Truganini was an Aboriginal Tasmanian woman. She was one of the last native speakers of the Tasmanian languages and one of the last individuals solely of Aboriginal Tasmanian descent.
George Augustus Robinson was a British-born colonial official and self-trained preacher in colonial Australia. In 1824, Robinson travelled to Hobart, Van Diemen’s Land, where he attempted to negotiate a peace between European settlers and Aboriginal Tasmanians prior to the outbreak of the Black War. He was appointed Chief Protector of Aborigines by the Aboriginal Protection Board in Port Phillip District, New South Wales in 1839, a position he held until 1849.
Sir James Willson Agnew was an Irish-born Australian politician, who was Premier of Tasmania from 1886 to 1887.
Francis Russell Nixon was a British Anglican bishop who served as the first Bishop of Tasmania, Australia.
William Sorell was a soldier and third Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land.
Tasmania, for its size and population, has a flourishing literary culture. Its history offers an eventful literary background with visits from early explorers such as the Dutchman Abel Tasman, the Frenchmen Bruni d'Entrecasteaux and Marion du Fresne and then the Englishmen Matthew Flinders and George Bass. Colonisation coincided with deteriorated relations with indigenous Aboriginal people and a harsh convict heritage. These events in Tasmanian history are found in a large number of colonial sandstone buildings and in place names. Environmentally, the landscapes and changeable weather provide a vivid literary backdrop. Tasmania's geographical isolation, creative community, proximity to Antarctica, controversial past, bourgeoning arts reputation, and island status all contribute to its significant literature. Many fiction and non-fiction authors call Tasmania home, and many acclaimed titles are set there or written by Tasmanians. The journal of letters Island magazine appears quarterly. Tasmania's government provides arts funding in the form of prizes, events and grants. Bookshops contribute book launches and other literary events. Tasmania's unique history and environment gave rise to Tasmanian Gothic literature in the 19th century.
John Watt Beattie was an Australian photographer,
Charles Meredith was an Australian grazier and politician. He served as Tasmanian Colonial Treasurer for several years in the mid-to-late 19th century.
George Meredith was the head of the Meredith family who, with the Amos family, were the first white settlers on the east coast of Tasmania. Meredith arrived in Hobart in 1821 and farmed near Swansea. Meredith's daughter Clara married Richard Dry, Tasmanian Premier and the first Australian to receive a knighthood. Meredith's son was the politician, Charles Meredith and Charles' wife was the artist and author, Louisa Anne Meredith. Meredith's grandson, Duncan Boyes won the Victoria Cross at Shimonoseki, Japan in 1865. A memorial to George Meredith can be found in All Saints churchyard, Swansea.
Vivienne Rae-Ellis, FRGS was an Australian writer, who also wrote under the pseudonym Antonia Bell.
William Charles Duke was an Irish-born Australian artist remembered primarily for his portraits of several Māori leaders, and as a "journeyman painter of lively marine oil paintings of whaling, commissioned by Hobart shipowners".
John Cyril "Jack" Cato, F.R.P.S. was a significant Australian portrait photographer in the pictorialist style, operating in the first half of the twentieth century. He was the author of the first history of Australian photography; The Story of the Camera in Australia (1955)
Charles Alfred Woolley was born in Hobart Town, Tasmania, Australia. He was an Australian photographer but also created drawings, portraits and visual art. He is best known for his photographic portraits of the five surviving Oyster Cove Aboriginal people taken in August 1866 and exhibited at the Intercolonial Exhibition of Australasia colonial exhibition in Melbourne the same year.
Frank Styant Browne, also known as Styant Browne, was an Australian pharmacist, artist, photographer and X-ray pioneer from Tasmania.
Jean Nellie Miles Walker RRC, was an Australian army nurse who served in Egypt during World War I. She was the only Tasmanian nurse to die on active service during World War I.
Louisa Elizabeth How (1821–1893) was the first woman photographer in Australia whose works survive.
Mary Harriet Gedye (1834–1876) was an Australian watercolourist.
The Howson family was a show-business dynasty founded in Australia, several of whose members went on to further success in America, London and Europe.
Douglas Thomas Kilburn was an English-born watercolour painter and professional daguerreotypist who operated in Melbourne 1847–49, producing some of the earliest portrait photographs of indigenous Australians
