Tasmania is, in a word, ancient. It is an historian and archaeologist's dream place. There is evidence of human settlement on Tasmania going back as far potentially, as 30,000 years; archaeologists are sure that this number is in the very least, 20,000. This rich history brings on mind-boggling amounts of studies and it is often joked upon just how many historians are in Tasmania for this very reason. The evidence left today, including aboriginal handprints and remnants of tool work in stone, leaves tourists perplexed and awed with the magnitude of the area's past.
Europeans first discovered Tasmania in 1642 when a Dutchman, Abel Tasman, sailed past. He named it Van Diemen's Land, but he did not discover that it was not connected to the main landmass then known as Terra Incognita (unknown land) and now called Australia.
Captain James Cook sailed past in 1770, but Europeans did not land here until 1792, when a French expedition led by Bruni D'Entrecasteaux landed at Recherche Bay south of what is now Hobart. The English were quick to follow, exploring the Derwent in 1793, and in 1798 explorers Bass and Flinders set sail from Sydney to determine whether Van Diemen's Land was an island or not.
Tasmania was originally settled by the British in 1803 at Risdon Cove on the eastern shore of the Derwent River. The original records show that a large group of Aborigines on a kangaroo hunt blundered into the British settlement at Risdon Cove on 3rd May 1804. The British soldiers mistakenly thought they were under attack and killed two or three of the natives. As with other European settlements in Australia, such clashes between the indigenous Aboriginal people and white settlers left cultural scars that their decendants are still trying to heal today.,
The settlement was relocated to Sulivan's Cove (now Hobart) on the opposite side of the Derwent when the water supply proved unreliable at Risdon Cove. Hobart was the second city founded in Australia (after Sydney).
Hobart is sited on a natural deep harbour, and it became a major port city and whaling centre, but also had a more peculiar functionality: to keep the French out of Australia. The English did not want the French to colonize here, and their answer was to send in the convicts. By 1842 Hobart was official and so was its convict population. 5,329 convicts came here in the period of just one year.
While parts of Tasmania's capital are quite modern, as one of Australia's oldest cities, Hobart is lucky to have retained many of it's original buildings. Two thirds of Australia's listed historic places are in tasmania, with many in Hobart itself. Convict-era dwellings dating back 150 years or more add to Hobart's historic charm and popularity with tourists, particularly in areas like Salamanca and Battery Point.
Discover Tasmania - Tasmanian History provides more info about this island. The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery is a good starting point to find out about the history of Hobart when you visit.