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Hobart, Tasmania: Rich in History and Heritage

Hobart, Tasmania's capital, is located near the mouth of the Derwent River, in the south-east of the state. 

Mount Wellington rises almost 1300 metres (4265 feet) above the city of Hobart and Battery Point and Salamanca Place are notable historic districts with heritage charm.



Mouheneener People

Forty-two thousand years ago, Aboriginal people were living on the banks of the Jordan River, north of Hobart. A land bridge joining Tasmania to mainland Australia existed at that time. 

Living around today's Hobart lived two Aboriginal language groups. The Mouheneenaa people lived on the western shore, and the Moumairrmenair on the eastern. There were various names for the River Derwent, including Raagapyarranne and Nibbalin.

The first Tasmanian people used stone tools and hand axes. They sheltered in caves and outcrops of rock. Hunting small animals and collecting roots, berries and eggs sustained them. 

Aboriginal middens show the hunting, gathering and food processing activities of the Tasmanian people. Dreamtime stories were the foundation of lore and culture.

Shell necklaces and baskets were made from kelp and grass, as well as bark canoes. Ochre from rocks was painted on the body for ceremonies, and for rock art. Stones and boulders were arranged in patterns for ceremonial activities. 
Title: "Daily Life and Origin of the Tasmanians [With plates.]" Author(s): Bonwick, James, Date of publication: 1870 British Library
However, 36,000 years ago, climatic warming flooded the land bridge. And the Tasmanian Aboriginal people became isolated, cut off from the mainland. They were culturally secluded for 10,000 years. 

Bark canoes were being used by the Tasmanian Aboriginal people 3,000 years ago. Around 700 years ago, they invented a type of catamaran, which enabled groups of Aboriginal people to journey to Maatsuyker Island to hunt seals.

With the arrival of the British, a clash of culturally and technologically very different people began. According to research, there were six times as many white men in the colony as there were women. Aboriginal Australians were deprived of their women (see here). This was a major trigger for the ensuing violence.

In 1824 there were 20 Aboriginal attacks on settlers: this is the beginning of the "Black War". By 1830, the number of attacks had grown to 259. A Russian explorer reported that year that "the natives of Tasmania live in a state of perpetual hostility against the Europeans".
Title: "I Tasmaniani. Cenni storici ed etnologici di un popolo estinto. ... Con 20 incisioni e una carta geografica" Author(s): Giglioli, Enrico Hillyer British Library
(Truganini) Trugernanner (1812? -1876) was the last "full-blooded" Tasmanian Aboriginal person (this is contested). Her mother was killed by sailors, her uncle shot by a soldier, her sister abducted by sealers, and Paraweena, a man she was to marry, was murdered by timber-getters

In 1874, Truganini moved to Hobart Town with her guardians, the Dandridge family. She died in Mrs Dandridge's house in Macquarie Street on 8 May 1876, aged 64. Read more
Trugernanner (Truganini) (1812–1876), "A Run round the Empire: being the log of two young people who circumnavigated the globe, written out by their father, A. Hill ... With 42 illustrations", Author(s): Hill, Alexander, Master of Downing College, Cambridge , British Library
Title: "I Tasmaniani. Cenni storici ed etnologici di un popolo estinto. ... Con 20 incisioni e una carta geografica" Author(s): Giglioli, Enrico Hillyer British Library (woman from kangaroo Point)
Today, who can rightly identify as a Tasmanian Aboriginal person has become deeply divisive. Some claim that there are three distinct groups with different Aboriginal histories. Another fourth group may be the descendants of Aboriginal women taken by boats to other countries.

The wax cylinder recordings of Fanny Cochrane Smith, a Tasmanian Aboriginal woman (who probably had a European father), are some of the earliest recordings ever made in Australia. And they are the only sound recording of the traditional Tasmanian Aboriginal language.
Among the earliest known photographs of Palawa - Tasmanian Aboriginal people - at Oyster Cove, Tasmania, 1858. The group include Truganini, Caroline, Tippo, Flora, Patty, Wapperty, Emma, and Sophia. Photo credit: Francis Russell Nixon.
Postcard dated Hobart, Tasmania 1907 of four Aboriginal women with the words Queen Mary Ann and Trucanini written above them. Kaye 

1642: European Ships Arrive

Abel Janszoon Tasman was the first recorded European to discover Tasmania. Tasman's crew reported hearing human voices and seeing smoke rise above the trees. Dec. 3.— Tasman took possession of Van Diemen's Land for the Dutch. Peter Jacobszoon, the ship's carpenter, swam ashore and placed the flag of the Prince Stadtholder of Holland.

From 1772 to 1802, various French and British ships landed at Tasmania. Interactions with the Aboriginal people were sometimes friendly and at other times, hostile.

Marion Du Fresne (1772): Took possession of Van Diemen's Land for France on 5 March 1772.

