By Peter Reynders
First published by the Dutch Courier in July 2025
With the recent name change of the Mexican Gulf, it became even more interesting to me to look at the process of some of the geographical name changes in history. In that case the name known in Latin as sinus mexicanus had featured on European maps since at least the 1640’s. Such changes usually had a process to justify the failure of the old and to select a new name with public input, before approval by the Government.
When looking at other name changes, I looked also at the other fairly recent one of the naming of the additional (12th) Dutch province created by taking below sea-level areas of surrounding ones, though strictly not a renaming of an entity but creation of a new one. It was named after a former lake (Flevo) shown on an ancient Roman map of the area. As the Romans were a conquering enemy of the Batavians it becomes apparent that with such name changes history can be considered more relevant than short-term politics. Yet generally, a convincing justification for a name change, its significance to people using it and the historical aspects of both the existing and the new name have traditionally been key ingredients in such decision making.
I chose to have another look at the process of the fascinating name change of Van Diemen’s Land (VDL) to Tasmania.
I then also noted that the names Tasman Island, a small island of a surface area of 1.2 square kilometers, as well as that of the Tasman Sea had remained for very long before the name Tasmania was agreed to by Queen Victoria and approved by the Government in London, and also until today.
Representatives of VDL residents as recent as the middle of the 19th century proposed to the British Government to give VDL the name Tasmania. It was approved and an official name change was proclaimed. But it had been an incredibly slow process. Uncharacteristically, it was a name change from one Dutch name to another. How “Dutch”: the name Tasman really is, may not be so clear, as there does not seem to be anyone living in the Netherlands at present with that name. But that is another story.
Why change that name?
Why the British Government made an exception and called one of their colonies after a man who was born in 1603 in the Dutch village of Lutjegast, about 25 km west of the city of Groningen, is now quite clear. In the previous three quarters of a century, they had removed many Dutch names from the map of Australia and replaced them with English ones.
Especially during the time of First Minister William Pitt the Younger (1759 –1806), who at age 24 became the youngest ever person to hold the position of prime minister in world history, many Dutch names were erased from the Australian continent. It also appears that during Pitt’s administration the name VDL was already destined for change, but at that stage not yet after a Dutchman. This is the conclusion of Tasmanian librarian Terry Newman, who researched this name change’s history in some detail during this century, providing a rich source for the story. He referred to a letter by “William Bentick (sic), the third Duke of Portland” from 1802, which included the notion: “…the group of islands currently known as Van Diemen’s Land…”. Newman concluded that the words “currently known as” meant that the name was, already then, considered temporary.2)
After Pitt and after the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, where Napoleon, who had annexed Holland, was defeated for the first time, and its sequel the historically better-known Battle of Waterloo in 1815, the Netherlands became again officially a British ally, fighting on the side of the Brits in the latter historically very significant clash. After Pitt’s passing and those battles, removal of the Dutch place names from British colonies became a bit less fanatical. The name New Holland had disappeared, but the name New Zealand had not.
The length of time between the first documentation of the alternative name Tasmania until its official adoption was close to half a century. Three ‘connected’ politically conflicting proposals were played against each other during that period: the formation of VDL as an independent colony (it was part of NSW), the termination of its penal colony status, and a change of its name.
Van Diemen and Tasman
The two Dutch sounding names, after which this island land was named will be known to the reader. Antonie van Diemen was a Governor General of the ‘Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie’ (VOC), which translates fairly literally to ‘United East Indies (or East Indian) Company’, but is usually translated in English texts to the ‘Dutch East India Company’. Although in English, “East India” logically refers to an eastern region within India itself, including states like West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha, it also has a few historical and geographical meanings. It often refers to the huge region encompassing India, Southeast Asia, and the Malay Archipelago, which was a key area for European trade and colonization from the 16th century onwards, as in Europa highly profitable produce were available in that general region.
