The American west of the 19th century was known for outlaws, adventurers, and troubles with Indians. The Tasmania colony had that too, with the added complication that many settlers were ex convicts. Like the American west, Tasmania eventually formalized as part of the British Empire and then further into Australia. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
This issue of stamps displays the natural wonders of Tasmania, in this case Mt. Wellington. When you think of the timing of the stamps still in the 19th century, the depictions are quite good and well printed. Considering how rough some of Tasmania’s early issues are, and that they were not just printed in London as with so many colonies, the progress of society in demonstrated. It also equates to the art of the American west, where the natural beauty was captured by artists and then used to attract settlement.
Todays stamp is issue A11, a one penny stamp issued by the British Crown Colony of Tasmania in 1899. It was an 8 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $3.00 used.
It is believed that the island of Tasmania broke of from the mainland of Australia thousands of years ago. The first inhabitants were Aborigines. The island was first spotted by Dutch Explorer Abel Tasmin in 1642. He named it for his sponsor the Dutch Governor of the East Indies. When the British came around the beginning of the 19th century, they Anglicized his mouthful of a name to van Diemen Land before switching to Tasmania in the 1840s. At the time of the first British settlement, there were about 3000 Aborigines on the island.
The first settlements were really convict settlements with convicts coming from the British Isles and especially Ireland. The convicts usually served short sentences and then given land to farm. Between gangs of escaped convicts, the hardscrabble nature of any new settlement and gangs of angry and hungry Aborigines, one can imagine Tasmania as a difficult place to live. Yet among all the trouble there is civilization. The first church, the first library, the first post office, and even the First Royal Society outside of Britain. It promoted the study of science and nature, and maintained the areas first botanical gardens and listed Queen Victoria as one of it’s patrons. There was also the discovery of gold to stir excitement.
The new settlements faced challenges. The area was hardly crowded by people but the Aborigine were annoyed by the intrusion and began raiding settlements and isolated farms. Their rocks, spears, and anger were of course more annoying than truly dangerous, and most were killed out of hand. It was decided to round up the last few hundred and send them to a small island called Flinders Island. They were expected to raise sheep but did not fare well and mainly lived off charity. In !847, the last few dozen made an appeal to Queen Victoria and were allowed to move back to Tasmania. The last pure blood Aborigine in Tasmania died in the early 20th century.
The bigger problem were the escaped convicts that divided into two groups, The squatocracy and the Bushrangers. Some escaped convicts started sheep farming on not their land and were called the squatocracy. This was annoying but possession being nine tenths of the law they eventually blended in. The others were gangs of outlaw thieves called bushrangers. The law eventually got to most of them especially later with the better communication between settlements thanks to the telegraph. These groups were more of Irish than British heritage and their different ways lead in some ways to the development of an Australian character as distinct from the British.
British settled colonies always had much self rule and over time it was decided to consolidate the Oceania colonies as a more independent Dominion as was done in Canada and less successfully attempted in South Africa. This came to pass and Australia came into being in 1901.
Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the convict. The ones that served their sentence and than took up the challenge of starting a new life. At the height of the arrival of convicts, Tasmania was taking in 10 percent of it’s population a year as fresh arrivals. Combined with restless natives, the whole enterprise could have ended very badly. It didn’t. Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2019.