Michael Watt is doing some great work on Germans in Tasmania. Read his update below. If you believe you can help Michael in his research, please message us privately and we will pas on your details to him, or send us an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
A progress report
In Issue 8 of The Glamorgan Spring Bay Historical Society’s newsletter Former Times, I published an article with this title. Distributed at the Tasmanian Family History Society’s AGM and Conference held at Swansea in June 2015, this issue of the newsletter reached a wider audience than usual. An outcome of the article’s publication was an invitation to give a presentation on this topic to a group at a Tasmanian Family History Society general meeting held 17 November, 2015 in the Sunday School, St Johns Park, New Town. The talk focused mainly on the immigrants, who arrived from Germany on the Procida in 1885.Procida Immigrants
An outcome was the publication of two articles in the TFHS journal, Tasmanian Ancestry. The first—‘The origins of Tasmanian settlers recruited from Germany: a case study of the Procida immigrants of 1885’ was published in Vol. 36, No. 4 in March 2016. The second article—‘The settlement patterns of immigrants from Germany: a case study of the Procida immigrants of 1885’ was published in Vol. 37, No. 1 in June 2016.
Current Research Project
Following completion of these articles, the intention is to produce a document examining in greater detail the main clustered settlements that German and Scandinavian immigrants established in Tasmania in the nineteenth century. The components of the draft for the report are outlined below.
Introductory chapters
1.1 Introduction: This chapter presents a literature review of publications about the immigration of Germans to Australia as a basis for defining a rationale and research questions for the study.
1.2 Immigration Policies and Practices: This chapter outlines German immigration to South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland as a basis for an in-depth examination of immigration policies and practices in Tasmania.
Case studies
2.1 Lilydale: This chapter presents a case study on German families, who settled at Lilydale, researched with the support from Heritage Lilydale.
2.2 Bruny Island: This chapter presents a case study on German and Scandinavian families, who settled on South Bruny, researched with the support from the Bruny Island Historical Society.
Additional case studies
There is an intention to develop case studies on German and Scandinavian families, who settled at Collinsvale (known as Bismarck) and St Marys (known as Germantown). Other small clustered settlements that German and Scandinavian immigrants established, such as at Swansea and Pyengana, may also be covered in the document.
Call for Support
I would be interested in obtaining contact details from members, who are willing to offer information about German and Scandinavian families, who settled at Collinsvale and St Marys.