Churches of Tasmania

The former St. David's Anglican church is situated in the hamlet of Selbourne outside Westbury. It was consecrated by Bishop John Mercer on the 2nd of March 1914. This must have been the last church dedicated by Mercer, who returned to England  permanently   less than two weeks later. The dedication of the church was reported in the Launceston Daily Telegraph:  “Yesterday Bishop Mercer paid a visit to the isolated but prosperous district of Selbourne, near Hagley, for the purpose of dedicating the new church which has been recently erected there. The Bishop, accompanied by Archdeacon Beresford, motored out in Mr Perrin's car, which had been placed at his disposal. The new church is named St. David's… The dedication ceremony was performed in the presence of a large gathering. An address on the nature and purpose of dedication was given by his Lordship, after which a picnic, which was joined in by Dr Mercer, was held in honour of the occasion. The Bishop was struck with ...

In 1952 St Peter’s Catholic Church was opened in Kings Meadows. The driving force behind the building of a new church was Monsignor William Upton, the Dean of Northern Tasmania. The Examiner reported on the ceremony conducted by Archbishop Ernest Tweedy: “Entering the grounds through a guard of honour formed by members of the church, the Archbishop blessed the exterior of the church in one of the brief periods of sunshine Launceston experienced yesterday. He congratulated the congregation on the possession of the new church and expressed his thanks for their cooperation and loyalty” . There were great hopes for St Peter's in the growing suburbs of Kings Meadows and Youngtown. The Kings Meadows parish, owned four acres of land opposite the church and the intention was to develop this for a school and a modern larger church. This was partially achieved when in 1977 a new church was opened on the old farmstead but the proposed school was never built on the site. The new St Peter...

The former Anglican church at Perth is possibly the third building in the town associated with the Church of England. Ernest Whitfield in ‘Early History of Launceston’ states that the first services were held in the police station and that a church was built in 1831. Other sources indicate that this may have been 1836 but there is a record of an ‘Anglican’ church’s consecration at Perth in 1838. This building must have been poorly constructed for it had to be repaired in 1851 and by the 1870’s it had become necessary to build an entirely new church. In January 1878, Miss Charlotte Youl, superintendent of the Church of England Sunday School was invited to place the foundation stone of a new church. Charlotte Youl was the daughter of Reverend John Youl, the first clergyman in Northern Tasmania, who had ministered in Launceston from 1819 and laid the foundation stone of St John’s in 1824. The Cornwall Chronicle reported on the stone laying ceremony at Perth: Miss Youl… “addressed a fe...

This is one of the most visible churches in Launceston situated on Wellington Street, the busiest thoroughfare in the city. It is known for its quirky signboard on the street front with a clever turn of pun, forever attempting to attract potential customers. It is called the "Charcoal Chicken" church by some Launcestonians, in reference to an equally iconic business premises right on its boundary. This is the former Memorial Church named in honour of Henry Reed, founder of the city’s Christian Mission Church which now lies down an alley behind it. Reed was one of Tasmania’s leading businessmen as well as a banker and philanthropist besides being an ardent evangelist who made a significant contribution to the Christian cause in Australia and in Britain. Henry Reed was born in Doncaster, England in 1806. At the age of 20 he sailed for Hobart arriving in April 1827. From Hobart he walked to Launceston, a distance of 120 miles. Reed had a deep religious experience in the early...

In 1862 the first Baptist church was opened at Perth. It was the gift of William Gibson who was also to fund the striking octagonal Tabernacle that stands nearby. Ministers were brought across from Victoria to conduct its first services. In 1869 Reverend Grant (of Reverend C.H. Spurgeon's Pastors' College London) was invited from England and served as pastor until 1872. The Baptist community quickly outgrew Gibson’s church and in 1889 a new Tabernacle was built to replace it. (Blog post 17 February 2018) The old building continued to be used as a hall and Sunday school after the opening of the new Tabernacle. The Gibson’s of Perth and the Baptist Movement in Tasmania William Gibson and his wife Mary Gibson played an important role in the development of the Baptist Church in Tasmania. Mary (nee Blackner) was from a Church of England background. She arrived in Van Dieman’s Land on 6 Sept 1832 and underwent 'believer's baptism' being baptised by her uncle, the Rev H...

Prospect is suburb of Launceston located between Summerhill and Prospect Vale. Several churches were established at Prospect in the 19th and early 20th centuries. These include a Christian Mission church (which became the Summerhill Baptist Church); a Church of Christ, (an outreach of the Margaret Street Church of Christ) and Christ Church Congregational church.  The Prospect Congregational Church opened in 1857 as a branch of the 'Christ Church' Congregational Church in Frederick Street, Launceston. 'Christ Church Prospect' was officially opened by Reverend Henry Dowling and Reverend Charles Price on April 10, 1857. The church's establishment can be attributed to the work of Reverend William Law, who preached at Prospect Village in the mid 1850s. Before a church was built, Reverend Law conducted services at Mr Josiah Pitcher's Rising Sun Hotel. It was Pitcher who donated the land for the church as well as making a donation of £20 towards the building fund. On t...

The Chapel on the Pateena Road (sometimes called the Salem Chapel) between Launceston and Longford is a bit of a mystery. I have found a few tantalising details and hope to add to this entry once more information comes to hand. The Pateena Road area was once known as Muddy Plains. According to the local historian Karl Von Stieglitz, it was so named because of the state of the road: “Wagons were often two days making the journey from Longford and cases are reported of horses sinking up to their bellies in the mud and vehicles abandoned for days in the mud”. (1) It was also known as Norfolk Plains East and is said have been renamed Pateena after the children of Edward Dumaresq of ‘Mount Ireh Estate’ had travelled on the SS Pateena for schooling across Bass Strait in Melbourne. (2) The area was originally settled by Norfolk Islanders who received land grants along this part of the South Esk River. The chapel was built in 1840 and was part of the Methodist circuit which included churche...