Cadastral divisions of Tasmania

The Cadastral Divisions of Tasmania refer to the division of Tasmania into land districts and parishes for cadastral purposes, which are part of the cadastral divisions of Australia. There are 20 land districts in Tasmania [ [http://www.thelist.tas.gov.au/asdd/ANZTA0005000007.html Tasmanian spatial data directory] LIST district boundaries] , although in the early nineteenth century there were several other systems, with 18 or 36 counties and 9 other divisions used, as well as hundreds. The land districts include the 18 former counties of the island of Tasmania which were renamed but retain the same boundaries, plus King Island and Flinders Island. The counties are referenced in the 1911 Britannica, with Hobart described as being in Buckingham County [ [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Hobart 1911 Britannica, Hobart] ] , Launceston in Cornwall County [ [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Launceston,_Tasmania 1911 Britannica, Launceston] ] and Beaconsfield in Devon County [ [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Beaconsfield,_Tasmania 1911 Britannica, 1911 Britannica, Beaconsfield] ] . The land districts are used for land titles today, while the Local Government Areas of Tasmania with cities and municipalities are used for political and administrative purposes.

Two counties

Tasmania was initially divided into two counties on 24 September 1804; Buckingham in the south, and Cornwall in the north. [ [http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/tpl/InfoSheets/Constitutional_Events.htm Tasmanian parliamentary library, constitutional events] ] Cornwall was governed by William Paterson, with Buckingham governed by David Collins.

20 land districts

The 18 counties are shown in most maps of Tasmania in the mid to late nineteenth and earlier twentieth century. These counties are subdivided into parishes, and use the same names and boundaries that the land districts do, which are used for cadastral purposes today. The counties in the east and centre were proclaimed by 1850 [http://nla.gov.au/nla.map-nk2456-175] , while the western counties of Wellington, Russel, Montague, Lincoln, Franklin, Montgomery and Arthur were proclaimed during the 1850s. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.map-rm1637]

*Arthur Land District
*Buckingham Land District
*Cornwall Land District
*Cumberland Land District
*Devon Land District
*Dorset Land District
*Flinders Land District
*Franklin Land District
*Glamorgan Land District
*Kent Land District
*King Land District
*Lincoln Land District
*Monmouth Land District
*Montagu Land District
*Montgomery Land District
*Pembroke Land District
*Russell Land District
*Somerset Land District
*Wellington Land District
*Westmoreland Land District

Other divisions

Some maps show a different system of nine divisions which cover the eastern part of the island, such as this [http://nla.gov.au/nla.map-nk2456-173 1831 map] and [http://nla.gov.au/nla.map-nk11155-2 1852 map] which show divisions named thus:
*Launceston
*Norfolk Plains
*Campbelltown
*Clyde
*Oatlands
*Oyster Bay
*New Norfolk
*Richmond
*Hobart Town

Tasmania also had hundreds in the early days of the colony under Governor Arthur [ [http://search.archives.tas.gov.au/default.aspx?detail=1&type=S&id=LSD391 Archives office of Tasmania] , register of descriptions of the counties, hundreds and parishes of Van Diemans Land] , with each 100 square mile hundred being divided into four 25 square mile parishes. A formal list of counties, hundreds and parishes was gazetted on 1 July, 1836. [ [http://www.electoral.tas.gov.au/pages/LegislativeCouncil/DivisionNames/Pembroke.html Tasmanian electoral commission, Pembroke] ] [ [http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/94713ad445ff1425ca25682000192af2/0D3893BEE905CA98CA256C3200241894?opendocument Australian Bureau of Statistics] , Tasmania 2005]

Early counties

Some early maps of Van Dieman's Land show 36 counties, not covering the whole island. These were used since the 1820s [http://nla.gov.au/nla.map-t358] . [http://www.nla.gov.au/apps/cdview?pi=nla.map-t1507-sd This 1846 map] shows similar divisions, but subdivided even further. These are the 36 counties as listed and numbered in J. Archer's [http://nla.gov.au/nla.map-rm1670 1855 map] :

#Georgetown
#Launceston
#South Esk
#North Esk
#Norfolk Plains
#Western River
#Lake River
#Bathurst
#Lennox
#Richmond
#Methven
#Amherst
#Staffa
#Bath
#Murray
#Sorell
#Green Ponds
#Ormaig
#Harrington
#Gloucester
#Caledon
#Ulva
#Jarvis
#Strangford
#Macquarie
#New Norfolk
#Melville
#Drummond
#Queenboro
#Sussex
#Clarence Plains
#Cambridge
#Forbes
#Glenorchy
#Argyle
#Kingboro

References