The Risdon Cove 'Massacre' and Where Hobart Town Might Have Been

We have put together a Virtual Reality animation of the historic Risdon Cove site in Tasmania for those readers who are deeply interested in the Risdon Cove ‘Massacre’ - the ‘massacre’ that never happened.

This Virtual Reality tour provides a birds-eye view of Risdon Cove, the site of Tasmania’s first British settlement in 1803. This is the original site chosen for the establishment of Hobart. The Risdon Cove site proved to be less than ideal and within a year the British had transferred their settlement across the Derwent River to the present site of Hobart Town.

For serious history buffs who are studying the details of the ‘affray’ at Risdon Cove on 3 May 1804, we have reproduced below the 1830 Aborigines Committee testimony of the convict Edward White which is obviously ‘just made up’ with respect to the layout of Risdon Cove and the locations of the creek and the houses of the settler’s, Clark and Burke (Birt).