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Showing posts from May, 2022

No. 1126 - Ulverstone - Salvation Army Hall (1977)

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Ulverstone, or ‘River Leven’, as it was once called, was permanently settled by Europeans from the late 1840s after Andrew Risby developed farmland from the thickly forested wilderness. Ulverstone is a town of many churches with 16 denominations established during its 170 year history. The Salvation Army were active at Ulverstone from the early 1890s. By 1894 a hall or ‘barracks” opened on Victoria Street built on land donated by James (Philosopher) Smith. The modern barracks which now occupy this site replaced the old hall in June 1977. As the present hall is a relatively new place of worship, there is limited information available about its establishment and recent history. As more information becomes available this article will be updated. Additional information about this church is most welcome as all articles are continually updated. I can be contacted through this page or my Facebook page "Churches of Tasmania" which is linked HERE .

No. 1125 - Scottsdale - Salvation Army Hall

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Scottsdale is the largest town in north-east Tasmania. It is named after the Government Surveyor, James Scott, who explored the region in the 1850’s. The town was initially planned around Ellesmere but it developed about a kilometre south of the original site and was officially called Scottsdale after 1893. The Salvation Army has had an active presence in Scottsdale since the late 1880s. The original Salvation Army ‘citadel’ was located on Victoria Street. This was replaced in the 1970s by a new building on Arthur Street. As a relatively new place of worship, there is very little information about the building’s establishment and more recent history. When more information becomes available this article will be updated. Additional information about this church is most welcome as all articles are continually updated. I can be contacted through this page or my Facebook page "Churches of Tasmania" which is linked HERE .

No. 1124 - Ulverstone - Sacred Heart Catholic Church (1886-1961)

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Ulverstone, or ‘River Leven’, as it was once called, was permanently settled by Europeans from the late 1840’s after Andrew Risby developed farmland from the thickly forested wilderness. During the 1850’s the district received new settlers and was also frequented by transient timber splitters. In 1854 Hugh Ross McKay opened the first store and the Leven Post Office opened in 1857. Despite the growth of River Leven, the settlement remained without a church until the late 1860’s. In 1867 the River Leven correspondent for the Launceston Examiner complained: “…At the Leven there exists not one place which is solely devoted to the worship of God. To be sure services are held in private dwellings by two or three denominations, which no doubt are useful in a degree; but several persons have an aversion to attend meetings held under these circumstances.” A year earlier, another River Leven local correspondent had offered a more positive view of religious life in the town: “The religious histor

No. 1123 - Sheffield - Methodist Church (1882-1936)

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Sheffield is a country town in northern Tasmania approximately 25 kilometres south of Devonport. The area was explored by the surveyor Nathaniel Kentish in 1842 who was trying to find a route from Deloraine through to the north west coast. The area was later opened up for settlement and by 1862 plots of land had been sold and the settlement of Sheffield had been named. According to J. R. Skemps’ ‘A History of the North West Coast’, in 1861 the first licence for a public house, the Sheffield Inn, was taken out by James Poulett, a native of Sheffield in England, and this probably gave the town its name. The first Methodist services in the district were held at Barrington in 1865. Reverend H. Nye would walk from Devonport to hold a morning service at Barrington before heading off to Sheffield for afternoon and evening services. Reverend Nye could not ride on horseback and there were no roads in the early days. Services were held in the old Union Hall which stood opposite the site of the

No. 1122 - Zeehan - Methodist Church (1897-1954)

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Zeehan is a town on the west coast approximately 40 kilometres from Queenstown. As a mining town it became the administrative centre for a number of mining companies in the region. Zeehan was established in the early 1880s and by the turn of the 20th century it had become Tasmania's third largest town. Zeehan takes its name from Mount Zeehan which had been named by George Bass and Matthew Flinders after Abel Tasman's brig ‘Zeehaen'. Since Zeehan was established, five Methodist churches have been built in the town: 1. A small Wesleyan-Methodist chapel (1890) 2. A large Wesleyan Methodist church replaced the chapel in 1897. 3. The 1897 church was demolished in 1954 and replaced by a smaller church. 4. A small Primitive Methodist chapel was built in 1891. 5. A larger Primitive Methodist church replaced the original chapel in 1895. The focus of this article is on the second Wesleyan Methodist church which opened on Sunday 14 November 1897. The Wesleyan-Methodist presence at Zee

