandant of Port Arthur, famous for establishing a semaphore signaling network across the Tasman Peninsula connecting to Hobart. Conveniently, these prominent structures were included in his trigonometric surveys!

📖 Sources: John Thompson, "Probation in Paradise" 2007 & Dora Heard (ed.), "The Journals of Charles O'Hara Booth", THRA Hobart, 1981.

What do you see in this great photo that has lost it's name over the years? (hint 1 - named by the Cradle Mountain Reser...
15/08/2026

What do you see in this great photo that has lost it's name over the years? (hint 1 - named by the Cradle Mountain Reserve Board 1937). Extra hints may be supplied but lets see how people go.

hint 2. Not a trig or peak.
hint 3. Involves a Lord and Lady and textile business.
hint 4. Does relate to a swim.

ANSWER: Elinor's Tarn being the largest of the Twisted Lakes was named following a visit by John & Elinor Kemp. Elinor swimming in the lake Christmas 1936. John Kemp from Kelsall and Kemp (Tasmania) Ltd a textile business constructed in Launceston in 1920's making use of the cheap hydro power from Duck Reach.

Selection of correspondance from the Board papers held by Tasmanian Archives now attached.

(Photo Source: Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service Facebook 1st May 2026)

Technology changes, but sound surveying principles endure. 📐It’s amazing using modern high-tech equipment to unravel mys...
09/08/2026

Technology changes, but sound surveying principles endure. 📐
It’s amazing using modern high-tech equipment to unravel mysteries from over 180 years ago. I wonder what James Sprent would think if he saw us today using satellites, robotic total stations, drones and LiDAR to trace his original footsteps!

P.S. Adrian is still on the hunt for historic photos at the St Valentines Peak summit—ideally 100+ years old! If you have any leads on local camera clubs, historic walking groups, or historical societies we'd love your suggestions.

It's not often you find a mountain with multiple historic trigs. The early tree may have served a dual purpose as a sema...
07/08/2026

It's not often you find a mountain with multiple historic trigs. The early tree may have served a dual purpose as a semaphore station. Sprent 's crew rebuilt the 26 feet 6 inch high log pyramid following his observations on 17th Dec 1850. The survey team had been out for 4 months working on the East Coast and Midlands and after missing Christmas at home arrived back in Hobart on New Years Eve. A grant survey in 1858 by Arthur Thompson made use of the trig as the title corner which is quite rare. The survey notes include reference and offsets to the pyramid logs.

The 1937 Army cairns are generally found in good condition. One of the sites still with its original 12' x 4"x4" hardwoo...
04/08/2026

The 1937 Army cairns are generally found in good condition. One of the sites still with its original 12' x 4"x4" hardwood pole, solid and vertical. The 3'6" discs don't last so well in the weather and generally last ~30-50 years. The other sites was in a sorry state and was repaired as best as the lunch break permitted.

Prosser Sugarloaf 🏔️📜Nomenclature:Thomas Prosser trained as a linen and cotton printer. After participating in the Irish...
24/07/2026

Prosser Sugarloaf 🏔️📜

Nomenclature:
Thomas Prosser trained as a linen and cotton printer. After participating in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, he was convicted and transported to Sydney. In February 1808, Prosser and eight others escaped from Port Dalrymple (Low Head). There are reports of his capture near the Prosser River and led to the river bearing his name.

Original Survey Mark:
James Sprent recorded on 7th Oct 1850 the centre is a butt of a small tree with a nail in the centre, covered with stones. The structure consisted of horizontal spars laid in a small square up to 9 feet high, with upright spars in the centre reaching 18 feet.

This was one of Sprent's important sites, included in his second series of triangles connecting the baselines at Ralphs Bay and Longford.

Present Day:
Sprent's stones in a ~3.5m square base remain in reasonable condition and the location has been confirmed using his observations from surrounding stations to be within ~200mm on the current estimated centre. Some of the stones have been repurposed to secure the modern beacon. Note that the modern trig position is different to Sprent's original location.