Tobias Furneaux (1773; 1777): on James Cook's second voyage of discovery in the Pacific, Tobias Furneaux, Commander of HMS Adventure, explored the east coast of Tasmania after becoming separated from Cook off the coast of Tasmania.

James Cook (1777): Cook visited Adventure Bay on Bruny Island in 1777 during his third voyage into the Pacific aboard HMS Resolution.

William Bligh (1788; 1792): Bligh revisited Adventure Bay in 1788 aboard HMS Bounty and planted fruit trees.

Bruni D'Entrecasteaux (1792): D'Entrecasteaux a French admiral and navigator, made detailed surveys and charts of the southern coast of Tasmania, during an expedition in search of Jean-Francois de La Perouse.

John Hayes (1794): Hayes explored Van Diemen's Land for the British East India Company.

George Bass and Matthew Flinders (1798): Bass and Flinders defined Tasmania as an island separate from mainland Australia.

John Murray (1802): Murray explored the coast of Kind Island in 1802 during the exploration of the southern coastline on HMS Lady Nelson.

Charles Robbins (1802): Robbins entered Sea Elephant Bay, King Island, intending to stop French land claims, only to find Baudin's ships already there. Robbins attached the British flag to a tree.
Print, View of the Lady Nelson in the Thames, from an engraving by Samuel John Neele.

1803: Hobart: The Beginning

☻ Van Diemen's Land settlements began as convict outposts of NSW.

☻ The British colonisation of Tasmania took place between 1803 and 1830, beginning with Lieutenant John Bowen taking a group of convicts up the Derwent River in the Lady Nelson and the whaler Albion

Matthew Flinders and George Bass had visited the site previously during their circumnavigation of Van Diemen's Land.

☻ Landing at Risdon Cove September 1803, Bowen established a settlement on the east bank of the Derwent River, approximately 7 kilometres (4 mi) north of today's Hobart. The soil, however, was poor and freshwater scarce.
LIEUT. JOHN BOWEN. R.N., Formed first settlement in Tasmania, at Risdon, near Hobart, 1803
☻ The original records note that a large group of Aboriginal people in pursuit of kangaroos came close to the British camp and commander Moore, assumed wrongly, that they were under attack. He fired a carronade into the Aboriginal hunting party and soldiers fired muskets. An unknown number of Aboriginal people were killed and wounded.

☻ With the presence of French explorers in the South Pacific, Hobart developed a network of coastal batteries between 1804 and 1942, aimed at keeping out the French and other potential threats.  

☻ Lieutenant Colonel David Collins arrived at Risdon Cove and decided that Hobart's location was unsuitable. The Risdon Cove settlement was abandoned and the penal colony was moved to Sullivan's Cove. Collins named the new settlement Hobart after the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
COLONEL DAVID COLLINS, Judge Advocate N.S.W. ; attempted first settlement Port Phillip; first Gov. Tas., 1804. (F.F.)
☻ The fledgeling colony consisted first of tents. With marines, convicts and settlers working together, rough huts were built. However, supply ships did not arrive and the settlement struggled to survive. People were desperate and game scarce.
Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), Sunday 27 January 1805
☻ In front of Macquarie Wharf 1, known as Hunter Island (Sullivans Cove), a gallows and gibbet was erected. See here. The colony's first Government Stores were built here in July 1804. In 1820 a causeway was built connecting Hunter Island to the Hobart shore. Before this, mariners had to wade through the water to get to the docks on Hunter Island (built 1808). Women were carried across in sedan chairs. 

☻ In 1808 ships appeared, but they carried no food, only 200 settlers from the abandoned penal colony of Norfolk Island. Joseph Hole's Memoirs, written in the early nineteenth century, described Norfolk Island as, "a barbarous island, the dwelling place of devils in the human shape, the refuse of Botany Bay, the doubly damned".

Van Diemen’s Land seemed to be heading the same way.

☻ In 1810, Governor, David Collins was buried in the graveyard where the convicts had recently built a wooden church. 

☻ The Derwent Star and Van Diemen's Land Intelligencer, Hobart's first, short-lived newspaper, was first issued on 8 January 1810.

☻ When Governor Lachlan Macquarie arrived at Hobart in 1811, there were over 1000 people living at Hobart. Macquarie was dismayed to see a disorganised collection of rough huts, in the town which would become the capital and an important administrative centre. 

☻ Within a week of his arrival, Macquarie had drawn up a new plan for the town. There would be a town square and seven streets to be named Macquarie, Elizabeth, Argyle, Liverpool, Murray, Harrington and Collins. Civic and other buildings were to be built properly and repaired. (Macquarie, as usual, named the main streets after himself and his wife).
Derwent Star and Van Diemen's Land Intelligencer (Hobart, Tas. : 1810 - 1812), Friday 7 February 1812
☻ Macquarie also suggested the construction of permanent fortifications. Soon afterwards, construction began on defence installation at the eastern end of Battery Point on the southern side of Sullivan's Cove.

