Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration and colonisation of Australia in the 19th century. The island, inhabited by Aborigines, was first encountered by the Dutch ship captained by Abel Tasman in 1642, working under the sponsorship of Anthony van Diemen, the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies.
Some maps show the administrative divisions which, by 1852, had covered the eastern part of the island, such as this 1831 map and 1852 map. These were the forerunners of Local Government Areas and in 1852 were Launceston, Norfolk Plains, Campbelltown, Clyde, Oatlands, Oyster Bay, New Norfolk, Richmond and Hobart Town.
Map of Hobart showing locations of Risdon and Sullivans Cove. In 1803 Lieutenant John Bowen was sent to establish a settlement in Van Diemen's Land. On the advice of the explorer George Bass he had chosen Risdon Cove. While the site was a good one from a defensive point of view, the soil was poor and water scarce.
Known as Van Diemen's Land, the name changed to Tasmania, when the British government granted self-governance in 1856. [1] It was a colony from 1856 until 1901, at which time it joined five other colonies to form the Commonwealth of Australia.
An earlier Buckingham County existed from 24 September 1804 until 1813 as an administrative division whilst Van Diemen's Land was administered as two units. It was defined as all of Van Diemen's Land south of the 42nd parallel (between Trial Harbour and Friendly Beaches, and governed by David Collins. Cornwall County occupied the remainder of ...
The Hobart Town Gazette was established in 1816 in Hobart, Van Diemen's Land (known as Tasmania since 1856) as The Hobart Town Gazette and Southern Reporter.In 1821 the name was changed to the Hobart Town Gazette and Van Diemen's Land Advertiser.
In 1824, Bent, as proprietor of the Hobart Town Gazette, established the first free press in Australia. The first Australian novel, Quintus Servinton, was written in 1831 by convict Henry Savery and published in Hobart. [114] Written during his imprisonment, it is a semi-autobiographical work about the life of a convict in Van Diemen's Land.
On 15 January 1836 George Arthur, the Lieutenant Governor of the Island of Van Diemen's Land proclaimed, via The Hobart Town Courier, the first counties and parishes to be surveyed in the colony.