No. 1121 - Burnie - Acton - Chinese Methodist Church

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Acton is a suburb of the city of Burnie in north-west of the State. Acton is most likely named after a former English village which has been absorbed into Greater London. The Acton church was opened in 1982 by the Christian Brethren. In January 2018 the church was sold to the Chinese Methodist Church in Australia. The Church was started by members from the Methodist Churches of Malaysia and Singapore who were either sent to Australia or emigrated there. The Chinese Methodist Church is found in all the major cities of Australia. The Acton church was dedicated by Bishop Kwang on 16 June 2018. There are now three Chinese Methodist Churches in Tasmania including the Faith Methodist Church at Sandy Bay and the Praise Methodist Church at Invermay. The denomination is represented by 21 churches in Australia. Links and sources: https://www.facebook.com/nwtaspc/

No. 1120 - King Island - Yambacoona - Uniting Church (1971)

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Yambacoona is a small settlement on King Island approximately 30 kilometres north of Currie. It was an area used by the government to settle returned soldiers after World War I. The land proved unproductive and most of the farms were not successful. The settlement's name is probably taken from a ship, the Yambacoona, which was owned by the firm of Stephenson and Gunn and brought Mr and Mrs Andrew Miller and family to the island in 1901 Yambacoona’s only church is a former Methodist church that was removed from Loorana in 1971. The history of the church at Loorana can be read here: [ No. 1111 ] Loorana’s Methodist Church was reopened at Yambacoona on Sunday 12 December 1971. The event was covered in some detail by the local newspaper, ‘King Island News’. Most of this report is reproduced as follows: “In the absence of the Chairman of the Tasmanian Methodist District, the Rev. H. B. Freeman, M.A., the Minister of the King Island Circuit, the Rev. R. L. Lovell officiated. The little C

No. 1119 - Burnie - Salvation Army - Cattley Street Hall (1910-1955)

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Burnie is a port city on the north-west coast of Tasmania. The origins of the town date back to 1827 when a settlement was established at Emu Bay by the Van Diemen’s Land Company. The settlement was later renamed Burnie after William Burnie, a director of the Van Diemen's Land Company.  Since the Salvation Army established itself at Burnie in the late 1990s, the denomination has ‘occupied’ three halls in the city.  This article’s focus is on the first Salvation Army Hall, which was established in a former Wesleyan church on Cattley Street [ see No. 537 ]. The information in this article is largely drawn from ‘Burnie - A Thematic History’, a publication produced by the Burnie City Council in 2010.  “The Salvation Army had an ‘unfortunate introduction’ to Burnie. In the late nineteenth century, Captain Tom Gibbs and his wife arrived in northern Tasmania, and established a local Corp. The Burnie headquarters were set up in the Primitive Methodist Chapel in Mount Street. The services o

No. 1118 - Hobart - Congregational Memorial Hall - Brisbane Street (1912)

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This entry is another in a series of articles about buildings associated with some of Tasmania’s most significant churches. These buildings include Sunday schools, parish halls, convents, schools and residences of the clergy. Ancillary buildings are often overlooked and are rarely featured in published histories. My aim is to create a basic record of some of the most significant of these buildings, including those which no longer exist. The Brisbane Street Congregational Memorial Hall is situated on the site of Hobart’s first Congregational Church built in 1832. When a new Congregational church was built in 1870, the old church was used as a Sunday school until it was replaced in 1912. On Saturday 2 September 1911, two foundation stones were ceremonially laid marking the start of construction of the Memorial Hall. One stone was ‘laid’ by Reverend G. Clarke, a former president of the Congregational Union of Australia and the other stone by Captain J.W. Evans, a local member of the fede

