The Magistrates of Van Diemen's Land, 1804-1860: Identified, Counted and Coded

Abstract

This dataset presents a complete list of every individual commissioned as a Justice of the Peace in Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) between 1804 and 1860, researched through a variety of primary sources. The temporal span of the data incorporates the very first commissions issued during the establishment of the initial settlement on the Derwent River in early 1804, and takes in the several years following the cessation of transportation to Van Diemen’s Land in 1853. The successful identification of all the magistrates commissioned in this period — 734 in total — has allowed for the creation of a coding system, with each individual given a unique identifier (UID) number which also captures the commissions in chronological sequence. This dataset is put forward as the authoritative and universal coding system for the purposes of future data analysis and record linkage, beginning with the rapidly accelerating research being undertaken jointly by the University of New England and Digital Histories Tasmania. The methodology is explained in M. Strike and D. A. Roberts, ‘Counting and Coding the Magistrates: A Report on a Project to identify the Justices of the Peace of Van Diemen's Land, 1804-1860’, Journal of Australian Colonial History, Vol. 23, 2021. ISSN: 1441-0370