Mating structure, isonymy and social class in late nineteenth century Tasmania

This study analysed all marriages (N = 4258) registered in the island State of Tasmania during the period 1896-1899 for mating structure, using marital isonymy. We found that irrespective of the geographic size of the subdivisions the random component (Fr) values were similar. This is because there was a high proportion of unique names despite the large population size. Fn values were sensitive to geographic distance only with respect to the 'unrealistically' larger units of analysis. Isonymy is valid over very large distances in Tasmania. Inbreeding values in the study were typical of other mainstream populations, but the nonrandom component was unusually high. Farmer marriages were the major contributors to the high Fn values. One particular region, the Midlands, displayed both a high F (0.0081) and Fn (0.0074) component. The explanation of these values lies in the effects of a rigid socio-economic structure established during colonization.