Van Diemen's Land Company

The Van Diemen's Land Company
Privately held company
Industry Agriculture
Founded 1825
Headquarters Australia
Number of locations
 25 dairies
Products Milk
Owner New Plymouth District, New Zealand
Number of employees
 130
Website VDLfarms.com.au

The Van Diemen's Land Company (also known as Van Dieman Land Company) is a farming corporation in the Australian state of Tasmania. It was founded in 1825 and received a Royal Charter the same year,[1][2] and was granted 250,000 acres (1,000 km²) in northwest Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) in 1826. The company was a group of London merchants who planned a wool growing venture to supply the needs of the British textile industry.[3]

The company established its headquarters at Circular Head under the management of Edward Curr who arrived in Van Diemen's Land in 1826.[3]

Much of the initial cargo, stock and farm labourers arrived in Van Diemen's Land aboard the Tranmere. Some of the settlers refused to adapt to their new surroundings. For instance they did not recognise that in the southern hemisphere the seasons were reversed.[3] For many years the costs of farming were only just recovered. By the 1880s the company was making more money from timber felling and timber exports than from farming.[3]

The Van Diemen's Land Company introduced bounties on the thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) from as early as 1830, which was a partial cause of their extinction. [4]

The Company was the constructor of the early stages of the Emu Bay Railway between 1875 and 1884.[5]

The company retains some of the original land grant and is widely-believed to be the last chartered company still operating. By the 1970s the company owned one seventh of its original selection.[3]

In July 2014 it was announced the owner of the Van Diemen's Land Company, New Plymouth District (through Taranaki Investment Management Limited) in New Zealand, was attempting to sell the company.[2] An unnamed Chinese company is in talks about purchasing the company.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Royal Charters, Privy Council website
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "VDL, Australia's oldest dairy company, up for sale as major shareholder looks for a buyer". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 9 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Phillips, Valmai (1984). Enterprising Australians. Kensington, New South Wales: Bay Books. p. 22. ISBN 0-85835-647-3.
  4. ↑ "Wildlife of Tasmania: Mammals of Tasmania: Thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, Thylacinus cynocephalus". Parks and Wildlife Service, Tasmania. 2006. Retrieved 21 November 2006.
  5. ↑ Atkinson, H.K. (1991). Railway Tickets of Tasmania. ISBN 0-9598718-7-X. pp.126-127
  6. ↑ "China buyers in talks over farms". New Zealand Farmer. 26 June 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.

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