Lands administrative divisions of Tasmania

The Lands administrative divisions of Tasmania are the divisions of

Two counties

Tasmania was initially divided into two counties on 24 September 1804;

The 18 counties are shown in most maps of Tasmania in the mid to late nineteenth and earlier twentieth century. These counties are subdivided into parishes, and use the same names and boundaries that the land districts do, which are used for cadastral purposes today. The counties in the east and centre were proclaimed by 1850,[6] while the western counties of Wellington, Russel, Montague, Lincoln, Franklin, Montgomery and Arthur were proclaimed during the 1850s.^[7]

Other divisions

Some maps show the administrative divisions which, by 1852, had covered the eastern part of the island, such as this 1831 map and 1852 map. These were the forerunners of

Tasmania also had

Some early maps of Van Diemen's Land show 36 divisions, not covering the whole island. These were used since the 1820s.^[11] These were known as districts and preceded the survey of counties and parishes. The announcement in 1822 of a Muster (Census) mentions 32 districts or towns by name: Hobart Town, Argyle, Queenborough, Kingborough, Glenorchy, New Norfolk, Sorell, Clarence Plains, York, Cambridge, Ulva, Ormaig, Staffa, Caledon, Gloucester, Sussex, Harrington, Melville, Drummond, Strangford, Jarvis, Forbes, Green Ponds, Bath, Methven, Murray, Amherst, Lennox, Richmond, Norfolk Plains, Bathurst and Launceston.^[12]

This 1846 map shows the eleven counties thus far surveyed outlined, with parishes where existing. J. Archer's 1855 map shows a similar situation but with more bounded smaller subdivisions (including parishes) and the old unbounded district names superimposed, where appropriate. Subdivisions of counties include:

References