When Van Diemen’s Land received responsible government and a new name – Tasmania – colonists saw this as a fresh start, a chance to forget both the convict system and the frontier wars. Independent government did not develop smoothly, though; Tasmanians lacked funds, political stability or an inclusive franchise, and liberal and democratic sentiments were not strong. If the previous generation of Aboriginal activists had suffered from excessive, intrusive government, now their descendants found the authorities reluctant to acknowledge them at all. Aboriginal people at the official settlement at Oyster Bay suffered poverty, ill-health, declining numbers and neglect from colonial authorities, despite their attempts to engage with figures of royal standing. Increasingly, colonists only noticed these people when they died; as racial science became popular, the remains of Aboriginal Tasmanians were stolen and defiled by colonists keen for souvenirs of what was declared a dying race. Meanwhile, the growing community in the Furneaux Islands, descended from Aboriginal women and white sealers, struggled to access social services or education. Governments ignored their attempts to assert their rights as indigenous people, yet also denied them the protection of free white subjects, as new settlers began moving in and seizing their land.