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.
Indigenous people
Tasmania was inhabited by an Indigenous population, the Aboriginal Tasmanians, and evidence indicates their presence in the territory, later to become an island, at least 35,000 years ago. At the time of the British occupation and colonisation in 1803 the Indigenous population was estimated at between 3,000 and 10,000. Historian Lyndall Ryan's analysis of population studies led her to conclude that there were about 7,000 spread throughout the island's nine nations; Nicholas Clements, citing research by N.J.B. Plomley and Rhys Jones, settled on a figure of 3,000 to 4,000.
The combination of the so-called Black War, internecine conflict and, from the late 1820s, the spread of infectious diseases to which they had no immunity, reduced the population to about 300 by 1833. Almost all of the Indigenous population was relocated to Flinders Island by George Augustus Robinson. Until the 1970s, most people thought that the last surviving Tasmanian Aboriginal person was Truganini,Bonwick, James: The Last of the Tasmanians, p 270-295 who died in 1876. However, this "extinction" was a myth, as documented by Lyndall Ryan in 1991.Ryan, Lyndall: The Aboriginal Tasmanians, 1991
European arrival
Despite mapping parts of the southern Australian coast in 1627, the Dutch did not establish permanent settlements on the continent, leaving an opportunity for the British to later assert their presence in the region. The first reported sighting of Tasmania by a European was on 24 November 1642 by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who named the island Anthoonij van Diemenslandt, after his sponsor, the Governor of the Dutch East Indies. The name was later shortened to Van Diemen's Land by the British. In 1772, a French expedition led by Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne landed on the island. Captain James Cook also sighted the island in 1777, and numerous other European seafarers made landfalls, adding a colourful array to the names of topographical features.
The first settlement was by the British at Risdon Cove on the eastern bank of the Derwent estuary in 1803, by a small party sent from Sydney, under Lt. John Bowen. An alternative settlement was established by Capt. David Collins 5 km to the south in 1804 in Sullivans Cove on the western side of the Derwent, where fresh water was more plentiful. The latter settlement became known as Hobart Town, later shortened to Hobart, after the British Colonial Secretary of the time, Lord Hobart. The settlement at Risdon was later abandoned.
The early settlers were mostly convicts and their military guards, with the task of developing agriculture and other industries. Numerous other convict settlements were made in Van Diemens Land, including secondary prisons, such as the particularly harsh penal colonies at Port Arthur in the south-east and Macquarie Harbour on the West Coast. The Aboriginal resistance to this invasion was so strong, that troops were deployed across much of Tasmania to drive the Aboriginal people into captivity on nearby islands.
Timeline Pre-1800 Date unknown (BC): Mouheneener band of South-East Tasmanian Aboriginal peoples settle in what is now the Hobart area 1642: Abel Tasman, of the Dutch East India Company, becomes first European to sight Tasmanian mainland; he names it Van Diemen's Land after fellow Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) Governor-General Anthony van Diemen 1792: Captain William Bligh anchors in Adventure Bay for a second time and names Table Mountain (now kunanyi/Mount Wellington) 1793: French explorer Bruni d'Entrecasteaux surveys Derwent, naming it Rivière du Nord 1793: John Hayes, of British East India Company, unaware of the French visit, sails up the river, which he names Derwent 1798: Explorers George Bass and Matthew Flinders visit Derwent as part of circumnavigation of Van Diemen's Land; Bass climbs at least part of Mount Wellington (then known as Table Mountain) on Christmas Day 1798: Adventure Bay became the site of a whaling station, then later on a Timber station.
1800–1809
1802: French explorer Nicolas Baudin surveys Derwent during month-long visit to South-East Tasmania, on which his party makes extensive notes on Aboriginal people, plants and animals. 1803: Lieutenant John Bowen's 49-member party, with the ships and Albion, starts first British settlement of Tasmania at Risdon Cove, naming it Hobart. 1804: Lieutenant-Colonel David Collins' 262-member party lands at Sullivans Cove in February; the settlement, which becomes known as Hobart Town, grows to 433 with arrival in June of rest of his Port Phillip party. 1804: Soldiers temporarily refuse guard duties at Risdon amid fears of convict rebellion. 1804: Aboriginal people killed in Risdon affray and settlement there abandoned. 1804: Church of England clergyman Robert Knopwood conducts first divine service at Sullivans Cove. 1804: Hobart's first cemetery opens, later St David's Park. 1804: Colonel William Paterson establishes Port Dalrymple (Tamar River) settlement, first at George Town, then at York Town on river's western side. 1805: After supply ships fail to arrive on time, famine forces David Collins to cut rations by one-third 1805: Collins leaves tent home to take up residence in first Government House, a wooden cottage. 1805: Harbourmaster William Collins establishes Australia's first whaling station at Ralphs Bay. 1805: First land grants include 10 acres (40,000 m2) to Robert Knopwood 1806: Colonel William Paterson begins transfer of York Town settlement to site of modern Launceston 1807: First Norfolk Island settlers arrive in Hobart in the and settle at New Norfolk 1807: Lieutenant Thomas Laycock leads five-man party on first overland journey from Launceston to Hobart, taking nine days, mainly to seek supplies for the northern settlement. 1809: Deposed New South Wales Governor William Bligh arrives in Hobart and temporarily disrupts David Collins' authority as lieutenant-governor. 1809: Floods in Derwent
