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Showing posts from October, 2024

No. 1552 - Cressy - Holy Trinity Sunday School (1895) and Parish Hall (1828)

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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 which no longer exist. Cressy is a small country town approximately 15 kilometres south of Longford. The town’s name is taken from the Cressy Company, which was established in England in the 1820s to run large agricultural farms in the colony. In 1858 Cressy’s Holy Trinity Anglican church was built to replace a small church which stood at Bell Post Hill. The new church was substantially replaced by the present church which was built in 1894. A Sunday school hall was built in the church grounds in 1895 as was reported in Launceston’s Daily Telegraph: “The building, which is made of wood, is lined throughout with Tasmanian hardwood. It has

No. 1551 - Caseyville - Anglican Church

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Caseyville was one of the properties established by Roderick O’Connor (1784-1860) in the Cressy district in Northern Tasmania. It was centred around Abrahams Creek below the Western Tiers. Caseyville is one of thirteen places of worship which fell within the former parish of Holy Trinity church at Cressy. Little is known about the Anglican church at Caseyville which functioned from the early 1930s to the late 1950s. It was located in the Caseyville subsidised school which was built in 1931. The only specific reference to the Caseyville church is found in an article published in the Launceston Examiner in December 1945: “At a recent church service at Caseyville an organ was dedicated for church use in the parish of Cressy. It was given by Mr. and Mrs. H. Dent, Cressy. In memory of their son the late Hedley Dent, who, after serving with the forces overseas, was killed accidentally at Cressy two years ago”. At the time of Holy Trinity’s Centenary in 1958, K.R. von Stieglitz records tha

No. 1550 - North Hobart - Ware Street - Sunday School and Chapel (1859-1885)

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Ware Street, which was renamed Feltham Street in 1939, was the site of a Sunday school and Mission which operated for a period of almost 90 years. The neighbourhood centred on Federal Street (previously called Colville Street) and Feltham Street was an area of considerable poverty, which gave rise to the establishment of Anglican and Baptist missions during this period. This article will focus on the Ware Street Sunday School, the first place of worship built in the area. The ‘Ware Street Sunday School’ was a branch of the Campbell Street Sunday school which was been established in 1855. By the late 1850s the ‘Campbell Street Sunday School Association’ comprised of three schools including Ware Street and the ‘Bethesda Sunday school’ on Macquarie Street. All three schools were also used as places of worship. The opening of the Ware Street school in January 1859 was recorded by the Hobart Town Advertiser: “Last evening a tea meeting was held to celebrate the opening of a new Sunday schoo

No. 1549 - Orielton - St Stephen's Anglican Church (1952-1998)

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Orielton is a rural district on the Tasman Highway approximately 7 kilometres north of Sorell. It gets its name from the "Orielton Estate" belonging to Sir John Owen on land granted to Edward Lord. It is named after a family estate, “Orielton Park”, at Pembroke, in Wales. The former Anglican church at Orielton is a relatively recent church only being dedicated to Saint Stephen in 1952. The church was previously a school building which had been used by the Anglican community since the 1930s. The dedication of the church in December 1952 is recorded in a brief report published in the Mercury: “Representatives from all parts of the Sorell parish attended the recently renovated church at Orielton for its consecration by the Bishop of Tasmania (the Rt. Rev. G. F. Cranswick) on Sunday afternoon. The Bishop was assisted by Dean Fewtrell, the Diocesan Registrar (Mr., L. N. Partington) and the rector of Sorell (the Rev. C. E. S. Mitchell)”. “The wardens of the church, Messrs. S. D. N

No. 1548 - Sorell - Anglican Rectory (1826)

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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 which no longer exist. Sorell is one of Tasmania's oldest towns with the Pittwater district being settled in 1808. Sorell was formally established as a township in 1821 and was thereafter named after William Sorell, who served as Lieutenant-Governor from 1816 to 1824. The Anglican rectory at Sorell is one of the oldest buildings in the town being built in 1826, predating the original St George’s church which was only completed in 1827. Construction of the rectory was begun in March 1826, and was completed several months later at a total cost of £908. The builders were Messrs. Chapman and Hiddlestone, and the engineer was Mr. Sydney Co

No. 1547 - Sorell - Anglican Church (1822-1827)

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Sorell is one of Tasmania's oldest towns with the Pittwater district being settled in 1808. Sorell was formally established as a township in 1821 and was thereafter named after William Sorell, who served as Lieutenant-Governor from 1816 to 1824. In 1820 Anglican services at Pittwater were held in a barn. After a school was built in 1821, the schoolroom was used as a place of worship. Reverend Robert Knopwood conducted the first divine service at the Sorell school in February 1822. The early history of the Anglican church at Sorell is recounted in an article by W.J. Rowlands which was published by the Hobart Mercury: “The romantic history of the Church of England in Sorell began, for in 1820 the Rev. Robert Knopwood, M.A., the first chaplain of the colony, giving evidence at the inquiry conducted by the King's Commissioner, Thomas Bigges, said: In the first quarter of 1820, at the general muster at Pittwater (the original name of the Sorell district), divine service was held in

