Here is a photo of the main harbour in Hobart Tasmania with Mt Wellington in the background. It is one of the earliest settlements in Australia and a picturesque destination if you are in the general area.

The homesick British embraced life in Tasmania because its climate is somewhat similar to Britain and they were able to successfully plant and build a small replica of British life there. Of course it was not Britian it was a remote and foriegn land populated by natives who, quite understandably, were not entirely happy with having their land usurped and the way of life disrupted.

Naturally we have very little evidence of their life in Tasmania prior to and around the time of settlement. In 1831, however, John Glover, an artist of some reknown in England at the time, arrived in Australia to join his sons who had emigrated earlier. Independantly wealthy he devoted himself to the recording of early life in Australia.

He was quite prolific, producing many drawings and sketches. Although he had been a well respected painter at the time he left England, few of his Australian paintings made it back there. They simply were not interested in the reality of life in Tasmania. Here we can gain an image of what this area was like before it was destroyed to create Hobart, attractive as Hobart is.

Similarly we can gain a feeling for aboriginal life at the time through his documenting of their life style. Of the painting below he wrote

I wish to shew the Natives at a Corrobary, under the wild woods of the country – to give an idea of the manner they enjoyed themselves before being disturbed by the White People...

Read more about Glover, his art and his relationship with the aboriginals at Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.