No. 1560 - Dover - 'St Mary Our Hope Catholic Church' (1867)
Dover is a small town on the Huon Highway approximately 80 kilometres south of Hobart. It was first settled in the 1850s. The original name for Dover was Port Esperance after one of the ships of the French Admiral Bruni D’Entrecasteaux.
Dover’s Catholic church, one of the oldest original churches south of Hobart, was built in 1866. It is the southernmost Catholic church in Australia and the oldest timber building in Dover. When the church was opened and consecrated in January 1867 the intention was to dedicate the building to St “John the Baptist”. This was later changed to “St Mary of Hope”. It was named St Mary Our Hope, reflecting Port Esperance Bay, with “esperance” meaning “hope”.
In January 1867 the Mercury published a lengthy and interesting report describing the church’s official opening:
“The new Church of St. John’s, at Port Esperance, was consecrated last Tuesday by the Right Rev. Dr. Murphy, Bishop of Hobart Town, assisted by the Very Rev. Dr. Dunne, Vicar-General, the Rev. Charles Woods, the Rev. Daniel F. Beechinor, of Richmond, the Rev. M. Beechinor, Hobart Town the Rev P. Hennebrey, of New Norfolk, the Rev. John Murphy of Franklin, the Rev. J. Hoolahan of Port Cygnet, and the Rev. John Kenny, New South Wales. Dr Murphy, accompanied by six of the above-named clergymen, sailed for Franklin the on Monday morning by the Cobre steamer….”.
“To the majority of the rev. gentlemen who accompanied the Right Rev. Dr. Murphy, the Huon district, its magnificent river, sublime scenery, and enterprising citizens, were entirely unknown…After a most pleasant passage, his lordship and accompanying clergymen armed at Franklin about five o'clock, where they were most hospitably entertained by the Roman Catholic pastor of Franklin, the Rev. John Murphy….Nothing could have excelled the hospitality displayed by the worthy and universally respected "Father Murphy," as he he is familiarly and fondly designated by persons of all classes and creeds throughout the entire district of the Huon. At seven o’ clock, a.m. on Tuesday morning, a long array of boats was marshalled to convey his lordship, his clergy, and the intending visitors to Port Esperance, as far as Shipwright's Point, where the Cobre was at anchor, displaying in the morning sun a goodly array of streaming bunting. Arrived there, over one hundred lay visitors took their “passage for the Port”. The voyage was an exceedingly agreeable one, notwithstanding an occasional, show or fall during the day”.
"At Port Esperance Dr Murphy and his clergy were met by all the inhabitants of the district without distinction of class or creed. The united parties, residents and visitors, proceeded at once to the new church, which is not many yards from the shore on a site gratuitously given by the proprietor Mr Whoolagan, influential settler, and who through illness, was unfortunately unable himself to participate in the ceremony he has been long anxiously expecting”.
“The church itself is a neat, well finished, and considering the number of the congregation, a commodious wooden building on a foundation of stone. When we say that the architect is H. Hunter, Esq. and the builders the Messrs. Donaldsons, of Port Esperance, it is scarcely necessary to add, that it is a work which reflects the greatest credit, not only upon the above named gentlemen, but upon the spiritual and pious exertions and zeal of the inhabitants of Port Esperance, and their beloved pastor "Father Murphy.”
“The ceremonies of consecration being finished, the church was then formally opened for divine service, the Rev P. Hennebrey officiating as celebrant…The collection amounted to the very handsome sum of £31 10s., an amount really surprising when the available resources of the community are considered….”.
“It would be ungrateful to close a notice of the proceedings if we were to omit acknowledging the obligations which every Roman Catholic in the district feels tender to the generous, charitable, and Christian sympathies displayed on the occasion by their Protestant fellow-settlers in the district. Nearly one half of those who participated in and supported the ceremonies by their presence and purses were members of different Protestant denominations….”.
In February 1893 the church came close to being destroyed in a bushfire and the building did not escape without some damage. The Mercury reported:
“Immense bushfires have been raging through the district during the past two days. All the mills have been surrounded with fires, and watches are stationed to give the alarm. Tram ways are destroyed, huts burnt, and many fences swept clean away. The fires shot flames to the top of the highest trees, sending immense burning fragments of flame three and four hundred yards in advance, where the fire again started, the bush being as dry as tinder. Everyone was on the lookout, watching the flying sparks as they settled”.