Van Diemen ordered Abel Tasman in 1642, to sail with two ships from Batavia, the Heemskerck and the Zeehaen, to determine the size of the presumed southern continent and whether it was attached to another long assumed theoretical most southern continent (Antarctica ‘turned up’ only around 1820) and to try and find an alternative route to South America. On this voyage, which was prepared for on the island of Mauritius, named after Maurice of Nassau the stadtholder of the Netherlands from 1585 to 1625, i.e. when the Dodo there was still alive. Tasman found a west coast, a south coast and an east coast of the land he called Antonie van Diemenslandt after his GG. Tasman never knew for sure that VDL was an island. That was documented for the first time by Europeans as much as one and a half centuries later. In 1798, when Matthew Flinders (1774 – 1814), a British Royal Navy officer, navigator and cartographer with George Bass sailed the Navy vessel Norfolk around the island. Tasman may have believed that VDL was a southern protrusion of the mainland, a continent he named Niev Nederlandt, after ‘circumnavigating’ it in 1644, but so widely that he never saw any of its mainland coasts, yet demonstrated it existed as the first European to do so. Parts of its coast had been previously charted by other VOC captains, whose charts Tasman was aware of. Tasman saw VDL for the first time on 24 November 1643 and on 2 December he ordered to plant the prince’s flag, as a sign of a Dutch discovery. The flag was planted by his ship’s carpenter Pieter Jacobszoon. Jacobsz. swam, with the flagpole, through the rough surf against the headwind, because the rowing boat with Tasman and crew could not get through it. Subsequently, Tasman’s two ships visited New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga, taking the first European visitors there. They returned to Batavia along the north coast of New Guinea.
Cook, Philips, King, Bowen, Collins
In Navy Lieutenant James Cook’s ceremony in 1770 on Possession Island, according to his ships journal, when he claimed for Britain what he had charted i.e. ‘The east coast of New Holland’. So, then it still had the name Tasman gave it, translated to English. This didn’t include VDL, as it turned out. Governor Arthur Phillip, who led an English Navy fleet that was later referred to as so-as the first fleet, formally claimed more land for Great Britain in 1778, including VDL, although he hadn’t been there either and he too didn’t know yet that it was an island. Later, Governor Philip Gidley King of NSW sent Navy-lieutenant John Bowen to start a settlement in VDL as a penal colony, at the mouth of the Derwent River, in addition to then existing one of NSW. King suspected the French to establish a colony in VDL, because the expedition of Nicolas Baudin in 1802, after a visit to Sydney, made an extensive visit, which was the third French expedition to Tasmania. Governor King wanted it for Britain. He ordered Bowen’s deputy Lieutenant David Collins to name the camp of 48 people including detainees, after Lord Hobart, the Minister for the Colonies. He called it Hobart Town. Thus, Hobart can be called the second oldest town of Australia.
VDL the penal colony
The penal colony VDL was now a fact. Courts in NSW began issuing sentences of transportation to VDL, so that in February 1805 already 310 convicted persons lived there of the total population of 469, under management of Collins. King had in 1803 already written to the influential Sir Joseph Banks that he wanted to open up VDL for settlers, which indeed happened. The first ship with detainees directly from England arrived in VDL in 1812. Four decades later a total of 65607 detainees had been delivered to VDL, about 80 % male, which caused extra problems.
A divided community
VDL not only got more and more detainees, but also free people arrived such as soldiers i.e. their warders, and more and more women. There was a growing number of prisoners who had served their time and were free, and some of them who had acquired some sort of half-free status being issued with a so-called leave card. Those were allowed to provide their own shelter and to work, however they had to report regularly to the police. Yet finding work wasn’t easy for these people. It was a world of free and freed people and prisoners who were also taken out to work. The number of prisoners was repeatedly supplemented. Then there was a part of the population considering themselves a kind of middle-class or ‘respectable’, which was somewhat richer, as well as many who strived for it. Then there emerged a sort of ‘country-nobility’ of landowners.
Several political parties were established. These pursued certain objectives like changing the government regulations dictated by Sydney or London they did not agree with. At the same time, because people called VDL their home, many started to feel attached to the beautiful island, and thus they wanted to improve their remote world socially and economically.
