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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.
In 1845 he published his Physical Description of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land. The book gained the praise of Charles Darwin and other scientists and was awarded the Founder's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society. It was an unsurpassed source of knowledge on Australia for at least forty-five years.
Maria Island was discovered and named in 1642 by Tasman after Maria van Diemen (née van Aelst), wife of Anthony. The island was known as Maria's Isle in the early 19th century. Tasman's journal entry for 29 November 1642 records that he observed a rock which was similar to a rock named Pedra Branca off China, presumably referring to the Pedra ...
Abel Tasman was born around 1603 in Lutjegast, a small village in the province of Groningen, in the north of the Netherlands.The oldest available source mentioning him is dated 27 December 1631 when, as a seafarer living in Amsterdam, the 28-year-old became engaged to marry 21-year-old Jannetje Tjaers, of Palmstraat in the Jordaan district of the city.
Tasman named the island Anthony van Diemen's Land after his sponsor Anthony van Diemen, the Governor of the Dutch East Indies. The name was later shortened to Van Diemen's Land by the British. It was officially renamed "Tasmania" in honour of its first European discoverer on 1 January 1856.
Abel Tasman's voyage of 1642 was the first known European expedition to reach Van Diemen's Land (later Tasmania) and New Zealand, and to sight Fiji. On his second voyage of 1644, he also contributed significantly to the mapping of Australia proper, making observations on the land and people of the north coast below New Guinea. [15]
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.
Thomas Laycock (1786 – 7 November 1823) was an English soldier, explorer, and later businessman, who served in North America during the War of 1812, but is most famous for being the first European to travel overland through the interior of Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land).