Heritage and culture
Whaling parties, tin and coal miners and pastoralists are amongst those who have lived and worked on the Freycinet Peninsula since the early years of European settlement. Old mine shafts, abandoned farmers' huts and the remains of whalers' camps today form part of the rich cultural heritage of the park. The majestic beauty of Freycinet's granite mountains and white, sandy beaches have also long been admired by naturalists, artists and writers. The area was reserved as a national park in 1916, making it (along with Mt Field) the oldest national park in Tasmania. Don't miss the opportunity to stop in at Freycinet National Park.
Further information for visitors can obtained at the new Visitor and Interpretation Centre at Freycinet National Park.
Early Exploration
On navigating the east coast of Tasmania in 1642, Abel Tasman named Schouten Island after a member of the Council of the Dutch East India Company. The adjacent peninsula was initially thought to consist of a chain of islands, but this myth was dispelled during the visit of Nicholas Baudin, the French explorer, in 1802-03:
High granitic mountains whose summits are almost completely barren, form the whole eastern coast of this part of Van Diemen's Land. They rise sheer from the base. The country which adjoins them is extremely low and cannot be seen unless viewed from only a little distance at sea. It is to this strange formation that we must doubtless attribute the errors of the navigators who had preceded us into these waters and who had mistaken these high mountains for as many separate islands.
The brothers Freycinet were senior officers on Baudin's expedition, although it is unclear which one the peninsula was named after.
The vessels 'Le Geographe' and 'Le Naturaliste', from Baudin's expedition (Reproduced in Bonnemains et. al. 'Baudin in Australian Waters')
Sealers and Whalers
There is no employment more hazardous; more laborious; more disgusting than whaling. (Leigh, 1840)
Sealing parties had visited the offshore rocks and islands of Great Oyster Bay since the early 1800s. The American, Captain Richard Hazard of the Thalia, was reported as whaling in the area in 1824. Several features of the peninsula were named after him.
With the expansion of European settlement along Tasmania's east coast in the 1820s, the whaling potential of the area was soon realised by colonists. Shore parties were established in sheltered bays during the winter months. At this time the right whale (Balaena australis) was passing Tasmania's coastline on its annual migratory trek north from Antarctica. Fatal clashes between the whalers and local Aborigines were occasionally reported in the newspapers.
George Meredith, one of the first settlers at Swansea, established a whale 'fishery' at Parsons Cove in 1824. It became known as 'The Fisheries'. The sparkling waters and white sands of Wineglass Bay and Schouten Island soon became polluted with blood and putrid whale blubber as stations were established in those localities.
After a long and often dangerous chase in small whale-boats, the huge beasts would be 'struck' with a hand-thrown harpoon. This attached a line to the whale which, when weary from the struggle, was killed with an instrument called a lance. The carcass was then laboriously towed back to the shore for processing. Oil was extracted by boiling down the blubber in large iron trypots. It was then cooled and barrelled ready for shipping.
"The Rounding", by W. Duke. Whaling was a dangerous occupation. The small whale-boats were easily up-turned or smashed during the struggle to capture the whale. (W.L. Crowther Library, State Library of Tasmania)
The whale oil was principally exported to Britain where it was used for lighting and as an industrial lubricant. The whale-bone or 'baleen' became the mainstay of the fashion industry, being used to make skirt hoops and corsets.
By the 1840s shore-based whaling was in decline. Whale stocks had been severely reduced due to years of ruthless exploitation. Pelagic (deep-sea) whaling, with the sperm whale as the main quarry, then dominated the industry until the 1880s.