Importantly, those who travelled outside the island, visiting Sydney or London, discovered that the reputation of VDL was extremely negative and sounded like a horrible place: one of criminals and former criminals causing problems in the community and as providing a dismal existence. This caused a shameful feeling on and for the island. Whether the island’s name, which also sounded like ‘deamons’, resulted in people from there being referred to as such is a fair conjecture, but such occasions do not seem to have been documented. Consequently, it was often concealed that one came from the reviled VDL, and one lied that one lived somewhere else. Others encouraged their friends and children to say proudly: “I come from Tasmania”. For many, the infected name VDL had to be avoided. In this atmosphere the different political parties developed their actions to pursue a name change, to Tasmania.
First Nation People
Explorers who visited the island after Tasman, had used several names for the local population they encountered like: ‘Diemenlanders’ and ‘Diemenese’, with later names for the Aborigines on the island, first as Tasmanians and later as ‘native Tasmanians’. The First Nation’s People themselves of course had a name for the island. In the constructed local Palawa kani language, the main island of Tasmania is called “Lutruwita”. A more comprehensive coverage of the names of the island in the local languages would make this name much longer. These names were apparently never proposed to London.
Use of alternative name
Newman found that a substantial number of ‘documents’ containing the words of Tasmania or Tasmanian had been created more than four decades preceding the name change. They turned up in articles in local newspapers, in published poems, in official letters, in names of clubs and other entities, work titles, including those of church personnel, names of companies like banks and a steamship company, of buildings, of pubs, hotels, even on headstones, too many to mention here. This sentiment was echoed by several prominent figures who understood the deep-rooted desire to discard the identity associated with the island. The transformation from Van Diemen’s Land to Tasmania was symbolic of a broader socio-political shift. This change was not merely about a new name but represented a collective aspiration to redefine the colony’s future and distance it from its tarnished past. The push for a new identity gained momentum, fueled by the growing population’s determination to embrace a fresh start and build a society based on equality, opportunity, and respect.
Who put the name first in print?
There are some writers who appear to know this. For example, the edition in 1823 of ‘Godwin’s Emigrant Guide to Van Diemen’s Land – more properly called Tasmania’ is a candidate.
Sir Thomas Kent, who had arrived in 1808, alleged he had launched the name himself. He had mentioned this name first in a letter in 1824 (so after the publication of Godwin’s guide). But the first found printed document with the name is a world map with on the right below the island the words: Tasmania or Van Diemen’s Land. The year on the map is 1808 and it was published with the title Eastern and Western Hemispheres by mapmakers and publishers Laurie and Whittle of Fleet Street, London. In the meantime, the residents of VDL were active as well. On 17 November 1852 residents of VDL gathered in the Royal Victoria Theatre in Hobart. Despite an attempt by proponents of the penal colony to prevent this, the meeting adopted an historical motion by a large majority that reads as follows:
“No 3. That the removal of the transport system is especially desirable, and all traces of its existence be removed and to achieve this it is desirable that all deserving residents and people who suffer disadvantages of the precedence of this, will be granted a judicial pardon and that the name of this colony will be changed into Tasmania.”
A judicial pardon for all detainees was wishful thinking, but the islanders continued with their political actions.
Independent Colony in the 19th century
Political action to make a colony of VDL independent of NSW and so directly under the responsibility of the Ministry for the Colonies, was successful. On 1 December 1824 VDL became independent from NSW. The actions and political pressure to lose the status of the ‘penal colony’ needed more time, but in the end, it would succeed also.
The extra taxation on the population of the colony to pay the costs of surveillance, food and housing of the detainees, was also an important factor in getting rid of the status of penal colony.
During a debate about the budget In October 1845, six members of the board of the Legislative Council of the colony left the meeting thereby protesting the costs. After that, the council or board didn’t have a quorum and couldn’t function anymore. The so-called patriotic six resigned after this and they received heroic status among the population. Like a band-aid, the British government let it be known that the decision was made that for two years no ships with detainees would be sent to VDL. But they kept coming. A new pro-penal colony Governor, William Denison, was appointed. A fierce political struggle on this still followed for a long time and was also evident in other penal colonies. Only in 1853 did the Council read that Queen Victoria had said in a speech in parliament on 11 November 1852, that: I would rejoice if Parliament shall find it possible to devise a means by which without encouragement to crime, transportation to Van Diemen’s Land may, at no distant time, be altogether discontinued.