The current beacon replaced an earlier timber quadripod installed circa 1942 in conjunction with the 1:63,360 map series. The outbreak of World War II in 1939 made Australia realise that it did not have suitable topographic maps available should an invasion of its shores occur. This work involved the Australian Section Imperial General Staff within the British War Office, Australian Survey Corps and Plane Table and traverse by the Dept. of Lands and Surveys 1943.

Not just an odd flat and 800mm square surveyors backpack. I have used this before but only recently discovered it's corr...
22/07/2026

Not just an odd flat and 800mm square surveyors backpack. I have used this before but only recently discovered it's correct purpose.

Made in 1942 by E. Esdaile & Sons in Sydney for the Royal Australian Artillery (RAA).

The board case with webbing straps would be to carry as a backpack containing a sturdy wooden board had a metal thread underneath to connect to a tripod. There would have been metal rulers and scales, protractors, maybe dividers.

How was it used?

"In the First World War in France/Belgium artillery accuracy, and therefore effect, improved to about 10 metres by 1917. They needed accurate target coordinates and gun coordinates. At that stage there was no Artillery Survey organisation (that came in 1926) so surveyors from the Anzac Corps Topographic Section (later the Aust Corps) surveyed the artillery battery positions, normally by resection, and prepared a board for each battery (normally 6 guns) with the accurate theatre grid, the 1:10,000 or 1:20,000 map stuck on which may have been a zinc plate on the board so if the map paper was wet it didnt cause any distortions. This had to be done each time the guns moved. The board was used by the gunnery officers to determine the range and bearing to the target coordinates for their fire plans. This was busy work for the surveyors as you can see from the Unit War Diary September 1917 (see photo) when they surveyed 54 field batteries and plotted 39 artillery boards in the month. Three surveyors of the Section were awarded bravery awards for this work, one the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) second only to the Victoria Cross. To do the resection surveys they were often exposed to enemy fire in no-mans land. The fellow awarded the DCM was targeted for 8 hours by the Germans including artillery fire - but he survived unhurt."

thanks to Peter Jensen the President of Canberra Survey Corps Association for the identification and helpful information.

🕵️‍♂️ Little Billopp and a Mystery (partly) Solved!This started with some early recycling by the Royal Australian Survey...
17/07/2026

🕵️‍♂️ Little Billopp and a Mystery (partly) Solved!

This started with some early recycling by the Royal Australian Survey Corps during 1937 Evandale surveys.

Multiple mystery 1-inch shell casings embedded in concrete have been found but what could they be? After plenty of research (and some wild and wonderful suggestions!), we finally have some answers.

These aren't standard artillery shells. They are English 1-inch Aiming Rifle black powder cartridges. M is for Morris Co.

They were "sub-calibre" training rounds used by the Navy, coastal batteries and possibly part of Army training. Instead of firing large, expensive main guns for practice, a smaller 1-inch aiming rifle barrel was fitted. The cases found were originally MkVM rounds that were reused and updated to MkV1M specs. The original headstamp has been barred out in identical fashion on these two examples.

Did the Army surveyors pickup some when collecting the chronograph and chronometer supplied by the Navy and used for the astronomical observations?

Butchers Peak, Flinders Island. Who was the butcher? or was it the prominent butchers block rock?. Statistics of Tasmani...
11/07/2026

Butchers Peak, Flinders Island. Who was the butcher? or was it the prominent butchers block rock?. Statistics of Tasmania for 1889 provides an important snapshot of the key staff at the time the plan was prepared. Many of the names can be found in this list near the top of the salaries. Butchers Peak has long been of interest and a location Placenames recently corrected based on Hardy plans. Whilst the appearance might play a role in the naming it's clear the main reason was Edward William Norton Butcher who was appointed as a draftsman at the same time as Hardy in 1884.

Address

Launceston, TAS
7250

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Monday 8:30am - 5pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 5pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm
Thursday 8:30am - 5pm
Friday 8:30am - 5pm

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+61363314633

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