AustLit

19th-Century Australian Travel Writing

London born Hugh Munro Hull (1818-1882), was a civil servant. After arriving in Van Diemen’s Land in 1819, he held numerous positions, including as a clerk and librarian for the Colonial Secretary and Governor, police magistrate for Bothwell and Hamilton, Justice of the Peace, coroner and chairman of Quarter Sessions. He authored a number of works, including The Guide to Tasmania (1858, 1859, 1860), Tasmania in 1870 (1870) and Tasmania as a Field for British Emigrants (1875). He presents his personal experiences in The Experience of Forty Years in Tasmania. At the time of writing Hull was Coroner and Clerk Assistant of the House of Assembly of Tasmania. Although the title suggests that this volume would include anecdotal or autobiographical material, it takes the form of his earlier guides to Tasmania. The preface notes that this work is to be distributed in Great Britain. Hull describes towns, Aboriginal peoples, districts, institutions and industry of Tasmania in a concise, indexed form. In the copy held in the Crowther Collection in the State Library of Tasmania, Hull had inscribed a dedication to the New Norfolk Public Library. The work concluded with ten illustrations of towns and landscapes, including Hull's residence.