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8 unusual facts about Van Diemen


Cape Maria van Diemen

The cape was named by Abel Tasman after the wife of his patron, Anthony van Diemen, Governor General of Batavia (now Jakarta) in January 1643, on the same voyage of discovery during which he named Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania).

George Dean

In March 1894, Dean married Sarah Annie Gaynor, known as Mary Seymour, and daughter of Catherine Asbury, known as Caroline Seymour, who has been transported to Van Diemen's Land in 1852 for pickpocketing.

James Agnew

He decided to settle in the west of Port Phillip District (now the Western district of Victoria), but not enjoying the life, went to Melbourne, where he was offered the position of private secretary to John Franklin, then governor of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania).

John F. Boynton

Boynton believed Smith to have become a "fallen prophet" and said to Heber C. Kimball, "if you are such a fool as to go at the call of the fallen prophet, Joseph Smith, I will not help you a dime, and if you are cast on Van Diemen's Land, I will not make an effort to help you."

Tasmania Police

Prior to the formation of a unified police force, Tasmania (then called Van Diemen's Land) was policed from 1803 under the administration of Lieutenant Governor David Collins by a small number of superintendents and overseers, and from 1804 by a civilian body known as the "Night Watch", brought by Collins from Port Phillip Bay.

Van Diemen

The cars for the L2 class were not Van Diemen built but a West WX10 and later WR1000.

Van Diemen's Land Company

The Van Diemen's Land Company introduced bounties on the thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) from as early as 1830 thereby being implicit in their extinction by relentless bounty hunting.

William Henry Elliott

On 27 June 1838 he was promoted lieutenant-colonel, and he commanded the 51st in Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, and at Bangalore, until 1852.


Box Hill, Victoria

Box Hill was first settled by the squatter Arundel Wrighte, formerly of Van Diemen's Land, who in 1838 took up a pastoral lease on the land he had previously explored in the Bushy Creek area.

Elizabeth Thackery

She lived for a while with James Dodding and subsequently made her way to van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) on the Porpoise.

Frederick Seymour

For the next twenty years, he served in various positions in a series of colonies mired in political and economic difficulties: Van Diemen's Land, Antigua, Nevis, British Honduras, and the Bay Islands.

Jabez Waterhouse

In 1847, Waterhouse returned to Van Diemen's Land and during the following eight years was appointed to the Hobart, Westbury, Campbell Town and Longford circuits.

Jane Franklin Hall

Although there is no direct link between them, the college is named in honour of Jane, Lady Franklin, wife of the famous but ill-fated Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin, who from 1837 to 1843 was the sixth Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land.

John Batman

In 1821 John (aged 20 years) and brother Henry journeyed to Van Diemen's Land (now known as Tasmania) to settle on land in the north-east near Ben Lomond.

John Eardley-Wimot

Sir John Eardley-Wimot, Bart, succeeded Sir John Franklin as Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land from 1843-1846.

Joseph Gould

Gould was captured and sentenced to be exiled to Van Diemen's Land but his sentence was reduced to 9 months in prison.

Lenaert Jacobszoon

Also on board was 25-year-old Anthony van Diemen who was later to push for the further exploration of the southern land and after whom Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) was named.

Monographia Chalciditum

Part I In this Walker describes "species collected by C. Darwin Esq. These are from Australia :-Hobart's Town, Van Diemen's Land, King George Sound and Sydney, New South Wales; Part II Bahia, Brazil; Part III Chiloe; Part IV Charle's Island, Galapagos; Part V New Zealand; Part VI Jame's Island, Part VII St. Helena, high central land.

Panoz Auto Development

Panoz began by making their own car, the Esperante GTR-1, and have since acquired other manufacturers, including famous Formula Ford builders Van Diemen and Indy Racing League constructor G-Force Technologies.

Tasmanian Gothic

Unsettling events such as the story of Alexander Pearce, the wandering cannibal who roamed through Van Diemen's Land in the 1820s, also influenced the bleak and sinister atmosphere that provided an ideal setting for gothic fiction.

The story of Alexander Pearce was made into two feature films: The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce (2008) and Van Diemen's Land (2009).

Thomas Reibey

Reiby was born in Hadspen, Van Diemen's Land, (now Tasmania) the son of Thomas Haydock Reibey and Richarda Allen, and a grandson of Mary Reibey.

Walter Gellibrand

Gellibrand was born in Derwent Park, Van Diemen's Land (later renamed Tasmania), brother of Thomas and William who both became members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly.


see also

David Shterenberg

In the same year he wrote an essay for the catalogue of the First Russian Art Exhibition at the Gallery van Diemen, in Berlin.

James Backhouse Walker

"The French in Van Diemen's Land" (Hobart, 1889); "The Settlement of Tasmania, comprising Papers read before the Royal Society of Tasmania" (Hobart, 1890); "The Discovery and Occupation of Port Dalrymple" (Hobart, 1890).

NZR WF class

Today, the last remnant of the DS class (other than the New Zealand Railways builders' plates) is the superheated boiler from DS 8 (WF 392), owned by the Van Diemen's Light Railway Society and stored at their Don River Railway.