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Van Diemen's Land Company
The Van Diemen's Land Company (also known as Van Dieman Land Company) is a farming corporation in the Australian state of Tasmania. It was founded in 1825 and received a royal charter the same year,[1][2] and was granted 250,000 acres[3] (1,000 km2) in northwest Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) in 1826. The company was a group of London merchants who planned a wool growing venture to supply the needs of the British textile industry.[4] History
In the 19th century, British businessmen were interested in developing colonial resources in Australia to ensure a cheap supply of wool to fuel the growing textile factories in Britain. As such, the Van Diemen's Land Company was formed in May 1824 and the colonists William Sorell and Edward Curr were enlisted.[5] Directors of the company sought a 500,000 acre land grant, in which Sorell suggested that the land be between Port Sorell and Cape Grim, however the Van Diemen's Land Company Act 1825 (6 Geo. 4. c. 39) only granted half of the area. In November 1825, officials arrived from England and a charter was issued for the company. The Van Diemen's Land Company established its headquarters at Circular Head[6] under the management of Edward Curr who arrived in Van Diemen's Land in 1826.[4] Much of the initial cargo, stock and farm labourers arrived in Van Diemen's Land aboard Tranmere. Some of the settlers refused to adapt to their new surroundings. For instance they did not recognise that in the Southern Hemisphere the seasons were reversed.[4] For many years the costs of farming were only just recovered. By the 1880s the company was making more money from timber felling and timber exports than from farming.[4] The Van Diemen's Land Company introduced bounties on the thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) from as early as 1830, which was a partial cause of their extinction.[7] The company was the constructor of the early stages of the Emu Bay Railway between 1875 and 1884.[8] The company retains some of the original land grant and is widely believed to be the last Australian chartered company still operating. By the 1970s the company owned one seventh of its original selection.[4] In July 2014 it was announced the owner of the Van Diemen's Land Company, New Plymouth District Council (through Taranaki Investment Management Limited) in New Zealand, was attempting to sell the company.[2][9] On 6 November 2015, Australian company OnCard announced its entrance into an agreement to buy the Van Diemen's Land Company. The agreement, worth $250 million followed OnCard's acquisition of another dairy food products business, Meander Valley Dairy.[10] In 2016, Moon Lake Investments, controlled by Lu Xianfeng, purchased it for A$280 million.[11] Moon Lake Investments has since changed its name to Van Dairy Limited.[12] In 2021, 12 farms comprising 2,200 hectares were sold to Prime Value, an asset manager based in Melbourne, for A$62.5 million.[13] Later in 2021, 6,000 hectares in the Woolnorth area were sold to TRT Pastoral Group for over A$120 million.[14] In February 2024, Van Dairy lost a major milk contract with Fonterra, resulting in the reduction of its herd of cows by at least 700, and possibly thousands. In March 2024, another 700 hectares of land was sold to Prime Value for A$15 million.[15] See alsoCitations
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