No. 1546 - Carlton - Salvation Army Hall

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Carlton is situated approximately 50 kilometres east of Hobart and west of the mouth of the Carlton River. As a relatively recently established place of worship, there is very little information about the Salvation Army Hall at Carlton. As information becomes available this article will be updated. The ‘Companion to Tasmanian History’ has the following concise summary of the history of the Salvation Army in Tasmania: “The Salvation Army had a seminal link with Tasmania. Launceston businessman and philanthropist Henry Reed, living in London, gave William Booth over £5000 to establish the Salvation Army on a firm footing in about 1870. In 1883 the Salvation Army Launceston Corps began operating, and corps were formed in Hobart, Latrobe, Waratah and other towns. Marches by these 'militant servants of Christ' through the two main cities with loud music attracted the larrikin element or 'roughs', who exploded flour bombs in the Salvationists' faces or threw mud and beer.

No. 1545 - Forcett - St Mary's Anglican Church (1897-1998)

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Forcett is a small settlement on the Arthur Highway situated approximately 7 kilometres east of Sorell. The name originates from Forcett in Yorkshire, the birthplace of James Gordon, who was a District Magistrate and an early settler in the district. The history of St Mary’s Anglican church is not well documented and there are few references to it in the historical record. The church was established in 1897 as a Mission Hall and was dedicated to St Mary at a yet to be determined date. While there are few reports of the church in the newspaper record, there is a substantial account of its official opening onTuesday 2 September 1897 which was published in the Hobart Mercury: “An interesting function took place here on Thursday, 2nd, lost., in the shape of the opening of the Forcett Mission Church by the Ven. Archdeacon Whitington, the Administrator of the Diocese. In spite of the heavy rain of the previous day a large gathering assembled. The proceedings comprised an opening service at 3

No. 1544 - Woodbridge - St Simon and St Jude - Anglican Church (1884)

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Woodbridge is a settlement on the Channel Highway approximately 40 kilometres south of Hobart. The village was originally called Peppermint Bay. It was renamed in about 1877, after Woodbridge in Suffolk, the birthplace of George Miles, who settled in the area in the 1840s. In 1858 a Union Chapel was built on half an acre of land donated by Joseph Davies to build a place of worship for Protestants. The entrance doorway and windows from the old Government House on Macquarie street was used in the church’s construction. In 1884 the Anglican’s withdrew from using the chapel following the opening of St Simon and St Jude’s church . After this date the Union Chapel was used solely by the Methodists. In 1897 the Union Chapel was destroyed by bushfires which swept across Southern Tasmania. The foundation stone for Woodbridge’s Anglican church was ceremonially laid on Monday 27 October 1884. The Tasmanian News published a detailed report of the occasion: “For some time past the members of the C

No. 1543 - Barnes Bay - St Peter's Anglican Church (1896-1967) "Another Anchor Down"

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Barnes Bay is a small settlement on the northern end of Bruny Island. Barnes Bay was the site of the ferry terminal between 1954 to 1983 and a quarantine station in the 19th and early 20th century. The settlement and the bay is named after one of the first settlers on the island. The first Anglican church established at Barnes Bay was dedicated to St John. It was also used as a schoolroom. St John's was built in 1845 and was in use until it was replaced by a new church built in 1896 on another site. The foundation stone of the new church, which was dedicated to St Peter, was ceremonially laid by Bishop Montgomery on Wednesday 18 December 1895. The Hobart Mercury published a brief account of the occasion: “Yesterday afternoon the Bishop of Tasmania proceeded in the steamer Huon to Barnes' Bay to lay the foundation-stone of the church about to be built there. Some of the Church of England clergy accompanied the Bishop, and a fair number of passengers embraced the opportunity of t

No. 1542 - Beaconsfield - Presbyterian Church (1882-1908)

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Beaconsfield is a former gold mining town in the the Tamar River Valley and lies approximately 40 kilometres north of Launceston. Commercial gold mining began in the 1870s which led to a boom in the town’s population. Originally known as Brandy Creek, the township was renamed Beaconsfield in 1879 in honour of British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield. The establishment of Beaconsfields first Presbyterian church dates to October 1881 when when a group of three women began fundraising to build a place of worship. Land for the church was donated by Mr William Ritchie and was built by a local contractor, Mr G. Walters. The church was officially opened on Sunday 14 May 1882. There is no published record of the opening service however local newspapers recorded a fundraising meeting held the day after the opening: “The opening services of the new Presbyterian Church were held on Sunday last, by the Rev. John Lyle, of Launceston. On Monday evening, a tea and public