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Showing posts from July, 2020

No. 754 - Warrane - St Philip's Anglican Church and Hall

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Warrane is an eastern shore suburb of Hobart established by the Housing Department in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Warrane is an Aboriginal word meaning 'blue sky’ and this was adopted for postal purposes for the Montague Bay area before it was transferred to its present locality in the 1940s. The foundation stone for St Philip’s was laid by the Bishop Cranswick on Sunday 17 October 1954. The Hobart Mercury reported: “The Bishop was assisted by the Rev. Arthur Cloudsdale, who has returned from missionary service in Central Tanganyika, East Africa. The Archdeacon of Hobart (the Ven. W. R. Barrett) read the lesson, after which an address was given by the Bishop. This was followed by an ad-dress by the Rector of St. Philip's (the Rev. T. A. Cloudsdale). The new church hall is to be used as a' community centre in Warrane, and the first to use it will be the church women's guild. Other guests at the ceremony were Mrs. Cranswick, the Minister for Tourists and Immigration

No. 753 - Sorell - St Thomas' Catholic Church - "Sunshining Throughout"

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Sorell is one of Tasmania's oldest towns with the region first settled in 1808. Sorell was formally established as a township in 1821 and was named after William Sorell, who served as Lieutenant-Governor from 1816 to 1824. By the 1840s Sorell had an Anglican and a Presbyterian church while the Catholic community relied on visiting priests from nearby Richmond for regular Mass. The first request to the government for an allotment on which to build a Catholic church was made by Bishop Willson in 1850. Progress towards building a church was delayed until 1863. A foundation stone was ceremonially laid in 1864 and the church was completed in the same year. The building’s construction was overseen by Father William Dunne of Richmond. The stone was quarried free of charge from land belonging to Mrs Lord of Richmond. Andrew Counsel donated land for the church and also made a contribution of £200 towards the cost of construction. The building is one of the earliest churches designed Hen

No. 752 - South Launceston Kingdom Hall

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The South Launceston Kingdom Hall is located on Rose Lane and overlooks the busy Southern Outlet. It is one of two Kingdom Hall’s in Launceston. The Jehovah's Witness diverges from the mainstream doctrines of Christianity in that it is a non-trinitarian tradition. Jehovah's Witnesses believe their denomination is a restoration of first-century Christianity. It is a ‘closed’ church and its practices have led its critics to regard it as a sect. The historical persecution of members of the Jehovah’s Witness in many countries, including Australia, has no doubt contributed to the denomination keeping a low profile in the media. For this reason the history of the Jehovah Witness in Tasmania presents a challenge to research. The following information is derived from the Jehovah Witness’s official tract, The Watchtower: “In the early 1900s a member of the International Bible Students Association, as Jehovah's Witnesses were known, was distributing Bible study publications in Tasman

No. 751 - Kangaroo Valley Mission Church (1895-1934)

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Kangaroo Valley is a previous name for the Hobart suburb of Lenah Valley. Before the 20th century Kangaroo Valley was an orcharding area that centred on what was then Augusta Road which led up to the Lady Franklin Museum. The Kangaroo Valley Mission Church was located within sight of the classical temple ‘Ancanthe’, built by Lady Franklin in 1842. In 1894 the first Anglican services held at Kangaroo Valley took place in an apple shed loaned by Mr Alomes. The shed had no windows and this “proved rather inconvenient, the door having to be kept open”. In early 1895 fundraising began to build a “suitable place of worship”. Public subscriptions enabled the opening of a small weatherboard church in June that year. The church was officially opened on Sunday 16 June by Archdeacon Whittington. The Tasmanian News reported: “There was a large number of persons present, and the Archdeacon was assisted by the Revs. A. Cass and W. Dodson. …. [the building]… is a short distance from Lady Franklin’s

No. 750 - Launceston - Punchbowl Christian Centre

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Punchbowl is a suburb to the south east of the city of Launceston. The area is well known by Launcestonians for the Punch Bowl Reserve which centres on a natural rock fissure and waterfall. In earlier times it was known as The Devil’s Punchbowl. The Punchbowl Christian Centre was previously known as the Punchbowl Bible Chapel and was one of four Christian Brethren churches established in the city. The church’s origins date back to the 1950s however it was not until 1961 that a chapel was built on Punchbowl Road. This building was outgrown by the late 1980s and in 1990 a new church was built on the site of the old Punchbowl Zoo. A condition of the church’s acquisition of the site was that the building also had to serve as a community centre. A multipurpose building was constructed which included an auditorium with a capacity to seat 1000 people. The church was built by Peter McCormack and was officially opened in July 1991. The original Punchbowl Bible Chapel is now used by the Assem

No. 749 - Sandford - Congregational Church (1862-1974)

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Sandford is a semi-rural district of Greater Hobart on the South Arm Road approximately 15 kilometres from Bellerive. It was previously known as Muddy Plains before the name was changed to Sandford in 1886. In 1885 the local correspondent for The Tasmanian News wrote: “It is….the intention of the inhabitants to get the name of the place changed. It is, to begin with, ugly and inappropriate, besides which there are several other places in this colony bearing the same name. Our member has been asked to move in the matter, and the hope is expressed that he will not fail to take the necessary steps to get the name of the place changed. "Sandford" has been suggested, and I believe would be acceptable to the majority of the residents”. Some sources claim that when the Bishop of Tasmania, the Right Reverend D. Fox Sandford, visited Muddy Plains in the mid 1880s, he commented on the inappropriateness of its name, and jocularly said, "Why not call it after me.” There were o