“This afternoon “Fire! Fire!" resounded, and the bell from the church and school pealed forth summoning assistance, as the Catholic Church was on fire. Teachers and children from school, and every one around, worked with a will, to get the fire under [control]. Everything in church was removed, but several times, as the wind veered round, no hopes were held out of saving the building, as both sides of the gable, from eaves to saddle board, were belching forth flames, and three different parts were ablaze at one time. The axe and buckets were used with grand effect, and later on a couple of hoses were applied, and the fire soon was in hand”.
“The fire originated from a spark carried over hundred yards. The school children carried water for some considerable distance, and the older folk applied It with good effect. The building, we are told, is insured”.
In July 2017, the year of the church’s sesquicentenary, the building came close to being destroyed in another fire, this time started by an arsonist who lit three fires in Dover on the same day. The fire destroyed the sacristy at the rear of the building and the interior of the church suffered smoke and water damage.
St Mary Our Hope has since been fully restored and was blessed and rededicated for liturgical use by Archbishop Julian on 26 November 2021. On the same day, Archbishop Julian also officially opened and blessed 15 social housing units adjacent to the church, built through a partnership between the Archdiocese of Hobart and the Tasmanian Government, to assist in housing those on the public housing wait list. Construction of the one and two-bedroom units was undertaken by St Joseph Affordable Homes, a building and construction social enterprise of the Archdiocese of Hobart.
Dover’s Catholic church, one of the oldest original churches south of Hobart, was built in 1866. It is the southernmost Catholic church in Australia and the oldest timber building in Dover. When the church was opened and consecrated in January 1867 the intention was to dedicate the building to St “John the Baptist”. This was later changed to “St Mary of Hope”. It was named St Mary Our Hope, reflecting Port Esperance Bay, with “esperance” meaning “hope”.
In January 1867 the Mercury published a lengthy and interesting report describing the church’s official opening:
“The new Church of St. John’s, at Port Esperance, was consecrated last Tuesday by the Right Rev. Dr. Murphy, Bishop of Hobart Town, assisted by the Very Rev. Dr. Dunne, Vicar-General, the Rev. Charles Woods, the Rev. Daniel F. Beechinor, of Richmond, the Rev. M. Beechinor, Hobart Town the Rev P. Hennebrey, of New Norfolk, the Rev. John Murphy of Franklin, the Rev. J. Hoolahan of Port Cygnet, and the Rev. John Kenny, New South Wales. Dr Murphy, accompanied by six of the above-named clergymen, sailed for Franklin the on Monday morning by the Cobre steamer….”.
“To the majority of the rev. gentlemen who accompanied the Right Rev. Dr. Murphy, the Huon district, its magnificent river, sublime scenery, and enterprising citizens, were entirely unknown…After a most pleasant passage, his lordship and accompanying clergymen armed at Franklin about five o'clock, where they were most hospitably entertained by the Roman Catholic pastor of Franklin, the Rev. John Murphy….Nothing could have excelled the hospitality displayed by the worthy and universally respected "Father Murphy," as he he is familiarly and fondly designated by persons of all classes and creeds throughout the entire district of the Huon. At seven o’ clock, a.m. on Tuesday morning, a long array of boats was marshalled to convey his lordship, his clergy, and the intending visitors to Port Esperance, as far as Shipwright's Point, where the Cobre was at anchor, displaying in the morning sun a goodly array of streaming bunting. Arrived there, over one hundred lay visitors took their “passage for the Port”. The voyage was an exceedingly agreeable one, notwithstanding an occasional, show or fall during the day”.
"At Port Esperance Dr Murphy and his clergy were met by all the inhabitants of the district without distinction of class or creed. The united parties, residents and visitors, proceeded at once to the new church, which is not many yards from the shore on a site gratuitously given by the proprietor Mr Whoolagan, influential settler, and who through illness, was unfortunately unable himself to participate in the ceremony he has been long anxiously expecting”.