No. 1117 - Burnie - Mission to Seafarers

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The Mission to Seafarers (formerly The Missions to Seamen) is a Christian welfare charity serving merchant crews around the world. It operates through a global Mission family network of chaplains, staff and volunteers and provides practical, emotional and spiritual support through ship visits, drop-in seafarers centres and a range of welfare and emergency support services. The Mission to Seafarers has its roots in the work of Anglican priest John Ashley. In 1835 Ashley was asked by his son how sailors on ships in the Bristol Channel could go to church. Recognising the needs of the seafarers on the four hundred sailing vessels in the Bristol Channel, Ashley created the Bristol Channel Mission. In 1839 a specially designed mission cutter named Eirene was built with a main cabin designed to be converted into a chapel for 100 people. John Ashley's work inspired similar ministries in the UK, and it was decided in 1856 that these groups should be formally organised under the name The Mis

No. 1116 - Somerset - Baptist Church - Simpson Street (1959)

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Somerset is located on the estuary of the western bank of the Cam River midway between the township of Wynyard and the city of Burnie. At one time it was a town in its own right but it is now a satellite town of the city of Burnie. It was named in 1856 after the Earl of Somerset. In earlier times the area was also known as ‘Port Maldon’ and ‘The Cam’, with the latter name being used well into the 20th century. Somerset has had a broad range of religious denominations represented in the town including Baptist, Anglican, Methodist (Uniting Church), the Church of Christ and Catholic churches. The Baptists were the last of the major religious denominations to establish a church at Somerset. Following a meeting in the Somerset Anglican Church Hall in April 1954, a church was established in the following year. A church was built on Simpson Street in 1959. In 1981 the Somerset Baptist Christian School was established on the Simpson Street premises. This later became the Seabrook Christian Sc

No. 1115 - Fitzgerald - St Boniface Anglican Church (1923-1953)

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Fitzgerald is a small settlement on the Gordon River Road situated about a kilometre from the larger town of Maydena. Fitzgerald is the older of the two settlements and it owes its existence to the extension of the Tyenna railway line in 1917 a further 6 miles from National Park to the Fitzgerald terminus. Fitzgerald was originally known as Maydena until the railway station was built and then renamed in honour of George Parker FitzGerald, a well known businessman, politician and an advocate of the southern railways. In November 1921 the Hobart Mercury reported that a new Anglican church was to be built at Fitzgerald: “The Bishop of Tasmania paid his first visit to Fitzgerald on Wednesday and was very deeply impressed with the great development that has taken place there during the past few years. The laying of a foundation block for a new Anglican Church was the pleasing duty that induced the Bishop to undertake the journey from Hobart. The Bishop arrived at 12-40 pm, and after being

No. 1114 - Magra - St John's Anglican Church (1955)

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Magra is a residential area approximately 3 kilometres north of New Norfolk. Magra is a word used by Eastern Aboriginal peoples meaning 'day'. The area was previously called Back River. Magra's former Anglican church was originally a church built at Black Hills which is situated approximately 7 kilometres north of the settlement. Anglican services were held at Black Hills from about 1898. A church was built in 1900 and mostly financed by Mrs A.H. Sharland on land donated by Isaac Triffitt. St John’s was consecrated by Bishop Mercer in September 1903. For reasons not known services at the Black Hills church ceased in 1916 and the building fell into a state of disrepair over the next sixteen years. Occasional services continued at the Black Hills State school. In February 1933, as a result of the efforts of Reverend Brammall, St John’s was reopened after it had been reroofed and new windows installed. A second-hand organ was donated by the Anglican congregation at Molesworth

No. 1113 - Penguin - Presbyterian Church (1888-1905)

