Why was Tasmania settled?
Although discovered by the ‘old world’ in 1642, Tasmania was not settled by Europeans until the English arrived in 1803 and the island became part of the expanding British Empire. By 1822, with the growth of city populations, gaols in Britain were overcrowded and the Crown began transporting convicts to Tasmania. Thus one of Tasmania’s most important early functions was as a penal colony. Tasmania was once one of the most important whaling fleet homeports in the world; mining and agriculture also contributed to the early economy.