☻ The convicts were set to work, and a gaol and a barrack building was constructed. As well as com­missariat stores, a customs house and warehouse.
Hobart Gaol built in 1813, TAS
Anglesea Barracks, Hobart, TAS, constructed in 1814. Now the Army Museum of Tasmania
Early engraving of Hobart, TAS
With a climate similar to England’s, the settlers of Hobart were soon successfully establishing orchards, growing wheat, and raising livestock. Hobart Town also became a base for the whaling and sealing industries. The whalers were built at the shipyards of Hobart Town. 

☻ The first ferry crossing at Hobart was established in 1814, the same year that Angelsea Barracks, and the Officer Quarters on Davey Street, were constructed. The Military Hospital was built from 1816-1818. The hospital had three wards, a surgery, storeroom and two rooms for the hospital sergeant. The operating table was lit by a skylight and adjustable mirrors.

☻ Free settlers were increasingly attracted to Van Diemen’s Land, and in 1820, Hobart’s population was over 10,000. Ship-building was also becoming an important industry, and the busy port was involved with exporting sealskins, wool and whale oil. 

☻ When Governor Macquarie revisited in 1821, Hobart was progressing well based on his initial designs. Macquarie commented on the "substantial buildings" and "regular streets". However, Hobart was not a pleasant place to reside, with rebellious convicts stalking the streets and conflicts with the Mouheneener Aboriginal tribe, who wished to expel the British invaders.

Clashes With Aboriginal People

☻ George Arthur, Governor of the colony, arrived in 1824 and issued a proclamation that placed Aboriginal people under the protection of British law and threatened prosecution and trial for Europeans who continued to "wantonly destroy" them.
Title: "Cassell's Picturesque Australasia. Edited by E. E. M. With ... illustrations" Author(s): Morris, Edward Ellis
 ☻ In a report to the Colonial Office secretary, Governor Arthur expressed a desire to establish a "native institution" for Aboriginal people: "..... supply them with food and clothing, and afford them protection ... on condition of their confining themselves peaceably to certain limits". Governor Arthur admitted that convicts were responsible for committing many atrocities against Aboriginal people. 
George Arthur (1784–1854), Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 6 February 1936,
☻ Europeans also brought diseases to which the isolated Aboriginal people had no immunity, and European men abducted and violated Aboriginal women. Sheep introduced by settlers disrupted the ecosystem and Aboriginal food sources.

☻ On 19 April 1828, Governor Arthur issued a "Proclamation Separating the Aborigines from the White Inhabitants". This divided the island into two parts to regulate and restrict contact between blacks and whites. Unfortunately, this operated as an official sanction to using force to expel any Aboriginal people from the Settled Districts. 

☻ Fighting between convicts and settlers became extremely vicious in 1828, and Governor Arthur declared martial law in the settled districts. Tasmanian Aboriginal people were declared "open enemies" of the state.

☻ Ross's Almanack of 1829 records a population of 5700 in Hobart. However, H Widdowson wrote in The present state of Van Diemen's Land, London, 1829, that there are 6000-7000 people.

☻ Attacks on settlers by Aboriginal people increased to 259 in 1830, and governor Arthur was under pressure. 

☻ Aided by Aboriginal guides, the Black Line was instigated in 1830 to drive the Aboriginal people out of settled districts. It consisted of more than 2000 settlers and soldiers, and cost more than half the annual budget of the Van Diemen's Land colony. 

☻ Two Tasmanian Aboriginal people were documented as captured, and two recorded as killed during the operation. Aboriginal people made at least 50 attacks on settlers—both in front of and behind the line. The Black Line was disbanded on 26 November.

☻ George Augustus Robinson, who had learnt some of the local Aboriginal languages, was brought in as a "conciliator" between settlers and Aboriginal people. Robinson befriended Truganini. For the next six years, Truganini and her partner, Woorraddy, accompanied Robinson on his "Friendly Missions", to move the Aboriginal people from the mainland to settle on Flinders Island. 
Benjamin Duterrau - Mr Robinson's first interview with Timmy - Google Art Project.jpg
☻ From 1832 to 1835, about a dozen children were removed from Wybalenna (Flinders Island) to attend the Orphan School in Hobart.

☻ In 1856, the few surviving Tasmanian Aboriginal people on Flinders Island were moved to a settlement at Oyster Cove, south of Hobart.

☻ After Truganini's death, it often claimed that she was the last "full-blooded" Aboriginal Tasmanian. However, Fanny Cochrane Smith was officially recognised as the last Tasmanian Aboriginal by the Government in 1889. 

Fanny married an English sawyer and ex-convict and they had 11 children. Horace Watson made audio recordings of Fanny singing. These wax recordings are the only recorded example of Tasmanian Aboriginal songs or of any Tasmanian Aboriginal language. They were made between 1899 and 1903. Listen here.
Fanny Cochrane Smith recording aboriginal songs for Horace Watson / A A Rollings photographer

1820s: Hobart Town Grows

The Prisoner's Barracks were built by convicts in 1821 and could accommodate 640 men. The building was later extended. Built by convict labour, the gaol operated until the early 1960s.

