author
John West
1809–1873
A preacher, journalist, and reformer in colonial Australia, he is best remembered for bringing moral urgency and vivid storytelling to early Tasmanian history. His writing helped shape public debate far beyond the pulpit.
2 Audiobooks
The History of Tasmania , Volume II
by John West
The History of Tasmania, Volume I
by John West
About the author
Born in England in 1809, John West emigrated to Van Diemen’s Land in 1838 as a Congregational missionary. In Launceston he quickly became a public figure, combining religious work with a strong interest in education, civic life, and social reform.
West wrote the two-volume History of Tasmania in 1852, a work still noted for its forceful account of the island’s colonial past and its opposition to convict transportation. He also helped found The Examiner in Launceston and later became editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, where his journalism gave him a wider platform in Australian public life.
He died in 1873, leaving a reputation as both a man of letters and a principled campaigner. For listeners today, his work offers a vivid window into the moral arguments, political struggles, and historical imagination of nineteenth-century Australia.