Original 1831 Van Diemen's Land Tasmania Laws & Ordinances 1826–1830 British Parliamentary Paper

Original 1831 British Parliamentary paper containing the laws and ordinances of the Colony of Van Diemen's Land, now Tasmania, covering the years 1826–1830.

The title reads:

Van Diemen's Land. Copies of the Laws and Ordinances Passed by the Governor and Council of the Colony of Van Diemen's Land. 1826–1830.

Presented to Parliament through the Colonial Department, Downing Street, on 3 March 1831, and ordered by the House of Commons to be printed on 11 March 1831. The document is numbered 242.

This is a particularly interesting primary source relating to the administration of Van Diemen's Land during its period as a British penal colony. Approximately 75,000 convicts were transported to Van Diemen's Land during the period of transportation, and these laws provide a detailed contemporary record of how the colony was governed.

The document also dates from the period of the Black War, when violent conflict was taking place between British colonists and Aboriginal Tasmanians. Although this volume is a compilation of colonial legislation rather than an account of that conflict, it provides important contemporary context for the legal and administrative system operating in the colony during this period.

The laws were enacted under Lieutenant-Governor Colonel George Arthur, whose name appears repeatedly throughout the document. Subjects represented include:

• summary punishment and regulation of male and female convicts
• transportation of offenders
• powers of the Principal Superintendent of Convicts
• sale and licensing of ale, beer, wine and spirits
• circulation of British sterling and regulation of Spanish dollars
• printing and publication of newspapers
• newspaper duties and licensing of printers and publishers
• postal service and postage rates
• registration of deeds, wills, judgments and conveyances
• courts and administration of justice
• houses of correction
• sheep and cattle slaughtering
• regulation of dogs
• public houses, gambling and tippling
• Roman Catholic subjects

Of particular interest is the legislation concerning convict discipline. The first Act provides for the summary punishment of disorderly conduct by offenders, including female convicts, and defines powers exercised by the Principal Superintendent of Convicts.

Another Act imposes a stamp duty on newspapers and licence fees on printers and publishers. The document also contains an early postal rate table, giving inland postage according to distance and the number or weight of sheets, together with rates for overseas mail.

There are several printed schedules and forms, including a remarkably detailed dog licence form, providing spaces for the owner's name and residence and the dog's name, age, sex, colour, identifying marks and intended use.

92 pages.

Measurements: 8 1/4" × 13 1/4" (21 × 33.7 cm).

The document remains unbound as issued, with stitching visible along the spine. There is some age-related spotting and toning, light handling wear, together with period or early manuscript numbering in several upper margins. Sections of the document are separated along the spine.  The interior pages are generally clean and the printing remains clear. Please refer to the photographs for condition.

Van Diemen's Land only began operating with its own Legislative Council in 1826, and its first Act was passed on 1 August 1826—which is actually the first Act reproduced in this document. The 1826–1830 compilation effectively records the first five years of legislation of the newly separate colony.

An uncommon original 1831 parliamentary document relating to colonial Tasmania, with particularly strong interest for collectors and researchers of Australian history, convict transportation, colonial law, early postal history and the history of Van Diemen's Land.