Cirrus@Austlit

19th-Century Australian Travel Writing

George Thomas Lloyd (1809-1871) travelled to Van Diemen’s Land with his uncle, Charles Jeffreys, at the age of 9. His description of the Australian colonies in Thirty-three Years in Tasmania and Victoria was drawn from his personal experiences and was intended as both entertaining and useful. Lloyd begins with a description of his growing up in Sorell, with his anecdotes interspersed with the history of the colony and description of Aboriginal peoples (in both ethnographic and personal manners), climate, natural history, convicts, and bushrangers. Lloyd also chronicled his time in Victoria, describing its history, climate, progress, Aboriginal peoples, and Melbourne. He provides advice to emigrants and concludes with a section on comparisons, in reference to the disappointment of colonists returning to England. The copy of this work held in the Crowther collection of the State Library of Tasmania was owned by George Augustus Robinson and was dedicated to him by the author.