Risdon Cove

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Electrolytic Zinc Company in Risdon Cove on Derwent, 1921

Risdon Cove on Derwent was the site of the first European settlement in Van Diemen's land , what is now Tasmania .

In 1803 Lieutenant John Bowen was dispatched to establish a settlement on Tasmania. His ship, the Lady Nelson, anchored at Risdon on September 8, 1803, five days before Bowen reached the place on the Albion .

A year later, in 1804, Lieutenant Colonel David Collins reached the Derwent from Port Phillip, accompanied by the military and convicts. Within a few days he gave up Risdon Cove and considered a new settlement on the opposite bank of the river, in Sullivan Cove . On February 20, however, he went ashore near Hunter Island and founded what is now Hobart .

Coordinates: 42 ° 49 ′  S , 147 ° 19 ′  E