Tasmania Australia History

Tasmania is an ancient island, with Aboriginal rock paintings thought to be 20,000 years old and stencils of handprints dating to the last Ice Age.

Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sailed past Tasmania in 1642, bestowing the name Van Diemen’s Land. French explorer Marion du Fresne became the first known European to set foot on the island in 1772. A scuffle with Aborigines resulted in the death of one Indigenous person, setting the tone for future race relations — within 30 years most Aborigines were killed.

The British secured Van Diemen’s Land in 1803 by establishing a penal settlement at Risdon Cove for convicts (criminals deported from Britain to Australia). However, poor soil saw the settlement move to Hobart within a year, marking the start of a wild and gruesome era — sealers kidnapped Aboriginal women, bushrangers and police bullied settlers, corrupt officials reigned with terror or relished a little too much rum, and escaped convicts cannibalised each other.

The rise of mining and whaling in the 1830s seemed to reform the island. Coal was discovered in 1833 and whaling earned more than any other industry by the end of the decade.

Convict transportation ended in 1853 and, as if in response, the island was renamed Tasmania three years later.

Between 1982 and 1983, locals saved the Franklin and Gordon rivers — in the heart of World Heritage-listed forest — from being transformed into a giant dam and hydro-electric plant.

Modern Tasmania is serene, celebrated for its awe-inspiring wilderness, peaceful farmlands and heritage architecture, built by convict hands.