Abstract
This article describes the formation of The Tasmanian Historical Dataset a longitudinal data resource spanning the 19th and early 20th century. This resource contains over 1.6 million records drawn from digitised prison and hospital admission registers, military enlistment papers, births, deaths and marriages, census and muster records, arrival and departure lists, bank accounts and property valuations, maps and plans and meteorological observations. As well as providing an account of the many different sources that have been digitised coded and linked as part of this initiative, the article outlines current and past research uses to which this data has been put. Further information on tables and key variables is provided in an appendix.
Highlights
The Tasmanian Historical Dataset is a longitudinal data resource spanning the 19th and early 20th century
Records for all defendants, charges and verdicts in Tasmanian Supreme Court cases 1824–1939 were collected as a result of the Prosecution Project and are available through Australian Historical Criminal Justice Data Dataverse administered by Griffith University
A key rational behind the Tasmanian Historical Dataset is that the assembly of digital record series in parallel will aid the kind of deep read advocated by Stoler — helping shed light, on selection processes, and the underlying rationale that caused some individuals to be omitted from some series and described in particular ways in others
Summary
The Tasmanian Historical Dataset is a longitudinal data resource spanning the 19th and early 20th century. The cosmopolitan nature of the collection reflects the diverse interests of the team of researchers who assembled it They primarily work in the fields of economic and social history and historical archaeology, criminology and demography. As the dataset has been assembled as a result of a collaboration with local and family history researchers as well as archives and heritage sites it has for long had a life outside of the walls of academic institutions. It feeds information, for example, into the Tasmanian Archive search portal as well contributing to a number of educational and site interpretation tools. We conclude by making some observations on some of the problematics of digital record reconstruction using criminal and colonial archives as well briefly outlining some of the public aspects of the data and its potential research uses
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