Tasmania, Australia, Immigrant Applications and Bounty Tickets, 1854-1887

Historical Background

After transportation of convicts to Tasmania ended in 1853, the island turned to a bounty system to attract needed labor. Under this system, immigrants contracted to work for employers who paid for or subsidized the immigrant’s passage. The government also offered a bounty that could be claimed by the employer once the immigrant arrived and passed an inspection. Later, bounties included land for immigrants. By these schemes, the government and settlers of Tasmania hoped to both meet the island’s labor needs and improve the class of immigrants who settled there.

Immigration societies formed to help promote immigration, and agents operated in England and other countries to recruit immigrants/employees on behalf of Tasmanian residents. Societies or agents sometimes purchased blank bounty tickets from the government and then looked for potential immigrants for whom the bounty would be claimed once they arrived.

What You May Find in the Records

This database contains various records associated with immigration to Tasmania under the bounty system. These include registers of applications for immigrants, registers of bounty tickets, and applications for refunds on unused bounty tickets. Though details included vary with record type, researchers may find the following:

• application number
• applicant’s name
• applicant’s address
• name of party to be interviewed about the applicant and relationship to applicant
• immigrant’s date of arrival
• ship name
• agent in colony
• payment details
• date ticket issued
• family or single ticket