Item 5 - Henry Hellyer Letter

Henry Hellyer (1790 - 1832), a surveyor for the Van Diemen's Land Company, and son of John Hellyer and Betsy (Maine) of Portchester, Hampshire, England. He arrived in Tasmania in 1826 and explored the north-west for the V.D.L.Co., especially the district between Port Sorell, Valentine's Peak and Black Buff. He named the country north and south of Valentine's Peak the Hampshire Hills and Surrey Hills and recommended it to the V.D.L.Co. In 1827 he was sent to layout a road from Emu Bay to the Hampshire Hills. He later surveyed most of the district from Black Buff to Mount Bischoff, the Cripps Range, Cradle Mountain and the Murchison River. In 1832, the mapping and surveying needed by the V.D.L.Co. being completed, he was appointed to the Government Survey Department, but committed suicide at Circular Head on 9 September 1832, believing that slanderous reports had been circulated. For more information http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hellyer-henry-2175

Edward Curr (1798-1850), company manager, was born on 1 July 1798 at Bellevue House, Sheffield, England, the third son of John Curr, a civil engineer who managed the estate and coal-mines of the Duke of Norfolk. Curr sailed with his wife Elizabeth (Micklethwait) in the Claudine and arrived in Hobart Town in February 1820. He was granted 1500 acres (607 ha) at Cross Marsh. In 1884 he published ' Account of the Colony of Van Diemen's Land, Principally Designed for the Use of Emigrants". In 1824 he was appointed was chief agent/manager of the Van Diemen's Land Company, establishing the company's base at Circular Head in September 1826. For more information see: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/curr-edward-1944