“The church itself is a neat, well finished, and considering the number of the congregation, a commodious wooden building on a foundation of stone. When we say that the architect is H. Hunter, Esq. and the builders the Messrs. Donaldsons, of Port Esperance, it is scarcely necessary to add, that it is a work which reflects the greatest credit, not only upon the above named gentlemen, but upon the spiritual and pious exertions and zeal of the inhabitants of Port Esperance, and their beloved pastor "Father Murphy.”
“The ceremonies of consecration being finished, the church was then formally opened for divine service, the Rev P. Hennebrey officiating as celebrant…The collection amounted to the very handsome sum of £31 10s., an amount really surprising when the available resources of the community are considered….”.
“It would be ungrateful to close a notice of the proceedings if we were to omit acknowledging the obligations which every Roman Catholic in the district feels tender to the generous, charitable, and Christian sympathies displayed on the occasion by their Protestant fellow-settlers in the district. Nearly one half of those who participated in and supported the ceremonies by their presence and purses were members of different Protestant denominations….”.
In February 1893 the church came close to being destroyed in a bushfire and the building did not escape without some damage. The Mercury reported:
“Immense bushfires have been raging through the district during the past two days. All the mills have been surrounded with fires, and watches are stationed to give the alarm. Tram ways are destroyed, huts burnt, and many fences swept clean away. The fires shot flames to the top of the highest trees, sending immense burning fragments of flame three and four hundred yards in advance, where the fire again started, the bush being as dry as tinder. Everyone was on the lookout, watching the flying sparks as they settled”.
“This afternoon “Fire! Fire!" resounded, and the bell from the church and school pealed forth summoning assistance, as the Catholic Church was on fire. Teachers and children from school, and every one around, worked with a will, to get the fire under [control]. Everything in church was removed, but several times, as the wind veered round, no hopes were held out of saving the building, as both sides of the gable, from eaves to saddle board, were belching forth flames, and three different parts were ablaze at one time. The axe and buckets were used with grand effect, and later on a couple of hoses were applied, and the fire soon was in hand”.
“The fire originated from a spark carried over hundred yards. The school children carried water for some considerable distance, and the older folk applied It with good effect. The building, we are told, is insured”.
In July 2017, the year of the church’s sesquicentenary, the building came close to being destroyed in another fire, this time started by an arsonist who lit three fires in Dover on the same day. The fire destroyed the sacristy at the rear of the building and the interior of the church suffered smoke and water damage.
St Mary Our Hope has since been fully restored and was blessed and rededicated for liturgical use by Archbishop Julian on 26 November 2021. On the same day, Archbishop Julian also officially opened and blessed 15 social housing units adjacent to the church, built through a partnership between the Archdiocese of Hobart and the Tasmanian Government, to assist in housing those on the public housing wait list. Construction of the one and two-bedroom units was undertaken by St Joseph Affordable Homes, a building and construction social enterprise of the Archdiocese of Hobart.
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| St Mary Our Hope - Photograph - Mary-Anne Johnson |
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| Photograph reproduced with the permission of Ralph Cruickshank |
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| Photograph: Archdiocese of Hobart |
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| The damaged sacristy in the 2017 fire. Photograph: The Catholic Standard |
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| A Google Street-view screenshot of the church. |
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| Mercury, Friday 18 January 1867 |
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| Mercury, Monday 20 November 1865 |
Sources:
Mercury, Monday 20 November 1865, page 1
Mercury, Friday 25 May 1866, page 3
Mercury, Friday 18 January 1867, page 1
Mercury, Monday 28 January 1867, page 2
Mercury, Monday 13 February 1893, page 3
The Catholic Standard, February 2017
https://hobart.catholic.org.au/2021/12/16/restoring-hope-and-a-brand-new-start-in-dover/
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-29/dover-arson-attacks-damage-or-destroy-homes-and-church/8756526
Mercury, Monday 20 November 1865, page 1
Mercury, Friday 25 May 1866, page 3
Mercury, Friday 18 January 1867, page 1
Mercury, Monday 28 January 1867, page 2
Mercury, Monday 13 February 1893, page 3
The Catholic Standard, February 2017
https://hobart.catholic.org.au/2021/12/16/restoring-hope-and-a-brand-new-start-in-dover/
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-29/dover-arson-attacks-damage-or-destroy-homes-and-church/8756526
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