6 replies to this topic

[Mystic]

I came across this map of Tasmania, dated 1873. Interesting to note the changes that have taken place over the years since. The map is in the public domain and the copyright on this image has expired, it is therefore reproduced here legally.

[nineteenineteen]

Interesting to see that in the past 10 years the Great Lake has shrunk back to the size represented here on this map

I love how detailed the "settled districts" are compared to the more rugged south west, west & central areas. I suppose it wasn't until these areas showed their economic potential (ie. minerals, hydro power) that the gaps in the detail were filled in.

These maps have such character. Although I wonder what happened to King Island...

[Shane V]

King Island probably floated in later Wayne

I really love looking at these old maps and comparing them to todays. the contrast is really amazing.

[Mystic]

You got me curious about the King Island thing Wayne, and I am ashamed to say I had not first noticed that. Checking Wikipedia reveals..

Sealers continued to harvest the island intermittently until the mid 1820s, after which the only inhabitants were some old sealers and their Australian Aboriginal wives who mostly hunted wallabyfor skins. The last of these left the island in 1854 and it was only occasionally visited by hunters and more often castaways from shipwrecks until first opened for grazing in the 1880s.

Seems as though the island may have been considered irrelevant until settled formally by graziers.

[tassiesim]

No King Island Cheese ? No double cream or Angus steaks or Kelp farms , ahh no King Island would also mean no Tasmanian bermuda triangle also wouldnt it ?

[nineteenineteen]

Margie - being familiar with those westerlies, I'd say it probably started somewhere over near Madagascar!

That's interesting to note about King Island, being virtually unsettled until the 1880s. I wonder whether it was actually a part of the colony of Tasmania or not before being turned into a giant cow paddock...

[Mystic]

Apparently it was formally claimed, along with the rest of Tasmania in 1802 following the arrival of a flotilla of French explorers. The British were worried that the French would claim Tasmania, and its islands so they sent ships from Sydney to settle various places here in order to avoid that. Apart from sealing it seems very little happened on King Island before the graziers went there.