History and Heritage
Tasmania was once inhabited only by an indigenous population, the Tasmanian Aborigines, and evidence indicates their presence in the territory, later to become an island, at least 35 000 years ago (rising sea levels cut Tasmania off from mainland Australia about 10,000 years ago). The indigenous population at the time of British settlement in 1803 has been estimated at between 5 000-10 000 people, but through persecution and disease the population had dwindled in 300 in 1833. The entire indigenous population was moved to Flinders Island by George Augustus Robinson at this time. Truganini (1812-1876) is generally recognised as the last full-blooded Tasmanian Aborigine, although there is strong evidence that it was in fact Fanny Cochrane Smith, who was born at Wybalena, and died in 1905.The first reported sighting of Tasmania by an European was on 24th 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 Diemens Land by the British. Lieut. 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 Captain David Collins 5 km to the south in 1804 in Sullivan's Cove on the western side of the Derwent, where fresh water was more plentiful. The latter settlement became known as Hobart Town or Hobarton, 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-based settlements were made in Van Diemens Land, including secondary prisons, such as the particularily harsh penal colonies at Port Arthur in the south-east and Macquarie Harbour on the West Coast. Van Diemens Land was proclaimed a separate colony from New South Wales, with its own judicial establishment and Legislative Council, on 3rd December 1825.
History: Features
Tasmania's Lost Passenger Railway
The Tasmanian Main Line Railway Company (TMLR) opened its line from Hobart to Evandale Road (later Western Junction) in 1876. The railway reduced travelling time between Hobart and Launceston from at least fifteen hours (by coach) to seven. The main Tasmanian system reached its heyday in the 1930s and 1940s, radiating from its Launceston headquarters and extensive workshops at Inveresk, south to Hobart and the Derwent Valley, north-east to Herrick, east to St Marys and north-west to Marrawah.
Princess of Tasmania
History of the Bass Strait Ferry Service
The first car ferry linking Tasmania and the mainland was the Taroona, of 4,286 tons, which arrived in Melbourne in March 1935 to begin the Bass Strait service. By the 1950s an increasing number of tourists were travelling to Tasmania, and many wanted to drive their own cars. The Taroona could only carry a small number, laboriously loaded on board by crane. However, in Europe the ferry business was being revolutionised by the introduction of Roll-on/Roll-off ships, into which cars could be driven directly on and off. The Federal Government agreed to built a number of such vessels to service Tasmania, to be operated by their Australian National Line. The first of these revolutionary new ships was the motor vessel Princess of Tasmania in 1959. http://www.australiaforeveryone.com.au/bass-strait-ferries.html
Richmond Bridge
Tasmania's Historic Bridges
Tasmania has many bridges, from large concrete structures across deep rivers to logs over ditches, and it's these structures that are next in our series of Tasmanian engineering wonders. Tasmania's bridges are among the oldest in Australia, in fact Tasmania has Australia's oldest bridge. 
Illustration: courtesy University of Tasmania
The Thylacine
The island of Tasmania was home to the Thylacine, a marsupial equivalent of a wild dog (dingo). Known colloquially as the Tasmanian Tiger because of the distinctive striping across its back, it became extinct on mainland Australia much earlier because of the introduction of the dingo.Due to persecution by farmers, government-funded bounty hunters, and, in the final years, collectors for overseas museums, it also appears to have been exterminated in Tasmania. The last known animal died in captivity in 1936. Many alleged sightings have been recorded, none of them confirmed.
Tasmanian Aboriginal at Oyster Cove, 1868. Photo: courtesy National Library of Australia
Aboriginal Tasmanians
First arriving in Tasmania (then a peninsula of Australia) around 40,000 years ago, the ancestors of the Aboriginal Tasmanians were cut off from the Australian mainland by rising sea levels c. 6000 BC. They were entirely isolated from the rest of the human race for 8,000 years until British contact. For much of the 20th century, the Tasmanian Aboriginal people were widely, and erroneously, thought of as being an extinct cultural and ethnic group. Contemporary figures (2016) for the number of people of Tasmanian Aboriginal descent vary according to the criteria used to determine this identity, ranging from 6,000 to over 23,000.Before British colonisation in 1803, there were an estimated 3,000 15,000 Palawa. The Palawa population suffered a drastic drop in numbers within three decades, so that by 1835 only some 400 full-blooded Tasmanian aborigines survived, most of this remnant being incarcerated in camps where all but 47 died within the following 12 years. No consensus exists as to the cause, over which a major controversy arose, and it is still debated today.