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Penguin is a seaside town situated approximately 10 kilometres west of Ulverstone. It was established in the 1860’s and was one of the last coastal towns in the northwest to be settled. The Victorian gold rush created a renewed demand for timber and consequently wood cutters and splitters moved into the area. The town was named by the botanist Ronald Campbell Gunn after the penguin rookeries that were once common along this part of the coast. Penguin's Presbyterian church has a complicated history. It was removed from Penguin to West Pine in 1905 but was blown down in a storm in 1910. This was replaced by a new church in 1911. This church closed in 1930 but was used by the Methodists until 1933. The church was later sold in 1941 and removed to a site near Howth on the Bass Highway where it was converted into a house. This article will trace the history of the church from its origins at Penguin in 1888 through to its removal to West Pine in 1905. I have seek to locate a photograph o

No. 1112 - Huonville - Huonville Memorial Congregational Church (1965)

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Huonville is a small town on the banks of the Huon River, situated approximately 35 kilometres south of Hobart. Huonville was not originally intended to be the site of a town as a nearby settlement at Ranelagh (then called Victoria) was planned as the main centre of the district. However Huonville’s location at a bridge crossing the Huon River led to it supplanting Ranelagh as the larger of the two settlements. Huonville’s former Congregational church dates back to the late 1840s. The first church was a simple wooden structure built by Thomas and William Walton. This was destroyed in a fire in 1872. A new stone church was built at the intersection of Wilmot Street and Main Road. This site is now occupied by the Huonville ANZ bank. As Huonville developed the site of the church became an issue with the intersection called “bottleneck corner”. In 1942 several proposals were put forward to resolve the issue. One proposal was that the church remain on the site “on an island” with traffic

No. 1111 - King Island - Loorana - Methodist Church (1926-1971)

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Loorana is a dairy-farming district on King Island and is approximately 10 kilometres north of of the town of Currie. The district was previously known as Porky Creek before the name Loorana was adopted. This is an Aboriginal word meaning brushwood. King Island once had a total of six Methodist churches. The Methodists were the only denomination to establish a church at Loorana. The Loorana church was simple a weatherboard building and it was officially opened on Sunday 28 March 1926. An article in ‘King Island News’ reveals the origins of the church: “For some years past the Methodists of Loorana have been working with the object of having a church erected in their midst, and Sunday evening last saw the culmination of their efforts. The first Methodist service in the locality was conducted some 13 years ago by Mr Penna, and the attendance was confined to the Hill and Crack families. Therefore, the official opening was delegated to Mesdames Hill and Crack, who conjointly turned the ke

No. 1110 - Bellerive - St Mark's Sunday School Memorial Hall (1928)

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This entry is another in a series of articles about buildings associated with some of Tasmania’s most significant churches. These buildings include Sunday schools, parish halls, convents, schools and residences of the clergy. Ancillary buildings are often overlooked and are rarely featured in published histories. My aim is to create a simple record of some of the most significant of these buildings, including some which no longer exist. Bellerive is a suburb of Greater Hobart located on the Eastern Shore of the Derwent River. The area was originally called Kangaroo Point but in the 1830s this was changed to Bellerive, meaning ‘beautiful shore’. St Mark’s, which opened in 1904, is the second Anglican church established at Bellerive. The original church was built in 1851 and was used as a Sunday school from 1904 until 1928 when it was replaced by a church new hall. The foundation stone for the new Sunday school and Memorial Hall was laid on Saturday 17 December 1927. The building commem

No. 1109 - Cooee - St David's Anglican Hall (1922-1932)

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Cooee is a small seaside town contiguous to the city of Burnie. The name “Cooey Creek” is recorded on an early map before the area was first settled in the 1840s by the Byrne and Morris families. Cooee Creek remained relatively undeveloped until the close of the 19th century, probably because the coastal land was not suitable for farming. By the 1890s several small manufacturing businesses were established at Cooee Creek, laying the foundation for Cooee’s development as a manufacturing and residential settlement. Cooee’s first Anglican church, St David’s Hall, was a temporary church used for about 10 years before it was replaced by a new brick church in 1932. The church was an old hall removed from Burnie where it had been built as a Sunday school in 1883. It also served as Burnie’s Anglican church for a short period before St George’s opened on the Mount Street site in 1885. In November 1921 the Burnie Advocate reported that plans were underway to establish a church at Cooee: “The Coo