There had been a reading and newspaper room in Hobart since 1822. The Mechanics’ Institute Library was established in 1827. In 1828 Hobart had eight government schools.


The Cascade Brewery was established in 1824 in South Hobart and is the oldest continually operating brewery in Australia. The brewery was built beside the Hobart rivulet, which was an important source of drinking water for the Mouheneener Aboriginal people and later for the first European settlers.

George William Evans (1780 – 1852), Hobart Town, Van Diemen’s Land, (Convicts from the Prisoner’s Barracks working on the Domain), 1828

1929: The Cyprus Mutiny

The brig Cyprus was seized by convicts in August 1829, as it was carrying prisoners and provisions from Hobart Town to Macquarie Harbour. The escaped convicts, led by convict William Swallow, sailed to the Chatham Islands and then, on to Tonga.

Seven members of the mutiny were left on the island of Niue and then, Swallow and his crew set off, and on 16 January 1830, had arrived off the town of Mugi, on Shikoku island, Japan.

A samurai examined the ship and took notes, and then, the convicts were sent on their way as Japan was closed to foreigners. 
A watercolour by samurai Makita Hamaguchi showing one of the mutineers with a dog from the ship
Eventually, the mutineers made it back to England, but a Hobart gaoler heard their stories, and they were gaoled and tried for piracy. Two convicts were hanged, and William Swallow was sent back to Australia. Read here

1830s

By 1830, the population of Hobart Town was over 20,000. Between 1830-1850, the Georgian sandstone buildings of Salamanca Place and Constitution Dock were built as warehouses.

Parliament House was originally the Customs House designed by colonial architect John Lee Archer in 1830. In April 1856, it was renovated to become the Parliament House.
Lantern Slide of Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land in 1830, Lantern slide of early print of Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land in 1830. From the collection of James Backhouse Walker. Prepared by J.W. Beattie (1859-1930) whose studio locations were in Elizabeth Street, Hobart from 1891-1920, Murray Street from 1921-40 and Cat and Fiddle Arcade, Hobart, until 1994.University of Tasmania
Louis Auguste de Sainson was a French artist on the voyage of exploration on board the Astrolabe, under commanded of Dumont D’Urville. Hunter Island is now covered with buildings and the sandspit is now a formed causeway. On the far right, the large buildings are the Commissariat and Bond Stores which are now part of the TMAG precinct. c.1833
Australia's first mechanics' institute was established in Hobart Town in 1827. Benjamin Duterrau, who arrived in Hobart Town in 1832, lectured at the Mechanics' Institution on "The importance of the fine arts to the right development of the colony", in the following year. In 1835 he did some etchings of Aboriginal Australians.
Timmy, a Tasmanian Aboriginal, throwing a spear (1838), Benjamin DUTERRAU
Trumpeter General (Hobart, Tas. : 1833 - 1834), Tuesday 26 August 1834

1836: Charles Darwin Visits Hobart

Charles Darwin, aged 46 in 1855
Charles Darwin visited Hobart on the HMS Beagle in 1836. Over twelve days, he collected 133 different varieties of insects, flat-worms and other animals, as well as samples of geology and soil. During his visit, Darwin wrote in his diary, about Hobart:

"During these days I took some long pleasant walks examining the geology of the country. The climate here is much damper than in New S. Wales & hence the land is much more fertile. Agriculture here flourishes; the cultivated fields looked very well & the Gardens abounded with the most luxuriant vegetables & fruit trees. Some of the Farm houses, situated in retired spots had a very tempting appearance. The general aspect of the Vegetation is similar to that of Australia; perhaps it is a little more green & cheerful & the pasture between the trees, rather more abundant.“

The night after his twenty-seventh birthday, which was celebrated in Hobart, Darwin dined at Stephenville, the home of Alfred Stephen, Attorney-General and listened to "an excellent concert of rare Italian music”. 
Full scale reproduction of Charles Darwin's HMS Beagle, Chile
The Hobart Theatre Royal was completed by the end of 1836. Early performances tended towards cockfights, boxing, and religious meetings. Later, another storey was added.
The original Theatre Royal, Hobart, TAS

Thomas Bock: One of Australia's Earliest Commercial Photographers

Portrait of Thomas Bock, by his son Alfred Bock. English-Australian artist and an early adopter of photography in Australia
Born in England, Thomas Bock was sentenced to transportation in 1823. He was also commissioned by Lady Jane Franklin to paint the portraits of some Tasmanian Aboriginal people. And as early as 1843, he began taking daguerreotypes in Hobart and was one of Australia's earliest commercial photographers.
This portrait of Tunnerminnerwait was done by Thomas Bock between 1831 and 1835. It was published in James Fenton’s History of Tasmania Hobart [1884].He was born on Robbins Island in Tasmania in 1812, the son of Keeghernewboyheenner. He was also known as Peevay, Jack of Cape Grim and Tunninerpareway. Copyright on this image has expired - it is in the Public Domain.

