The German and Scandinavian Presence in Tasmania: Case Histories on Selected Settlements

Video of the presentation by Michael Watt  from the 2018 German-Australian History and Heritage Conference in Adelaide.

The purpose of this study is to identify the attributes of rural settlements that immigrants from Germany and Scandinavia established in Tasmania in the nineteenth century. The study focuses on determining whether the immigrants established open or closed settlements based on an examination of five attributes: religion; education; occupation; language use; and social interaction. Using historical, ethnographic and content analysis research methods, the study examined clustered settlements that the immigrants established at Lilydale, north-east of Launceston; in the Fingal Valley on the central east coast; and on Bruny Island, south of Hobart.

About the Speaker

Michael Watt taught in several high schools in Tasmania and worked as an education officer in the Tasmania Department of Education. He holds masters' degrees in educational studies and education from the University of Tasmania, and a doctorate in education from the University of Canberra. He currently works as an education consultant. In 1988, he published an article, 'Dutch settlement in Tasmania' in The Australian People: an Encyclopedia of the Nation, edited by James Jupp.