No 748 - Wynyard - The Uniting Church - 'A criterion of moral and spiritual prosperity'

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Wynyard is a town on the northwest coast approximately 20 kilometres west of the city of Burnie. The area around Wynyard was originally named Table Cape by the explorers Bass and Flinders. The name was changed to Wynyard in the 1850s, in honour of Edward Buckley Wynyard, Lieutenant-General of the New South Wales Corps. In his capacity as commander of troops in New South Wales, Van Diemen’s Land and New Zealand, Wynyard visited Table Cape in 1850-1. Until the 20th century Wynyard remained a small town with a population of less than 500. The history of Wynyard’s first Methodist church (The United Free Methodist Church) has been told in a previous article on ‘Churches of Tasmania’ [ see No. 736 ]. With the Australian Methodist Union of 1902, the Wesleyan Methodists, who worshipped in Wynyard’s Town Hall joined with the Free Methodists to form a single congregation at the Dodgin Street church. It was only a matter of time before the small weatherboard church on Dodgin Street was outgrown

No. 747 - Lenah Valley - St Andrew's Anglican Church (1961-2016)

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Lenah Valley is a suburb of Hobart situated in the foothills of Mount Wellington north of the city centre. Lenah Valley was originally known as Kangaroo Bottom and later as Kangaroo Valley. Lenah is the native Aboriginal word for kangaroo. Anglican ministry in Lenah Valley began in the Kangaroo Valley Mission Church which operated from 1895 until 1934. After World War Two the congregation worshipped in the Lenah Valley Community Hall. A committee was formed in 1955 and plans for a new building were drawn up in 1958. The foundation stone was laid in May 1960 and the church was opened by Bishop Cranswick on Saturday 15 March 1961. The brick church was built at a cost of $40 000. In 2011 St Andrew’s commemorated its 50th anniversary. Two years later, on 1 July 2013, the Anglican parishes in New Town and Lenah Valley were united to form a combined parish. In December 2016 St Andrew’s joined with the St James’ and St John’s Newtown congregations. In 2018 St Andrew’s was listed for sale a

No. 746 - Howrah - Good News Christian Church (1960)

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Howrah is a suburb of Hobart situated on the eastern side of Bellerive on the shores of the Derwent River. It is named after "Howrah House", a property built in the 1830's on the Clarence Plains by a retired Indian Army officer, Captain James Fielder. Howrah is a suburb of Calcutta, where Captain Fielder was stationed. The Howrah Good News Christian Church is associated with the Christian Reformed Churches of Australia (CRCA), formerly known as the Reformed Churches of Australia, of the Reformed Presbyterian tradition. The Reformed Churches in Tasmania grew after World War Two when Dutch immigrants settled mostly along the north west coast of the island. Approximately 3500 migrants settled in the State in the 1950’s forming Tasmania’s largest non-English speaking migrant community. As generations of migrants were assimilated into Australian society the church’s Dutch connection is no longer important and Reformed Churches are a culturally diverse group, reflecting th

No. 745 - Lottah's Catholic Churches (1885-1891 & 1914-1922)

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Lottah is a former mining settlement located in the Blue Tiers about 35 kilometres west of St Helens. There are now few signs of the once thriving town. Tin was discovered in the vicinity of Lottah in about 1875. The Anchor Tin Mine became operational in 1880 and the township of Lottah developed around it. At its peak Lottah had several hundred residents, a school, two hotels, two churches, a number of businesses and a football club. Two Catholic churches were built at Lottah. The first church was built in 1885 and a second church, built in 1914, was removed to Pyengana in 1922. The original church, which was a converted billiard hall, was destroyed in a fire in 1891. In May 1885 Lottah’s correspondent for the Hobart Mercury reported the construction of the township’s first church: “In local news I may mention that Father Mary has purchased a building at the junction for his church, and it is now being altered and enlarged. It is already assuming the appearance of a nice church.

No. 744 - Launceston - Punchbowl - Eternal Life Christian Church

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Punchbowl is a suburb to the south east of the city of Launceston. The area is best known for the Punch Bowl Reserve, which centres on a natural rock fissure and waterfall. In earlier times it was known as The Devil’s Punchbowl. The Eternal Life Christian Church on Punchbowl Road is a part of the Assembly of God denomination. It was previously the Punchbowl Bible Chapel, one of four Christian Brethren churches established in Launceston. A timber chapel was built by the Brethren in 1961 but this was outgrown and sold after the Brethren built a new church at Punchbowl in 1991. After the building was acquired by the Assembly of God, a brick facade and tower was added. The original timber church remains and can been seen from the side and rear of the building. Additional information about this church is welcomed as all articles will be updated. I can be contacted through this page or my Facebook page "Churches of Tasmania" which is linked here: < Churches of Tasmania >