24 Sep 1804 – King divides Van Diemen’s Land

#OnThisDay, 24 September 1804, Governor Phillip King gave the General Order for Van Diemen’s Land to be divided along the 42nd parallel and to be administered by two counties: Buckinghamshire (South) and Cornwall (North). The Lieutenant-Governors / Commandants who were in charge of their County were to report to the Governor of the colony in Sydney. This General Order was in place until 25 May 1812, when Governor Lachlan Macquarie issued a new General Order for the county of Van Diemen’s Land to be administered as one colony. In doing so, Governor Macquarie effectively abolished the political divide along the 42nd parallel. 

Source: NRS 1045 – Colonial Secretary’s Papers [SZ992], p.p. 109-111, Rel 6037

Related

• See NRS 1045 - Government and general orders (General order books), 1795-1810   
• See NRS 1052 - Official extracts from the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 1810-1812
• See the entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography for Philip Gidley King
• See the entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography for Lachlan Macquarie

Acknowledgement

• The image of Philip Gidley King is courtesy of the National Library of Australia's TROVE website

From the Collection