The History of Tobacco Smoking in Australia
Tobacco smoking first reached Australian shores when it was introduced to northern-dwelling Indigenous communities by visiting Indonesian fishermen in the early 1700s. British patterns of tobacco use were transported to Australia along with the new settlers in 1788. Among free settlers, officers and convicts, tobacco smoking was widespread and in the years following colonisation, British smoking behavior was rapidly adopted by Indigenous people as well.
In the earliest days of the colony the tobacco supply was unreliable and usage among convicts, in particular, was restricted, but by the early 1800s tobacco was an essential commodity routinely issued to servants, prisoners and […]