Van Diemens Land

Designer: Paddock Lane Designs

Grace Notes Fabrics suggestion: Mint Matcha

Van Diemen's Land is a modern cross stitch design created in the style of traditional samplers. It is Number 2 in a series of samplers outlining the British Colonial History of Australia.

Van Diemen's Land was the name given the the Southern continent by the Dutch explorers. It was then used by the British for the colony which we now know as Tasmania. It was where the worst convicts were sent for punishment. The alphabet sampler represents the Historical period of the British settlement of Australia in 1778.

The piece contains character representations of Governor William Bligh and his wife. There are also some Red-coated British soldiers and convicts, since Australia was settled as a penal colony. There are examples of Australian native flora, including wattle and Eucalyptus leaves. The fauna represented includes Rosella, kangaroo and koala. The house is the Governor's House in Parramatta. There is a pair of inquisitive native Aborigines. The verse is an excerpt from a poem by Henry Lawson.