No. 1445 - Perth - Baptist Manse (c.1880)

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This article is one of a series about buildings associated with Tasmania’s historical churches. These buildings include Sunday schools, parish halls, convents, schools and residences of the clergy. Ancillary buildings are often overlooked and rarely feature in published histories. My aim is to create a simple record of these buildings, including those that no longer exist.

Perth is one of Tasmania’s oldest towns having being established in 1821 by Governor Lachlan Macquarie. Macquarie was so impressed with the area that he selected it as a site for a township. At the time Macquarie was hosted by pastoralist David Gibson and named it after Gibson's home town of Perth in Scotland.

Perth’s Baptist Tabernacle is the product of the generosity of it benefactor, William Gibson, one David Gibson’s sons, who had established the property ‘Native Point’ on the South Esk River. William Gibson and his wife Mary, were instrumental in establishing and funding Baptist Tabernacles at Hobart and Launceston as well as other towns across northern Tasmania. Gibson funded construction of a Baptist church in Perth which had opened in 1862. He also funded the construction of a second church which opened in 1889. [see No. 68]

In about 1880 the Gibsons funded the construction of a Manse which was built on Clarence Street, diagonally opposite the church. Built in a Victorian Gothic style, the name of the architect is not known. The Manse has been renamed “Clarence House” and was sold by the Baptist church many years ago.



The Baptist Manse on Clarence Street (c.1962). Photograph: Libraries Tasmania - Item Number LPIC33/2/152

The former Baptist manse in 2023



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