1810–1819
1810: David Collins dies suddenly, Lieutenant Edward Lord takes over and first of three administrators pending appointment of second lieutenant-governor. 1810: First church, St David's, built 1810: Colony's first flour mill built beside Rivulet between Murray St and Elizabeth St, operated by Edward Lord and William Collins 1810: Administration launches colony's first newspaper, the Derwent Star and Van Diemen's Land Intelligencer 1810: Sealing expedition discovers Macquarie Island 1811: After arriving from Sydney, Governor Lachlan Macquarie draws up plan for Hobart streets and orders construction of public buildings and Mount Nelson signal station. 1812: Michael Howe (later bushranging gang leader) among first convicts to arrive directly from England in HMS Indefatigable 1812: Northern Tasmania's lieutenant-governorship ceases, Government House in Hobart takes control of whole island 1813: Schooner Unity not heard of again after convicts seize it in Derwent 1813: First Post Office opens in postmaster's house on corner of Argyle St and Macquarie St 1814: Work starts on Anglesea Barracks, Australia's longest continuously occupied military building 1814: Colony's first horse races believed to have taken place at New Town 1814: Lieutenant-governor's court created to deal with small personal financial disputes. 1814: Governor Lachlan Macquarie offers amnesty to bushrangers 1814: Ship Argo disappears after seizure by convicts in Derwent 1815: Michael Howe's bushranging gang kills two settlers in New Norfolk raid 1815: Lieutenant-Governor Thomas Davey declares martial law against all bushrangers, mainly escaped convicts, with some military deserters; Governor Lachlan Macquarie later revokes order. 1815: Captain James Kelly circumnavigates island in whaleboat 1815: First Van Diemen's Land wheat shipment to Sydney. 1816: First emigrant ship arrives with free settlers from England 1817: Weekly mail service begins between Hobart and Launceston 1817: Work starts on new St David's Church, replacing earlier structure blown down in storm 1817: First convict ships arrive directly from England 1817: New Government House occupied in Macquarie St, on site of present Town Hall, lower Elizabeth St and Franklin Square. 1818: Government opens flour mill in Hobart 1818: Soldiers and convict kill bushranger Michael Howe on banks of Shannon River 1818: Government establishes nucleus of Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens 1819: First proper hospital opens 1819: Hobart-New Norfolk road built 1819: St David's Church opens
1820–1829 In 1820, Tasmanian roads were first macadamised and carthorses began to replace bullocks. In the same year, the first substantial jail was completed on the corner of Macquarie Street and Murray Street; and merino sheep arrived from John Macarthur's stud in New South Wales. 1820 also saw the first Wesleyan (Methodist) meeting in the colony. The following year marked the arrival of the first Catholic clergyman, Father Phillip Conolly; and on his second visit, Governor Lachlan Macquarie chose sites for Perth, Campbell Town, Ross, Oatlands, Sorell and Brighton. In 1821, officials and convicts left Port Dalrymple to establish Macquarie Harbour penal settlement at Sarah Island.
1822 was the first year Van Diemen's Land Agricultural Society held a meeting in Hobart. In 1823 the Presbyterian Church's first official ministry in Australia occurred in Hobart and the first Tasmanian bank, Bank of Van Diemen's Land, was established.
The inauguration of the Supreme Court occurred in 1824, as did the opening of Cascade Brewery, Australia's longest continuously operating Brewery. Convict Alexander Pearce was hanged after escaping twice from Macquarie Harbour and surviving by eating his companions. Convict Matthew Brady began his bushranging career after escaping from Macquarie Harbour.
On 3 December 1825, Van Diemen's Land became independent from New South Wales with an appointed Executive Council, its own judicial establishment, and Legislative Council. Also in that year, the Richmond Bridge, Australia's oldest existing bridge, was opened; and a party of soldiers and convicts established Maria Island penal settlement.
In 1826, Van Diemen's Land Company launched the North-West pastoral and agricultural development at Circular Head; and the Tasmanian Turf Club was established. Settler John Batman, later one of Melbourne's founders, helped capture bushranger Matthew Brady near Launceston. Hobart experienced a disease epidemic which was blamed on rivulet pollution. A courthouse was built on the corner of Macquarie Street and Murray Street; and street lighting with oil lamps was introduced. 1826 was also the year that the Legislative Council met formally for the first time.
1827 saw the first regatta-style events on Derwent River; and Van Diemen's Land Company began settlement at Emu Bay (now Burnie).
A proclamation made in 1828 by Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur excluded Aboriginal people from settled areas and was the year of the Cape Grim massacre. In 1828, martial law was also declared against Aboriginal people in settled areas after Van Diemen's Land Company shepherds killed 30 Aboriginal people at Cape Grim. Regular mail services to and from Sydney began. That year also saw widespread floods. The following year a jail for women convicts ("female factory") opened at Cascades; "Protector" George Augustus Robinson started an Aboriginal mission at Bruny Island, convicts seized the brig Cyprus at Recherche Bay and sailed to China; Van Diemen's Land Scientific Society was formed under patronage of Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur; and a Hobart-New Norfolk coach service began.