The Van Diemen's Land Company (also known as Van Dieman Land Company) is a farming corporation in the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

n state of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. It was founded in 1825 and received a

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...

the same year, and was granted 250,000 acres (1,000 km²) in northwest

Van Diemen's Land 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 sep ...

(now

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

) in 1826. The company was a group of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

s who planned a wool growing venture to supply the needs of the British

textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of yarn, textile, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be Natural material, natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry. Industry p ...

. The company established its headquarters at Circular Head under the management of Edward Curr who arrived in Van Diemen's Land in 1826. Much of the initial cargo, stock and farm labourers arrived in Van Diemen's Land aboard . Some of the settlers refused to adapt to their new surroundings. For instance they did not recognise that in the Southern Hemisphere the seasons were reversed. For many years the costs of farming were only just recovered. By the 1880s the company was making more money from timber felling and timber exports than from farming. The Van Diemen's Land Company introduced bounties on the thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) from as early as 1830, which was a partial cause of their extinction. The Company was the constructor of the early stages of the Emu Bay Railway between 1875 and 1884. The company retains some of the original land grant and is widely believed to be the last Australian chartered company still operating. By the 1970s the company owned one seventh of its original selection. In July 2014 it was announced the owner of the Van Diemen's Land Company, New Plymouth District Council (through Taranaki Investment Management Limited) in New Zealand, was attempting to sell the company. In 2016, Moon Lake Investments, controlled by Lu Xianfeng, purchased it for A$280 million. Moon Lake Investments has since changed its name to Van Dairy Limited. In 2021, 12 farms comprising 2,200 hectares were sold to Prime Value, an asset manager based in Melbourne, for A$62.5 million. Later in 2021, 6,000 hectares in the Woolnorth area were sold to TRT Pastoral Group for over A$120 million.

Citations

References

* Pink, Kerry ''Winds of Change: A History of Woolnorth'' (2003) *

James Bischoff James Bischoff (1776–1845) was Chairman and Managing Director of the Van Diemen's Land Company, and author of works on the wool trade and Van Diemen's Land. Life Bischoff was of a German family which settled in Leeds in 1718. He was born in Le ...

, ''Sketch of the history of Van Diemen's Land, illustrated by a map of the island, and an account of the Van Diemen's Land Company'' (1832) Companies established in 1825 History of Australia (1788–1850) Chartered companies Companies based in Tasmania North West Tasmania 1825 establishments in Australia History of Tasmania Van Diemen's Land {{agri-stub