Notable Tasmanians
Aboriginal Tasmanians
Mathinna (1835-1856)
Most of the towns, properties, mountains and landmarks in the Fingal Valley were given names by the early settlers that related to their homeland, with the Irish theme being the most dominant. But two gold mining towns in the area ended up with Aboriginal names. One was Mangana, the other was Mathinna. The story of the person behind the name Mathinna is of more significance than the history of the town itself, as it is a reminder of a dark chapter in Tasmanian history that should never be forgotten or repeated.
Truganini (1812-1876)
Trugernanner, often referred to as Truganini, was a woman widely considered to be the last "full blood" Palawa (Tasmanian Aborigine). There are a number of other transcriptions (or spellings) of her Palawa language name, including: Trugannini, Trucanini, Trucaminni, and Trucaninny. Robinson had given European names to all the Tasmanians who arrived at the Island in attempt to suppress their culture. Hers was Lalla Rooke, however she resisted using it and was only ever called it by Robinson.
Fanny Cochrane Smith (1834-1905)
Fanny Cochrane is believed to have been the last speaker of a Tasmanian Aboriginal language. She was born in 1834 at Wybalenna on Flinders island. Her mother was Tanganutura of the North eastern tribe. As a young girl Tanganutura had been moved to Wybalenna on Flinders Island with others of her tribe and family by George Augustus Robinson, Protector of the Aborigines. She was abducted soon after her arrival by a sealer named James Parish. Upon her return to Wybalenna, Tanganutura took Nicermenic as her husband.
Taz, The Tasmanian Devil
The Tasmanian Devil, often referred to as Taz, is an animated cartoon character featured in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes series of cartoons. The character appeared in only five shorts before Warner Bros. Cartoons closed down in 1964, but marketing and television appearances later propelled the character to new popularity in the 1990s.
Young Albert Einstein
Young Albert Einstein is a fictional character based loosely on the notable scientist Albert Einstein, as depicted in the 1988 Australian jmade comedy filom, Young Einstein, directed by and starring Yahoo Serious. In the film, the early life of the physicist Albert Einstein is relocated to Tasmania. Here, he is the son of an apple farmer in the early 1900s, who splits a beer atom with a chisel in order to add bubbles to beer, discovers the theory of relativity and travels to Sydney to patent it.
Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark
Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark, Countess of Monpezat, RE, was born Mary Elizabeth Donaldson on 5 February 1972 in Hobart, Tasmania. She is the wife of Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark. Frederik is the heir apparent to the throne of Denmark, which means that at the time Frederik inherits the throne, Mary will automatically assume the feminine form of his title and rank, becoming Queen consort of Denmark. The couple met at the Slip Inn, a pub in Sydney, when the prince was visiting Australia during the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Errol Flynn, actor
Once upon a time, when old movies travelled the crackling airwaves and before everything in black-and-white had been banished to TCM, Tasmanian born Errol Flynn was one of the kings of late-night TV. Countless hours of school-night sleep were sacrificed to "Captain Blood," "The Sea Hawk," "The Adventures of Robin Hood" and Flynn's cry of "Welcome to Sherwood!". His star may have faded since his heyday in the 1930s and 40s, but the dashing Flynn is regarded even now as one of the most beautiful men to ever work in Hollywood.
Joseph Lyons, Prime Minister (1879-1939)
Joseph Aloysius Lyons CH was the tenth Prime Minister of Australia, serving from January 1932 until his death. He had earlier served as Premier of Tasmania from 1923 to 1928, and was the first, and to date only, prime minister from Tasmania. Lyons was born on 15 September 1879 at Stanley, Tasmania, son of Irish-born parents Michael Henry Lyons and his wife Ellen, nee Carroll. His early education was at St Joseph's Convent School, Ulverstone.