The state I live in is now called Tasmania but was once called Van Diemen’s Land.
The Palawa or Aboriginal Tasmanians were first on this island. When the rising sea level cut off the island from the mainland of Australia, the Palawa were isolated from contact with the aborigines on the mainland.
Their first knowledge of Europeans was when Abel Janzsoon Tasman landed in 1642 and planted a Dutch flag near what is now the town of Dunalley on what was then called Blackman Bay. There was no contact with the aborigines though.
It was at this time the island was named Anthoonij van Diemenslandt (Anthony Van Diemen’s land). This was in honour of the Governor General of the Dutch East Indies.
During the early colonisation of Australia the name Van Diemen’s Land (VDL) was used and it was part of the colony of New South Wales. But in 1825, VDL became a colony in its own right. Then on 1 January 1856, it was renamed Tasmania.
The new name was to celebrate Tasman as the early explorer but also to get rid of the notorious convict past of VDL.
How does VDL relate to my family?
Nearly all my ancestors first arrived when the colony was known as VDL.
Convicts:
Francis Colgrave – 1832 – ship Circassian
Isabella Watkins(on) – 1841 – Garland Grove
John Holliday Boyd – 1836 – Henry Porcher
Martha Virco nee Hearn – 1839 – Hindostan
John England – 1846 – Pestonjee Bomanjee
Rebecca Jackson – 1847 – Waverley
William Dawson – 1850 – Maria Somes (2)
Catherine McKay – 1848 – Cadet (3)
Mathew Sutton – 1840 – Mandarin
Mary McCrewney – 1848 – Kinnear (2)
Free settlers:
John Davey – 1854 – Wanderer
David and Mary Dixon nee Pickering – 1841 – Andromeda
William Chandler – 1855 – Fortitude
Caroline Bryant – 19 Jan 1856 – La Hogue – would have arrived during celebrations of new name Tasmania
I haven’t yet written a full biography of Isabella but she certainly had an interesting life being born around 1823 in Hull, Yorkshire. She then moved to London where she was convicted about age 18 and transported to Van Diemens Land (VDL).
I have written quite a few posts about Isabella. Here are some of the more interesting ones: Post in 2014, Post in 2016 (some images not working – sorry) and Fiction based on a newspaper article.
I know virtually nothing about her life prior to being convicted on 29 March 1841 at Surrey assizes. But more is known once she arrives in Tasmania (VDL). Convicts had a lot of paperwork kept on them – conduct records, descriptions, indents (often mentioning parents and siblings), trial records, musters and of course newspaper articles.
Isabella departed London on 23 June 1841 on the ship Garland Grove. The ship arrived on 10 October 1841. She was sent to Mr Legge at Cullenwood near Fingal and in February 1842 was sentenced to time at the Female House of Correction in Launceston. On 7 October 1842, just one year after arriving in VDL, she was given permission by the government to marry Francis Colgrave (many spelling variations). Francis had also been a convict but was free by this time. They were married on 14 November 1842 at Avoca which is on the road between Fingal and Launceston.
Over the next 24 years, Francis and Isabella had 2 daughters and 7 sons including Francis John Colgrave, my great great grandfather born in 1843. Only one child Arthur died age 16. One daughter, also named Isabella was born in 1842, but I have not been able to find her marriage or death.
Isabella’s husband Francis died on 24 October 1890 and just over a week later Isabella passed on 3 November 1890. The funeral notice in the paper said she was survived by 6 married sons and one single daughter – this must be Louisa as she was mentioned as sole beneficiary in Isabella’s will.
Isabella Colgrave funeral 1890
Readers: Have you had a married couple die within a week of each other?
My family have been in Tasmania since the 1830’s when my ancestors arrived as either free settlers or convicts. This means I have used a lot of family history resources from this state of Australia. This post is going to be about the sites I have used the most to help tell the stories of my ancestors in Tasmania.
There are also some digitized indexes found online that are not part of TAHO records or TNI. Libraries Tasmania also has their own YouTube channel with some videos on particular topics relating to history.
But if researching a person and their family then the Tasmanian Names Index (TNI) is the best place to start. There have been some recent improvements on this site so a librarian has written a blog post explaining ten ways to boost your searching of the TNI.
Convicts in Van Diemens Land
Again first place is the convict records as part of the TNI at Libraries Tasmania, where you search by the convict’s name or the ship they arrived in. Their convict portal page also includes links to other websites within Australia and the rest of the world.
Female convicts in VDL also have another database which has recently been updated. But there is also lots of information about the convict institutions, ships used as well as freedoms etc in the other tabs on the website.
If convicts brought children with them on the ships, many would be put in the orphan schools. Search by child’s name or mother’s name.
Once I have found the basics of birth, marriage, death and family I try to begin adding to their stories. This is where Trove newspapers website comes in very handy. Tasmanian newspapers on Trove are available from about 1803 through to mid 1950s at the moment. There are many newspapers specific to certain areas of Tasmania but they might cover only certain years. Make sure you check out their help page as there is more than just newspapers on Trove.
If looking for information on land grants and properties, the go to place is the List and the tab LISTMap. This is run by the Tasmanian Government and allows you to overlap maps to look at where land grants might be at present time. There are many other things on the database so check out all the tabs.
The library have also digitized some newspapers for Tasmania that are not available on Trove. Takes more to search these as they are not indexed. TO find them go to main page for Libraries Tasmania, and in search area put Tasmanian newspapers, then when they appear, filter on left to online.
BDMs in Tasmania
First step is the Tasmanian Names Index where these are available free of charge up to about 1900. Family search has more up to about 1912. The Tasmanian Federation Index found at the main library in Hobart has records up to about 1930. To check the index, go to Libraries Tasmania website, then family history portal and on right hand side is “Need help, ask us” where you can ask for help with specific requests for information from the Tasmanian Federation CDROM.
If you want to order a more recent certificate then you do this through the Justice Department website and here are the fees charged.
My first place to go for cemetery information is Millingtons which covers many of the large cemeteries in the Hobart area. If looking for cemeteries from other places around Tasmania, I then check out the Libraries Tasmania cemetery page to check which records are online. Many Tasmanian councils have records for their local cemeteries.
Readers: What are other important websites you use to gather information when researching Tasmanian ancestors?
Please read the comments as other family historians have added more websites to use.