1840s

The 1841 census showed 14,602 people, with over 71 per cent of the 2350 houses of brick or stone.

The Franklin Era

Sir John Franklin became governor in 1837. His wife, Lady Jane Franklin, commissioned a building which resembles an ancient Greek temple, to be built in the bush at Lenah Valley, complete with replicas of the Elgin marbles.
Lady Franklin Museum. Hobart, Classical temple, named Ancanthe, built at the bequest of Lady Franklin in 1842. [between 1875 and 1938] SLVIC
Governor Franklin opened the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery in 1843.

A less flattering story about Lady Franklin appeared in a later newspaper:

"This interesting painting has been lent to the Tasmanian Museum by Mrs. J. H. Clark (nee Bock) of Wellington, N.Z. It is a portrait of Mathinna, the Tasmanian aboriginal girl who was taken by Lady Franklin into her home and educated. When Lady Franklin left the State in 1843 she placed Mathinna in the Queen's Asylum, a home for the children of convicts. In 1847 the girl was transferred to the newly established aboriginal settlement at Oyster Cove. The miserable surroundings and contact with the other natives led to her taking to drink, and she was eventually found drowned."
A portrait of Mathinna, the Tasmanian aboriginal girl who was taken by Lady Franklin into her home and educated. When Lady Franklin left the State in 1843 she placed Mathinna in the Queen's Asylum, a home for the children of convicts. In 1847 the girl was transferred to the newly established aboriginal settlement at Oyster Cove. The miserable surroundings and contact with the other natives led to her taking to drink, and she was eventually found drowned."Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Thursday 7 June 1951
The new wharf, Hobart Town, TAS, from the Ordinance Stores, taken from a sketch made at the time of the Regatta, 1844, Eaton, H. G. (Henry Green), 1818-1887. NLAUST
By the 1840s, the Anti-Transportation League of Tasmania, established to oppose penal transportation to Australia, was trying to bring an end to convict transportation and demanding self-government for the colony. A two-year suspension of the transportation of male convicts to Van Diemen's Land was implemented in May 1846.
 OLD GOVERNMENT HOUSE, H0BART. 1847, Tasmanian (Launceston, Tas. : 1881 - 1895)
In the Hobart Town Police District by the Census of 1847, there were 21,467 inhabitants. The whole of Van Diemen's Land counted 70,000 people.

The Waterworks

The Hobart settlement was located around a water source which dried up during the summer months. Attempts were made to secure this water source in 1825, when convict labour built canals to direct water into this rivet.

Then the "1831 Diversion" piped water from nearby springs because of industrial pollution of the Hobart Rivulet and the fact that people drinking the water were dying from diseases, such as typhoid and diphtheria. Water security was required. So, a plan was developed in the 1840s to build the Waterworks. Read more

1850s

In 1850 the British Parliament enacted the Australian Colonies Government Act, which gave Van Diemen's Land the right to elect its first representative government. 

Convict transportation ended in 1853.

The Hobart Gas Company was formed in 1854. By the end of the decade, gas lighting in factories, homes and streets was replacing oil lamps and candles.

Queen Victoria signed a document giving the right for the colony to receive self-government. The colony became Tasmania in 1856.

Horse-drawn buses provided the colony's first public transport in 1856. In 1857, the first telegraph line between Hobart and Launceston was laid, bringing telegraphic communication to Tasmania.
Post card of Salamanca Place, Hobart, 1859, LTAS

1860s

The Cascade Brewery, Hobart, TAS
The view of Hobart, TAS, taken from the Domain, 1857
Hobart, TAS, 1860s
Photograph of Parliament House, Hobart, TAS, in 1869. archives.tas.gov.au

1870s

John Blundstone set up business in Hobart in 1870. At first, importing footwear from Britain and then, he began manufacturing boots locally.
A studio photograph of Bill Thompson, a convict in Tasmania. He is wearing a convict uniform and leg irons. Dated: 1870s
 
1880s

Six batteries were built in the 1880s, part of the Derwent River Defence Force Network.
Murray Street, Hobart, TAS (c1880) Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office Commons
View from Montague Bay with HMS Nelson in the Derwent, Hobart, TAS, late 1880s, Trainiac
Hobart public library, TAS, ca. 1880, NLAUST

1890s

Federal Coffee Palace, Lower Murray Street Hobart, TAS, (c1890), The Tasmanian Archives and The State Library
Electric trams, Hobart, TAS, Leader (Melbourne, Vic. : 1862 - 1918, 1935), Saturday 6 October 1894
Hobart Panoramic view of Hobart, TAS, circa 1894. No known copyright restrictions

