Biography

A history of general nurse training at the Royal Hobart Hospital, spanning from the hospital's earliest colonial origins in 1803 through to 1993. The Royal Hobart Hospital's roots reach back to the earliest years of European settlement in Van Diemen's Land, and nurse training there evolved over almost two centuries from informal colonial-era care through to the structured professional training systems of the 20th century.

Nicholas Shakespeare — novelist and biographer of Bruce Chatwin — came to Tasmania on holiday, found a house on an east coast beach near Swansea, and decided on the spot that this was where he wanted to live. He didn't yet know that his ancestor was Anthony Fenn Kemp — the corrupt, colourful and influential figure now known by some as the Father of Tasmania — or that he would find relatives still living on the island.