Oatlands, Tasmania
village in Tasmania, Australia
Oatlands is a historical village on the shores of Lake Dulverton in the centre of Tasmania, Australia. Oatlands is located 84 kilometres north of Hobart and 115 kilometres south of Launceston on the Midland Highway. At the 2021 census, Oatlands had a population of 728.
Oatlands has the largest number of colonial sandstone buildings in any town in Australia, many of which were built by convict labour. It is the largest town in the Southern Midlands Council area and is surrounded by agricultural land.
History
Oatlands is one of Tasmania's oldest settlements and was named by Governor Macquarie after an English town in the county of Surrey in 1821. It was developed as a military base for the control and management of convicts because of its central location between Hobart and Launceston. Convicts were assigned to nearby farms and properties and also worked on public buildings, roads and bridges.
Oatlands Post Office opened on 1 June 1832.
Much of the Black War between the colonists and the First Nations landowners took place in the surrounding districts.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Oatlands, Tasmania” as village in Tasmania, Australia. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as village in Tasmania, Australia. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q986573. VIAF identifies the subject as 159463729. The Library of Congress control number is n82013141. Authority coordinates are -42.300, 147.371. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2021, 1821 and 1832.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Oatlands, Tasmania”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Oatlands, Tasmania primary sources, Oatlands, Tasmania archive and Oatlands research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Oatlands, Tasmania”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Oatlands, Tasmania” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.