1900s

The Mechanics Institute, Hobart: photograph c1900, State Library of Victoria. The first Mechanics Institute in Australia was established in 1827 in Melville Street, Hobart and is now known as Wesley Hall
Australian Aborigines at Hobart for carnival - very early 1900s, Aussie Mobs
Old Hobart from the waterfront, TAS, 1900
Hobart, TAS,  from Lenna, Battery Point (c1900)
Advertising postcard for John Blundston(e) & Son - bootmakers in Hobart, Tasmania
Advertising postcard for John Blundston(e) & Son - bootmakers in Hobart, Tasmania. About 1900. Kaye
Tasmanian Cricket Association Ground or Domain, Hobart , Tasmania (c1900s), Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office Commons
Group of wharfies (labourers) having a "pint", Hobart wharves, Tasmania. Shows church now St Peter's at Sandy Bay in background (c1900s) Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office Commons
Tasmanian Parliament House in 1901 decorated for Federation celebrations, Hobart, TAS
Hobart. TAS, - Royal visit - 1901
Elizabeth Street, Hobart, Tasmania - very early 1900s
Elizabeth Street, Hobart, Tasmania - very early 1900s, Kaye
View of Hobart, Tasmania - early 1900s, Kaye
Part of the wharves in Hobart, Tasmania - very early 1900s, Kaye
Highfeild Hall Hotel, Hobart TAS, "PICTURESQUE HOBART. corner of Bathurst and Murray Streets" (now an Art Deco building see below) The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912) 2 November 1904. George Adams was born in England, but he relocated to Hobart. Adams was a publican and lottery promoter best known as the founder of Tattersall's: "He built the Tasmanian Brewery at the corner of Warwick and Elizabeth Streets, Tattersall's Offices, Fitzgerald's Warehouse at Collins Street, Wellington Chambers, Beattie's Property, a terrace in Melville Street and three hotels, Highfield Hall, the Theatre Royal, and the Old Commodore. He also partly rebuilt or put into repair a large number of properties which he bought". (Eddie Dean & Trevor Wilson, The Luck of the Draw. 3rd ed. 2006, Tattersall's Limited. )
Interior of Fitzgerald's store in Hobart, Tasmania - circa 1910, Kaye
Tourist Bureau Car by Webster Rometch Ltd in Hobart, Tasmania - 1910s, Kaye
Elizabeth Street, Hobart, Tasmania - circa 1910. Kaye
Collins Street, Hobart, Tasmania - circa 1910, Kaye
Children from Barren Island, Tasmania,  Leader (Melbourne, Vic. : 1862 - 1918, 1935), Saturday 16 November 1912
Hobart Regatta, TAS, steam pinnace from HMAS Australia with HMAS Melbourne looking on, 1913, Trainiac

WW1

WW1 troopship SS Geelong departing Hobart, Tasmania - 20th Oct 1914
WW1 troopship SS Geelong departing Hobart, Tasmania - 20th Oct 1914 Kaye
Tasmanian troops marching through Hobart, TAS - WW1, Kaye
12th battalion of Australian Infantry Forces marching through Hobart, Tasmania - WW1, Kaye
First Anzac Day, Hobart Domain, Tasmania - 1916, Kaye
West Hobart tram no. 35 in Liverpool St during peace celebrations, 1918. Trainiac

Extinct

Thylacines (Tasmanian Tigers), at Beaumaris Zoo, Hobart, ca. 1918, State Library of New South Wales, State Library of New South Wales

1920s

The Britannia Café in Elizabeth Street, Hobart which had started as a fish shop about 1910, became Tasmania's first Greek cafe.
Elizabeth St looking down Melville St. Shows tram advertising Wolfe's Schnapps. Shows branch of Bank of Australasia & Gaylor the Jeweller (c1920), Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office Commons
Staff No. 9 A.G.H. (Repatriation Hospital) in HobartThe Repatriation General Hospital, Hobart, was originally known as No.9 A.G.H., and it was taken over from the Department of' the. Army in December, 1920.
Palace Theatre - Elizabeth Street, Hobart (c1920), Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office
Hobart Trams, on an excursion for The Mercury staff, 1924, Trainiac
Clearing a cemetery for a recreation park. St David's Hobart 1926. Source: Tasmanian Archive & Heritage Office.
"James Craig" and other sailing ships at Kings Pier, Hobart, Tasmania - 1929, Kaye

1930s

Usherettes standing in the doorway of the New Strand Theatre, Liverpool Street, Hobart (1930) Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office Commons
This is the third Government House built in Hobart. The first building on this site was begun in 1840,the architect being James Blackburn Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), Saturday 1 October 1932
1932 parade at Anglesea Barracks, Hobart, TAS.
First residence of JT Gellibrand. Gellibrand arrived at Hobart accompanied by his father on 15 March 1824. At the opening of the Supreme Court gave an address as leader of the bar, in which he spoke of trial by jury "as one of the greatest boons conferred by the legislature upon this colony". Hobart, TAS, Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), Saturday 22 April 1933.
Elizabeth St, Hobart, Double deck tram no. 44 heads to Springfield, late 1930's, Trainiac

