Early proposal to subdivide Australia created around 1838

Proposal to Subdivide Australia Into 9 Regions

1838 was the year which saw our early European settlers propose a subdivision of Australia into multiple colonies. An article published in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London that year explained how Australia was to be divided in nine regions using geometric lines.

The Northern Territory was earmarked to contain four areas named Nuytsland, Flindersland, Carpentaria and Tasmania, while a large area of Western Australia was named Victoria. One thing which the early Europeans did not take into consideration was that many places already had names given by the first Australians themselves.

Australian Geographic’s editor, John Pickrell, suggested that one of the possible reasons the proposal was not taken up was the way in which Australia had been divided. He noted that the proposal map had straight and geometric lines, which seemed to be made without any consideration to the geographical features of the land. This demonstrated that the early colonisers did not know a lot about the Australian terrain at that time.

Jurovich Surveying

We’ve never received a request to subdivide Australia! However, we’ve certainly been involved in the subdivision of many properties, both small and large.

Learn more about if you can subdivide your block and also the first steps. Please contact us.

Read more about the 1838 proposal on the ABC website.

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