Tasmania was originally named Van Dieman's Land by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, in 1642. Tasman was on a mission to investigate the extent of the unknown land thought to exist between New Guinea and the western coast of Australia. He sailed around the southern coast of Tasmania and landed for water at Blackman Bay on the eastern coast.

It was not part of the original annexation by Captain Cook in August 1770. Formal possession of Tasmania on behalf of the British Crown, along with the whole of the eastern part of the Australian mainland, was taken by Captain Phillip on 26 January 1788.

Even at that stage, it was still thought to be the most southerly part of the Australian mainland. This thought was not dispelled until Bass and Flinders circumnavigated the island in 1798.

Around the late 18th and early 19th centuries, French naturalists visited the island. In order to prevent the French from gaining a foothold on the east side of Van Diemans Land, Governor King commissioned Lieutenant John Bowen to establish a settlement at Van Dieman's Land in the Derwent Estuary.

Bowen sailed from Sydney with the Albion and Lady Nelson. The two vessels separated in a gale but were anchored at Risdon by 11 September 1803. The total initial population of the settlement - free, convict and military - was only 49. After a few months, the area proved unsuitable and most of the settlers moved over to the Sullivans Cove camp which became Hobart Town.

Between 1803 and 1853, some 67,000 convicts were transported to Tasmania. They considerably outnumbered the free settlers of whom only 16,700 arrived between 1829 and 1850. The population of Tasmania has grown slowly over the years and in 1996 totalled 474,600, 2.59% of the Australian total. The growth rate which was just less than one percent in 1991 has dropped to only 0.18% in 1996, which is about 13% of the Australian average.

Van Diemans Land was constituted a colony separate of New South Wales on 14 June 1825. The name was officially changed to Tasmania on 1 January 1856 when responsible government was established.

In 1838 the Legislative Council passed an Act for registering Births, Deaths and Marriages (2 Vic. No.8). This Act established the "General Registry Office" and registrations began in December of that year. Records of baptism, marriage and burial contained in church registers for the period 1803 to 1838 have been incorporated into Departmental records.

Statutory records of births, deaths and marriages have been made since 1839 in various District registers. Transcriptions from these are also held in Departmental records. Searches of these records will be conducted by the Department (in proper cases) upon prepayment of the prescribed fees. Fees paid are for the search undertaken are not refundable if the record is not found.

Applications for searches and certificate issues are made at the following address:
 

Details such as fees, family history service and privacy considerations can be found at the Registrar General’s excellent website http://www.justice.tas.gov.au/bdm/index.htm

Information contained on the certificates includes:

Pre-1838 Records

Prior to the 1838 Registration Act there was no official registration of births, deaths and marriages. For this period the only relevant records are church registers, some of which have been copied by the Registrar-General. In addition, when births and deaths have not been registered after 1838 the Registrar-General has sometimes recorded the relevant baptism of burial.

All entries are reproduced with the permission of the Justice Department of Tasmania.

Tasmanian Data

Birth Index and Records to 1899 (Indexed by Date, Name and Parents)

Death Index and Records to 1899 (Indexed by Date, Name and Parents)

Marriage Index to 1899 (Indexed by Date, Name and Spouse)