The History of Tasmania, Volume II, by John West is a foundational account of the early colonial history of the island then known as Van Diemen’s Land. A clergyman, journalist, and reformer, West wrote with both narrative skill and moral seriousness, drawing on documents and personal knowledge of the young colony.
This second volume continues his examination of settlement, administration, and the development of colonial society. It addresses the convict system, relations with the Aboriginal Tasmanians, economic growth, and the political life of the colony. Written in the mid-nineteenth century, West’s work combines historical detail with the concerns of his age, including debates over transportation. It remains an important primary source for the history of Tasmania and Britain’s penal colonisation of Australia.