The Legislative Council of Van Diemen's Land drafted a new constitution which they passed in 1854, and it was given royal assent by Queen Victoria in 1855.

With few external threats and strong trade links with the Empire, the Colony of Tasmania enjoyed many fruitful periods in the late nineteenth century, becoming a world-centre of shipbuilding.

A growing resentment against penal transportation to the colony, and a lack of effective legislation led to agitators lobbying for better representation.

The last convict ship to be sent from England, the St. Vincent, arrived in 1853, and on 10 August 1853 Jubilee festivals in Hobart and Launceston celebrated 50 years of European settlement with the official end of transportation.

Whilst Tasmania suffered a setback with a large loss of working-age males to the Victorian gold-fields, many social and cultural improvements soon developed.

Compulsory education was introduced in 1868, making Tasmania one of the first colonies in the British Empire to adopt such an enlightened policy.

His proposed reforms met with objection from the East India Company, who wished to retain their own armed forces.

[citation needed] This meant that at short notice the Government of Tasmania was given the responsibility of raising its own defences.

At the time of the announcement, the 2nd Battalion, the 14th (Buckinghamshire, The Prince of Wales's Own) Regiment of Foot was stationed in Tasmania.

In March 1870 the 2nd Battalion, the Royal Irish Regiment arrived in Hobart from New Zealand to oversee the withdrawal of the Buckinghamshires, but by 6 September 1870 they were also departing, leaving the colony completely bereft of defence forces.

It took 150 constables and 400 armed volunteers to break up the rioting in what became known as the 'Chiniquy Affair',[7] and this added weight to the argument that the colony desperately needed a permanent military presence.

Up until 1856 when Tasmania was granted responsible self-government, the Union flag and the British ensign were primarily used on state occasions.

He was very impressed by the shooting and riding skills of many of the colony's wealthy young farm boys, and formed a Tasmanian Imperial Bushmen unit from them.

These mounted infantry units were primarily made up of volunteers who had good bushcraft, riding and shooting skills.

They arrived at Cape Town on 31 March, and were sent to Beira, where they formed part of General Carrington's column, operating in Rhodesia and Western Transvaal.

[12] The first two Victoria Crosses awarded to Australians in that conflict were earned by Private John Hutton Bisdee and Lieutenant Guy George Egerton Wylly, both members of the Tasmanian Bushmen, in action near Warm Bad in 1900.

On 1 September, they were part of a small party consisting entirely of Tasmanians, who were escorting an Army Service Corps unit sent to round up cattle at Warmbaths, 60 miles north of Pretoria.

Bisdee and Wylly received their VCs for heroically recovering wounded and un-horsed men under fire from the enemy.

Following the raucous years of the 1830s and 40s in which the Royal Navy had threatened to ban shore visits in Hobart because of debauchery, licentious behaviour and gambling, the colony had evolved to become quite conservative.

The influence of Governor John Franklin, and his wife Jane had done much to provide that sense of refinement, Tasmania had previously been lacking.

Following the Castle Hill convict rebellion in 1804, Catholicism had been outlawed in the Australian colonies out of fear of further Irish Catholic uprisings.

[15] Moral and religious reform played a very important role in the education and rehabilitation of the convicts transported to Van Diemen's Land.

[15] By this time, the Methodist, Presbyterian, Congregationalist, Quaker and Baptist churches had all established themselves in the Colony of Tasmania to lesser degrees.

Not to be outdone, the first Catholic Bishop of Tasmania, Robert Wilson arrived the following year, preaching a form of pious asceticism.

An unintended consequence of the Great Famine of Ireland was a huge influx of Irish Catholic settlers in the 1850s, reestablishing Catholicism in the colony.

The game featured four-ball overs and no boundaries, attracted a crowd of about 2,500 spectators, and it was a timeless match, but only lasted for two days.

[18] Yacht and boat racing had quickly taken off, as the colony was located on an island, most people were familiar with sailing, and enjoyed it as a pastime.

[21] A strong literary tradition also developed, with famous titles such as Quintus Servinton by Henry Savery (1831) and For the Term of His Natural Life by Marcus Clarke (1874) being produced in the colony.

Other places of birth include other Australian colonies (3987 or 3.44%), England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland (28,243 or 24.41%), other British possessions, and at sea (872 or 0.76%), Foreign countries (2223 or 1.93%) and not specified counting for 389 people or 0.33%.