Schouten Island

Schouten Island (formerly Schouten's Isle) is a 28 km² island in eastern Tasmania, Australia. It lies 1.6 kilometres south of Freycinet Peninsula Bacon, C.A. and Corbett, K.D. "." Mineral Resources Tasmania - Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources. 10 August 1984. Accessed 29 December 2009. and is a part of Freycinet National Park. There is a lighthouse on the island.

History

Schouten Island lies within the territory of the Oyster Bay tribe of Tasmanian Aborigines and kitchen middens indicates Indigenous tribes inhabited the island prior to European settlement.Hughes, T.D. "." Mineral Resources Tasmania - Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources. 1 January 1959. Accessed 29 December 2009.Anon. (2000). Freycinet National Park, Wye River State Reserve, Management Plan. Tasmanian Parks & Wildlife Service: Hobart. ISBN 0 7246 2130X In 1642, while surveying the south-west coast of Tasmania, Abel Tasman named the island after Joost Schouten, a member of the Council of the Dutch East India Company.

Members of the Baudin expedition landed on Schouten in 1802. In the early 19th century, sealers were active in the area and are known to have visited the island. The discovery of coal on the island in 1809 by a sealer, John Stacey led to between 1842...
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