Place:Hobart, Tasmania, Australia


Alt namesHobart Townsource: Webster's Geographical Dictionary (1988) p 506
Hobartonsource: Webster's Geographical Dictionary (1988) p 506
TypeInhabited place
Coordinates42.9°S 147.3°E
Located inTasmania, Australia     (1804 - )
Contained Places
Battery Point
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Hobart (UK: ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony, Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney, New South Wales. The city is located in the state's south-east on the estuary of the Derwent River, making it the most southern of Australia's capital cities and its harbour forms the second-deepest natural port in the world.

In June 2013, the city had a greater area population of approximately 217,973.[1] Its skyline is dominated by the Mount Wellington, and much of the city's waterfront consists of reclaimed land. It is the financial and administrative heart of Tasmania, serving as the home port for both Australian and French Antarctic operations and acting as a major tourist hub, with over 1.192 million visitors in 2011/2012. The metropolitan area is often referred to as Greater Hobart to differentiate it from the City of Hobart, one of the five local government areas that cover the city.


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The first settlement began in 1803 as a penal colony at Risdon Cove on the eastern shores of the Derwent River, amid British concerns over the presence of French explorers. In 1804 it was moved to a better location at the present site of Hobart at Sullivans Cove. The city, initially known as Hobart Town or Hobarton, was named after Lord Hobart, the Colonial Secretary.

The area's indigenous inhabitants were members of the semi-nomadic Mouheneener tribe. Violent conflict with the European settlers, and the effects of diseases brought by them, dramatically reduced the aboriginal population, which was rapidly replaced by free settlers and the convict population. Charles Darwin visited Hobart Town in February 1836 as part of the Beagle expedition. He writes of Hobart and the Derwent estuary in his Voyage of the Beagle:

...The lower parts of the hills which skirt the bay are cleared; and the bright yellow fields of corn, and dark green ones of potatoes, appear very luxuriant... I was chiefly struck with the comparative fewness of the large houses, either built or building. Hobart Town, from the census of 1835, contained 13,826 inhabitants, and the whole of Tasmania 36,505.

The Derwent River was one of Australia's finest deepwater ports and was the centre of the Southern Ocean whaling and the sealing trade, the settlement rapidly grew into a major port, with allied industries such as shipbuilding. Hobart Town became a city on 21 August 1842, and was renamed Hobart from the beginning of 1881.

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