Daylight robbery and other little-known stories from Tasmanian convict history

This nugget of convict history was revealed by editor and author Julian Burgess during a recent guest talk at the Launceston Historical Society.

He spoke about the little-known tumultuous history of two French and Italian residents of Launceston in the 1840s.

Mr Burgess has authored 12 books and over 100 articles on convict history to date.

His latest book, Doing Time: Stories of Convict Clock and Watchmakers in Van Diemen's Land, was published in July 2023.

Chapters in the book highlight that Launceston, in the 1830s and 1840s, had a small community of French and Italian watchmakers and jewellers.

Some were highly skilled tradespeople, and others were dishonest and less scrupulous members of their trade.

So, how did they all manage to be in Launceston simultaneously?

Some were convicts, found guilty of crimes in Britain and transported to what Tasmania was then known as Van Diemen's Land.

Two of these European craftsmen went on to play a vital role in the discovery of gold in Victoria, and one of them was perhaps the victim of the biggest gold robbery in Launceston's history.

Their abstruse stories provide fascinating insight into Tasmania's convict era, life in the growing town of Launceston at the time, and the riotous events that helped shape Australia.

"When I started researching the Tasmanian clock and watchmakers, I was a little surprised to find a small community of very interesting French and Italian businessmen active in Launceston at this time," Mr Burgess said.

"It would have been a rude shock for these Europeans to be transported to Hobart and Launceston."

One of the Italian watchmakers, Ferdinand Riva, whom Mr Burgess writes about, stayed in Launceston and ran a shop in Charles Street until his death in 1860.

He was a gold buyer and, in 1853, was robbed of approximately 500 ounces of gold, which in today's currency would have been worth about a million and a half dollars.

"Three men came to his shop, and one distracted him, and the other two grabbed the cash box where it was known he kept gold that he bought," Mr Burgess said.

In 1884, nearly 25 years after his death, workers were demolishing a building on Charles Street, near its junction with Brisbane Street, to make way for four new shops.

They came upon an old sign with F. Riva, Watchmaker and Jeweller written on it.

"Mr Riva's descendants had continued to live in Launceston, later keeping alive the name of the last of the continental convict watchmakers in the town during that convict era," Mr Burgess said.

Doing Time, Stories of Convict Clock and Watchmakers in Van Diemen's Land is available online for $30.