Hobart - Cox Bros. department store - corner of Bathurst and Elizabeth Street late 1938, Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office Commons
Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Saturday 8 January 1938
Hobart Municipal Tramways. Leyland trolley bus no. 71, standard double deck tram no. 14 and a bogie tram in Macquarie St at the GPO, late 1930's. Some special occasion is under way. Trainiac
Macquarie St, Hobart, TAS, 1930s, Trainiac

1940s and WWII

Elizabeth Street - Hobart, TAS, Tasmanian Archives and State Library (Commons)
Hobart, TAS, late 1940s? Trainiac
Well done, Digger! Greeks and Yugoslavs are welcoming the men of the A.I.F. who have
landed in the Balkans to stem the tide of Nazi aggression. Here are Messrs. Gregory Casimaty
(left) and .Vladimir Kauf man, natives of Greece and Yugoslavia respectively, and now good
citizens of Hobart, expressing their country's appreciation to the Diggers, represented by Sgt.
R. J. Hart, of the 6th Garrison Battalion. Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Wednesday 9 April 1941
Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Monday 16 September 1940
Gunners of the Hobart Coast Artillery load a 6-inch Mk VII gun at Fort Direction for gunnery practice, April 1943. AWM
SISTERS at the Repatriation Hospital in Hobart meet Field-Marshal Lord Montgomery. At right is Matron T. A. Tyson. Monty had a wildly enthusiastic reception in Hobart, where he had spent part of his boyhood. His father was Bishop of Tasmania from 188!) to 1901. Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982), Saturday 19 July 1947

1950s

Tasmanian Cricket Association members: Messrs R. K. Elliott (sec.),  II. C. Smith (chairman), D. G. Hickman (treas.), D. A. Jackman. Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Wednesday 6 December 1950
1. Child Welfare Association: Mesdames A. E. Seager, N. L. Hopkins (v.p.), Lady Nicholls (pres.), Mesdames D. McRae, W. L. Cooper, Miss Jean Simmons (sec.). 2. Left: National Council of Women: Mesdames It. Heaven (hon. treas.), B. II. Blackwood (v.p.), V. E. Vimpany (v.p.), G. 0. Smith (pres.), C. A. Ward (v.p.), Brigr. E. M. Begley (v.p.), Mesdames W. G. Tippett (v.p.), O. M. Calvert (hon. sec.) (Hobart, TAS), Weekly Times (Melbourne, Vic. : 1869 - 1954), Wednesday 6 December 1950
Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Thursday 22 November 1951
The visiting Chinese soccer team from Hong Kong was entertained at dinner at the Burgundy, Sandy Bay, last night by members of the Chinese community in Hobart. Pictured at the dinner are (1. to r.) : Team manager Kwok Ying Shu,Dorothy Hung, Yu Yiu Tack, and Sieu Lan Thean.Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Thursday 27 August 1953
Members of the Women's Royal Australian Army Corps march in Hobart, TAS, Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Wednesday 3 June 1953
Cruisers HMS Ceylon and HMS Black Prince in port,Hobart, TAS, circa 1954. Queen's visit? Trainiac
Royal Visit, Hobart, listening to royal progress on radio, 1954, Tasmanian Archives and State Library Heritage Collections
Royal Visit, Town Hall, Queens address,obart Tas, c1954. Tasmanian Archives and State Library Heritage Collections
Franklin Square,Hobart, Tasmania, mid 1950s. Alan farrow

1960s

View of Tasman Bridge under construction with Hobart pontoon bridge still in place (1964) Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office Commons
1967 Hobart Bushfires, Photo taken from Old ABC Building on the corner of Davey St and Sandy Bay Rd. Repat Hospital in left foreground. Ben Short
Constitution Dock - circa 1960s, Port of Hobart, on the Derwent River. Ben Short

1970s

Hobart, TAS - View of Casino and Battery Point (c1970), The Tasmanian Archives and The State Library
Hobart - Constitution Dock (c1970), Tasmanian Archives and State Library Heritage Collections

1973: Australia's First Casino

The Wrest Point Hotel Casino, located in the suburb of Sandy Bay in Hobart, opened on 10 February 1973. It was Australia's first legal casino.
Hobart-Wrest Point Casino, TAS. Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office Commons
State Cinema façade - Elizabeth St, Hobart (1974), Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office Commons

1975: Collapse of The Tasman Bridge

In 1975, the collapse of the Tasman Bridge occurred following a collision by the ship named the Lake Illawarra. Twelve people died, and transportation across the Derwent was cut. 
View of the Tasman Bridge from Kalatie Road Montague Bay looking toward the Powder Jetty over Cuthbertson's Boat shed (1975) Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office Commons
The Avalon, Melville St Hobart, TAS. (c1975), Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office Commons
Aerial view of the people in the queue for the trans-Derwent ferry at the Hobart wharves, TAS - result of the Tasman Bridge collapse in January (1975) Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office Commons
Repair of Tasman Bridge in colour looking from West to East (1976), Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office Commons

