It was based at the town of Devonport on Tasmania's north coast.
It was itself abolished when the Tasmanian parliament adopted the Hare-Clark electoral model in 1909.
The circumstances of its first two by-elections were initiated when the member for Devonport, John Henry, resigned.
At the resulting by-election on 21 June 1898, Ministerial candidate William Aikenhead was elected.
In October 1898, the Ministerial member for neighbouring Latrobe, Henry Murray, resigned to contest the resulting Devonport by-election (held on 25 October 1898), whilst Aikenhead contested the now-vacant seat of Latrobe at a by-election on 15 October 1898.