STAMPS OF VAN DIEMEN’S LAND

STAMPS OF VAN DIEMEN'S LAND

By the 1850s Tasmania (still known as Van Dieman’s Land) was in need of its own, official postage system and legislation was duly passed. It was intended that the first stamps would be printed in England, but as the deadline of a November 1 1853 issue date

Read more

THE MISSING GEORGE TOWN SKETCHES

THE MISSING GEORGE TOWN SKETCHES

On November 4  1811, Governor Lachlan Macquarie left  Sydney aboard  the Lady Nelson to carry out an inspection tour of Van Diemen’s Land. He was accompanied by his wife Elizabeth. After several weeks based in Hobart, the official party  made its way north. By early December they

Read more

Convict John Mortlock – The story of a disputed will

Convict John Mortlock - The story of a disputed will

 My interest in John Mortlock was aroused when I discovered that his journey as a convict paralleled that of my own relatives, the Shadbolts. WHERE THERE’S A WILL…… John Frederick Mortlock was born in Cambridge on August 8, 1809.  His father, Frederick Cheetham Mortlock,  had been a

Read more