Reconstructing a Longitudinal Dataset for Tasmania

Abstract

This article describes the formation of The Tasmanian Historical Dataset a longitudinal data resource spanning the 19th and early 20th century. This resource contains over 1.6 million records drawn from digitised prison and hospital admission registers, military enlistment papers, births, deaths and marriages, census and muster records, arrival and departure lists, bank accounts and property valuations, maps and plans and meteorological observations. As well as providing an account of the many different sources that have been digitised coded and linked as part of this initiative, the article outlines current and past research uses to which this data has been put. Further information on tables and key variables is provided in an appendix.

Overlaying in colonial Tasmania: Revisiting the Templeman hypothesis

“…The systematic governmental recording of births, deaths and marriages commenced in 1838, 1 year after it had been instituted in England and Wales. 13 Review of the digitised Tasmanian death records from 1838 to 1899, 12,14 was conducted for coded causes of death that included the terms asphyxia, suffocation, smothered, overlain, died suddenly, or sudden death, for infants under the age of 1 year, excluding deaths in the first day of life. For coded causes including these terms, the verbatim recorded cause of death was then assessed.…”

“…To re‐evaluate the Templeman hypothesis in a contemporaneous population, that of Tasmania from 1838 to 1899, infant deaths considered to be due to overlaying were analysed from individual‐level death registration records 12 and inquest reports held by the Tasmanian State Archives within Libraries Tasmania.…”

“…7,8 In the more recent literature this possibility has, however, been discounted, with all deaths in shared sleeping situations, including on sofas/couches, being classified as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) [9][10][11] ; the possibility of suffocation is not now necessarily being considered. 5 To re-evaluate the Templeman hypothesis in a contemporaneous population, that of Tasmania from 1838 to 1899, infant deaths considered to be due to overlaying were analysed from individual-level death registration records 12 and inquest reports held by the Tasmanian State Archives within Libraries Tasmania.…”

The potential of archival methods in industrial relations, sociology of work, management and HRM research: a case study of the relationship between temporary employment agencies and the state in the UK during the 1980s

“…Finally, archival and historical data can provide the foundation for the development of new areas and methods of research in sub-fields or disciplines. One notable example of this is in the area of 'big data', where archival and historical data are playing a key role in the development of new, large datasets, facilitated by digitalisation (Maxwell-Stewart 2016;Bingham and Byrne 2021;Cowley et al 2021). Godfrey et al (2021), for example, look at research into the penal system, and show how the creation of archival research networks, through mass digitalisation of records of British and Irish convict men who were transported to Australia, has transformed a set of disparate documents into a coherent big data collection, opening up new possibilities for analysis.…”

“…It can also enrich studies that draw largely on quantitative or qualitative primary data (Parker and Arrowsmith 2014;Garavan et al 2019). Archival data can also play a key role in the emergence and development of new areas of research in industrial relations, management and HRM, such as those utilising 'big data' and data analytics (Cowley et al 2021;Shaikh 2022;Maxwell-Stewart 2016;Patmore, 2021a). There do remain important practical and methodological issues to consider when using archival data.…”