Governor Davey's Proclamation

[6] The proclamation was intended to explain martial law during the period in Tasmanian history referred to as the Black War.

[7] The pictogram scenes that depict Aboriginal Tasmanians and white settlers were based on drawings by surveyor and artist George Frankland, who suggested in a letter to Lieutenant Governor George Arthur that they should be tied to trees in remote areas of the island.

[8][9] The proclamation boards were designed to communicate to the Aboriginal Tasmanians that anyone in Van Diemen's Land would be treated equally under colonial law.

[4] Historian Penelope Edmonds notes that the boards "were made after the 1829 declaration of martial law against Tasmania's Aboriginal people, and the hangings from trees actually depict moments of summary justice and retribution on a violent frontier.

[11] The editor reported in the Hobart newspaper on 5th March 1830 that "We are informed that the Government have given directions for the painting of a large number of pictures to be placed in the bush for the contemplation of the Aboriginal inhabitants.