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The British colonisation of Tasmania took place between 1803 and 1830. 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 .
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.
Later in that year the Privy Council approved the colony changing its name from "Van Diemen's Land" to "Tasmania", and in 1856, the newly elected bicameral parliament of Tasmania sat for the first time, establishing Tasmania as a self-governing colony of the British Empire. Tasmania was often referred to as one of the "most British" colonies of ...
The history of Tasmania begins at the end of the Last Glacial Period (approximately 12,000 years ago) when it is believed that the island was joined to the Australian mainland. Little is known of the human history of the island until the British colonisation of Tasmania in the 19th century.
A jail was opened at Risdon in 1960, and the State Library of Tasmania the same year. The University of Tasmania also moved to its present location in 1963. The state was badly affected by the 1967 Tasmanian fires, killing 64 people and destroying over 652,000 acres in five hours. [71]
Transportation of convicts to the colonies was phased out from 1840 to 1868. In 1855 and 1856, Britain granted self-government to New South Wales, the new colony of Victoria, Van Diemen's Land (renamed Tasmania) and South Australia. Queensland became a separate self-governing colony in 1859 and Western Australia was granted self-government in 1890.
At the time of settlement by the British, it is estimated that approximately 1000 to 5000 people lived in Tasmania, divided into eight tribal groups. It was the semi-nomadic Mouheneener tribe, a sub-group of the Nuenonne , or 'South-East' tribe, who were first affected by European settlement, as Hobart Town was founded in their traditional ...
A British settlement was established in 1803 in Van Diemen's Land, now known as Tasmania, and it became a separate colony in 1825. [29] The United Kingdom formally claimed the western part of Western Australia (the Swan River Colony) in 1828. [30]