1980s

MidCity Hoyts Cinema, Collins St Hobart, TAS, (1989) The Tasmanian Archives and The State Library


Around Hobart


25 Davey Street, Hobart, with part of Waterloo House to the right, and a thin building with apartments between the two
Constructed in the 1860s, the Waterworks reservoirs captured the flow of creeks and rivers rising on the higher slopes of Mt Wellington. 
Hobart, TAS, had the first water-works in Australia
Former Masonic Hall at 24 Murray Street, Hobart, now offices. Opened in 1874
Ingle Hall was built before records were kept in Hobart, but indications are that it was established about 1814
The Royal Engineers building was built in 1846-47 on Davey Street
Former C. Piesse & Co. (an export company) building at 16-20 Davey Street, Hobart
Former Hobart Savings Bank at 26 Murray Street, Hobart.Circa 1859
Pressland House, 33 Melville Street, Hobart. May have been the residence of John Headlam in 1822
Waterloo House at 20 Murray Street, Hobart was originally the Waterloo Hotel / Waterloo Tavern
Parliament House, Hobart, located on Salamanca Place, Hobart, circa 1835
Domain House neo-Gothic sandstone building built in 1848-49
Athenaeum Club at 29 Davey Street, Hobart. The building was opened in January 1904.
The original building was constructed in 1804, Hobart, TAS, and was later used by of H. Jones and Co, Pty, Ltd. IXL,
House at 34 Hampden Road at the corner of Colville Street, Battery Point, Hobart, TAS
The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery was built in 1863, TAS
Sandstone warehouses date back to the whaling days of the 1830s, Hobart, TAS
Gothic house opposite Lenna House Hotel Battery Point Hobart Tasmania.
Gothic house opposite Lenna House Hotel, Battery Point, Hobart, Tasmania.denisbin
17-19 Hunter Street, Hobart, TAS, Drunken Admiral restaurant. Previously part of Henry Jones Company's IXL establishment
Edward Braddon Building, 39-41 Davey Street, Hobart, TAS. Former Trades Hall, constructed in the 1840s a a residence for John Leslie Stewart
The Hope and Anchor Tavern is an Australian pub in Hobart, Tasmania, TAS. Built in 1807
27 Hunter Street, Hobart, TAS, was part of Henry Jones Company's IXL Co.
Hobart Synagogue, TAS, the second oldest in Australia, circa 1845. A rare example of the Egyptian Revival style
The Cascade Brewery was built by Peter Degraves, who originally founded the estate as a saw milling operation, circa 1832, TAS
The Cathedral Church of St David in Hobart, TAS. Consecrated in 1874
St Mary's Cathedral, Hobart, TAS, built from 1822
Georgian cottages in Battery Point, Hobart, TAS
Part of Hobart, TAS,Convict Penitentiary, dating from the 1830s
The entrance to the Prince of Wales magazine underneath Princes Park, TAS. 19th Century Gun Batteries. From 1871, gun batteries were built around Hobart as defence against possible attack from the Russians.
Highfield House on the site of Highfeild Hall Hotel, corner of Bathurst and Murray Streets, Hobart TAS
Former Blundstone boot factory, western side of Campbell Street, Hobart, TAS
Greek temple-like museum named Ancanthe, "blooming valley". built in 1843 at the direction of Lady Franklin, wife of the governor. She bought and gifted the 10 acres of land and the Parthenon-inspired building to the public. Her aim was to enrich the cultural life of the colony. Lenah Valley Rd, Lenah Valley in northern Hobart, TAS
Salamanca Place, Hobart, TAS, named after the victory in 1812 of the Duke of Wellington in the Battle of Salamanca in the Spanish province of Salamanca. It was previously called "The Cottage Green".
 The Hobart, TAS, Treasury Offices were built between 1859 and 1864
Two story Soldiers' Barracks at Anglesea Barracks, was built between 1847 and 1848, Hobart, TAS


Things To Do and Places To Go


Self-guided Walking Tours 

Battery Point History Walk

Hobart Free Walking Tour

Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery

The Museum of Old and 

New Art (MONA) 

Maritime Museum of Tasmania 

Mawson's Huts Replica Museum

Narryna Heritage Museum 

Markree House Museum and Garden

The World Heritage-listed Cascades Female Factory   

Tasmanian Transport Museum

Army Museum of Tasmania 

Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts​​​  

Tasmanian Herbarium

Wesley Hobart Museum 

Glenorchy Art and Sculpture Park 

Tasmania Police Museum 

Waterworks reserve

Hobart City Architectural Walk


Books To Read

The Broad Arrow; Being Passages from the History of Maida Gwynnham, a Lifer is an 1859 novel published by the English writer Caroline Woolmer Leakey under the pseudonym Oliné Keese. Set in Van Diemen's Land, it was one of the first novels to describe the Australian convict system.

Doctor Wooreddy's Prescription for Enduring the Ending of the World is an historical novel by Mudrooroo Nyoongah, first published in 1983.