Type | Public |
---|---|
Industry | Banking and financial services |
Founded | 11 August 1823 |
Defunct | 3 August 1891 |
Headquarters | 40 Elizabeth Street, , Australia |
Area served | Van Diemen's Land (1823 – 1855) Colony of Tasmania (1855 – 1891) |
Key people | George Frederick Read (1827 – 1849) |
Founded in 1823, the Bank of Van Diemen's Land was the first financial institution to be established in Van Diemen's Land. Affectionally referred to as the old bank, the Bank of Van Diemen's Land traded for 68 years before becoming the first major bank failure in what would eventuate into the Australian banking crisis of 1893. [1]
During the British colonisation of Tasmania, a charter was granted by Sir Thomas Brisbane, with capital divided into shares worth 200 dollars each. [2] The Bank of Van Diemen's Land was established on 11 August 1823. Located within a premises on Macquarie Street, Hobart the bank commenced trading on Monday 15 March 1824. Merchant George Frederick Read served as the Bank of Van Diemen's Land's managing director from 1827 to 1849 and was one of the institution's founding shareholders. [3] Other founding shareholders included former convict and brewer George Gatehouse and John Beamont, a free settler and public servant. [4] [5]
Throughout Read's tenure, the Bank of Van Diemen's Land was well-managed and conservative in its lending practices. This helped to ensure the bank's financial stability and reduced the risk of bad debts. Additionally, the bank benefited from the growth of the colony's economy during the 19th century, as new industries such as agriculture and mining emerged.
Over time, the Bank of Van Diemen's Land became an important financial institution in Van Diemen's Land and later for the Colony of Tasmania, providing banking services to businesses, farmers, and free settlers. It played a significant role in the economic development of the island, financing the construction of roads, bridges, and other infrastructure.
Although it had a reputation for reliability, during the 1880s the bank lent heavily to settlers who invested heavily in silver mining ventures. When the mineral prices crashed during the 1890s depression, the bank was unable to survive the number of defaulting loans. The bank closed in August 1891, and offered up its banking premises as a £1 lottery ticket. [6]
Following the bank's demise, a Royal Commission was established to investigate allegations of fraudulent activities. [7]
The Bank of Van Diemen's Land started issuing its official banknotes in 1825. The bank held a commercial monopoly in Van Diemen's Land until the establishment of the Derwent Bank in 1828. [8]
Designed by architect Henry Hunter, the Bank of Van Diemen's Land headquarters stood 17 metres (55 ft) tall with a 22-metre (72 ft) frontage along Collins and a 25-metre (83 ft) frontage along Elizabeth Street in downtown Hobart. [9] The building was constructed with white sandstone from Tea Tree quarries, Brighton and a darker brown stone from Hestercombe quarries, Bridgewater. The two stones were used to create alternating bands along the building's façade. [9] Constructed at a cost of £21,000, the premises officially opened on the 12 October 1885. [9] The two-story building was demolished in 1958. [10] The sandstone lions sculpted by artist W. Paterson which stood over the original doorway were relocated to the entranceway of St David's Park.
The bank was headed by a president with six directors, two of which would rotate out each year, a cashier, a principle, and an assistant accountant overseeing company operations. [11]
Tasmania is an island state of Australia. It is located 240 kilometres (150 miles) to the south of the Australian mainland, separated from it by the Bass Strait, with the archipelago containing the southernmost point of the country. The state encompasses the main island of Tasmania, the 26th-largest island in the world, and the surrounding 1000 islands. It is Australia's least populous state, with 569,825 residents as of December 2021. The state capital and largest city is Hobart, with around 40 percent of the population living in the Greater Hobart area. This makes it Australia's most decentralised state.
Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a separate colony in 1825. Its penal colonies became notorious destinations for the transportation of convicts due to the harsh environment, isolation and reputation for being inescapable. Macquarie Harbour and Port Arthur are among the most well-known penal settlements on the island.
The history of Tasmania begins at the end of the Last Glacial Period when it is believed that the island was joined to the Australian mainland. Little is known of the human history of the island until the British colonisation of Tasmania in the 19th century.
Richmond is a town in Tasmania about 25 km north-east of Hobart, in the Coal River region, between the Midland Highway and Tasman Highway. At the 2006 census, Richmond had a population of 880.
The Parliament of Tasmania is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Tasmania. It follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system and consists of the governor of Tasmania, the Tasmanian House of Assembly, and Tasmanian Legislative Council. Since 1841, both Houses have met in Parliament House, Hobart. The Parliament of Tasmania first met in 1856.
Ben Lomond is a mountain in the north-east of Tasmania, Australia.
John Helder Wedge was a surveyor, explorer and politician in Van Diemen's Land.
William Sorell was a soldier and third Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land.
The following lists events that happened during 1804 in Australia.
The Tasmanian emu is an extinct subspecies of emu. It was found in Tasmania, where it had become isolated during the Late Pleistocene. As opposed to the other insular emu taxa, the King Island emu and the Kangaroo Island emu, the population on Tasmania was sizable, meaning that there were no marked effects of small population size as in the other two isolates.
Benjamin Duterrau was an English painter, etcher, engraver, sculptor and art lecturer who emigrated to Tasmania. There he became known for his images of Indigenous people and Australian history paintings.
Campbell Town is a town in Tasmania, Australia, on the Midland Highway. At the 2021 census, the town had a population of 823.
George Adams was an Australian publican and lottery promoter best known as the founder of Tattersall's.
Mount Barrow is a mountain in the northern region of Tasmania, Australia. With an elevation of 1,406 metres (4,613 ft) above sea level, the mountain is located 22 kilometres (14 mi) east-north-east of Launceston. The mountain habitat is a mixture of temperate old growth rainforest, subalpine and alpine landscapes.
The Colony of Tasmania was a British colony that existed on the island of Tasmania from 1856 until 1901, when it federated together with the five other Australian colonies to form the Commonwealth of Australia. The possibility of the colony was established when the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the Australian Constitutions Act in 1850, granting the right of legislative power to each of the six Australian colonies. The Legislative Council of Van Diemen's Land drafted a new constitution which they passed in 1854, and it was given royal assent by Queen Victoria in 1855. Later in that year the Privy Council approved the colony changing its name from "Van Diemen's Land" to "Tasmania", and in 1856, the newly elected bicameral parliament of Tasmania sat for the first time, establishing Tasmania as a self-governing colony of the British Empire. Tasmania was often referred to as one of the "most British" colonies of the Empire.
Norman James Brian Plomley regarded by some as one of the most respected and scholarly of Australian historians and, until his death, in Launceston, the doyen of Tasmanian Aboriginal scholarship.
Richard Jarman was an artist, map-maker, and engraver who was active in London prior to 1857 and in Tasmania between 1857 and the 1870s.
The Roving Party is a 2011 novel written by Tasmanian author Rohan Wilson. Wilson's first book, it is published by Allen & Unwin. The Roving Party won the 2011 Vogel Award. The novel was also shortlisted for the 2011 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction.
The Ross Female Factory, a former Australian workhouse for female convicts in the penal colony of Van Diemen's Land, is located in the village of Ross, in the midlands region of Tasmania. The site was operational between 1848 and 1854.
On 11 and 12 February 1851, teams from Van Diemen's Land and Port Phillip District played the first cricket match between two Australian colonies, recognised in later years as the inaugural first-class cricket match in Australia. It took place at the Launceston Racecourse, known now as the NTCA Ground, in Tasmania. The match was incorporated into celebrations marking the separation of the Port Phillip District from New South Wales in 1851 as the colony of Victoria.