The news was sent to VDL with the ship Bentinck, which was held up because a mutiny aboard had broken out and the news was finally delivered by another ship. A proclamation announcing a law with the end of the penal colony was published in the Hobart Town Gazette on 3 May 1853.
Until 21 April 1853, ships with hundreds convicted people had still arrived in VDL. But the actual removal of the hate stain, the ruinous heritage of VDL, had begun.
Feelings after the penal colony
The penal colony VDL and hence its name had a significantly negative impact on the reputation of the island and its residents’ feelings. This just didn’t disappear while the name VDL was still there. Tasmanians concealed for a considerable period that one had a detainee in the family. Only in the 1930s this started to change in Australia. Historical research made it increasingly clear that evidence in court cases in England had been anything but perfect for conviction. Relatively small offences frequently lead to transportation, but also that the real big criminals were hung in England immediately in those days, so they never came to VDL. This caused a change of view on the spirited away family members. The awareness grew that the detainees had survived a difficult time and many afterwards had built an admirable career and made valuable contributions to the colony. So, the sentiment changed to the point that after WWII having a ‘convict’ in one’s family history was presented as a proud plus.
Thank-you letter
Political action towards changing the name of VDL continued with renewed energy, encouraged by proof that one could win. Some important highlights:
Thomas Gregson MLC submitted a motion to the board in March 1853 to send a ‘Thank you text’ to the Queen for removing the penal colony status. Herein he used the name Tasmania.
Francis Smith MLC submitted a different motion to just use the name VDL in the thank you letter. Smith lost with 5 to 13 votes and Tasmania as the name of the colony was used in the letter to the Queen. There was little significant movement as many motions of the board didn’t assist the renaming process.
Sharland
Only on 21 October 1854 William Staley Sharland MLC, a modest person and former land surveyor who
kept a flock of sheep, submitted a motion to send a petition to the Queen to change the name of VDL into Tasmania. This was adopted.
Governor Denison sent this to England on the 1st of November with the recommendation that the Queen ‘accede to the Prayer of the Petitioners’, because the name VDL represented a certain stigma.
The Queen, who considered Sharland’s (spelled wrongly as Shortland in the text) petition with her ministers on 21 July 1855, was graciously pleased to grant the proposed name change.
The subsequent announcement was published in the Hobart Town Gazette on 11 November 1855. The government decision had been unanimous and the date that the new name would be in force was set as the 1st of January 1856. Further official steps were taken to legally confirm the new name and to prevent legalistic problems. The practice in many jurisdictions to deal with geographical name changes included:
1. documenting and demonstrating there was need for the change, 2. proposing a new name, which is historically relevant and 3. considering the opinion of the relevant population or adjoining populations was thereby again confirmed. It appears such long-standing practice was not followed with a more recent change of the name of the Gulf of Mexico.
Party
A big party to celebrate the new name was organized in the shape of an “International” Grand Regatta, a family festival along the shores of the Derwent River. Rowing teams were invited, also from foreign ships in the port. This was relevant because DVL had first been seen by Europeans over the water and Tasman, his crew and his two ships had arrived to it over the waters of the Indian Ocean. The decision is still celebrated annually and is now called Royal Hobart Regatta. The island and the state would continue to be called Tasmania, not only because the European population of this previous colony preferred this name, but also because they fought so hard to get the name proclaimed and with success.
Only in 1877, the largest jail at Port Arthur was closed, until then a residence for retired prisoners.
References
1. William Bentinck, third Duke of Portland was Lord President of the Privy Council, a cabinet’s position in the Pitt government. He became one of the great-great grandfathers of Queen Elizabeth II. He was the grandson of Dutchman Hans Willem Bentinck, and a confident and counselor of Governor Willem II of Orange in 1688, who with a Dutch armada crossed over to England without a fight, where Willem II lead the so-called Glorious Revolution and ascended the throne as William III. Both Gov. Willem II ’s mother and his wife were English princesses. Hans Bentinck, who settled in England, became the first Duke of Portland.
2. Newman, T.A., Becoming Tasmania – renaming Van Diemen’s Land, Parliament of Tasmania, Hobart, 2005 p7
Collated by
Peter Reynders Canberra Australia pbreynders@yahoo.com.au
