No. 1603 - Hobart - The First Christians' Chapel on Collins Street (1872-1881)
The first members of the Church of Christ arrived in Tasmania in 1865 and soon after established a ‘Meeting House’ at Northdown near Latrobe [see No. 1084] In the 1870s churches were set up in Launceston and Hobart. Initially the group identified themselves as the ‘Christians’. After 1885 they were known as the 'Disciples of Christ' and from 1915 as the 'Churches of Christ'.
A church was established at Hobart in early 1872 by an American evangelist, Oliver Anderson Carr, who began preaching at the old Particular Baptist Chapel on Harrington Street. A prominent member of the congregation was John Bradley, who was later to become Chairman of the Hobart Stock Exchange a Member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. Services moved to the Odd Fellows Hall and then to the “People’s Hall” on Bathurst Street. In July 1872 the former “Mechanics School of Arts” building on Collins Street was acquired and worship took place there for the next 9 years.
The Mechanics' School of Arts was established in Hobart in March 1850 in a former Music Hall that had been built by William Russell in the early 1840s. The Music Hall had previously been used as a temporary chapel in 1844 by Reverend William Jarrett of the Van Diemen’s Land Colonial Missionary and Christian Instruction Society.
The Mechanics School of Arts merged with the Hobart Town Mechanics Institute located on Melville Street (1827-1871). Thereafter the Collins Street ‘School of Arts’ building was rented to various organisations and businesses, including an auctioneer premises, until it was acquired by ‘the Christians’ and converted into a chapel in 1872.
The official opening of the chapel in July 1872 is recorded in several newspapers including this report published in the Tasmanian Tribune:
“In the building formerly known as the School of Arts, Collins-street, now converted into a place of worship where Mr. O. A. Carr preaches, about 350 persons assembled to enjoy a social tea last evening, at half-past 6 o’clock. The old building, repaired and neatly fitted up, besides being adorned with with evergreens, flowers, and with cheerful happy faces, seemed altogether a new place.… After tea Mr. O. A. Carr took the chair and interested an d instructed the audience with an admirable address, in which he gave an outline of the faith which he and his brethren hold. It amounted to this. They simply claimed to stand on the Apostolic ground, having no creed but the Bible, claiming the divinity of Christ as the, central truth of their teaching…They aimed at inducing an unqualified return to the faith and practice of the primitive Catholic and undivided Church of the First Ages…”.
Another report reveals that the church had “secured a three year lease of the building in Collins-street” at rental of £20 a year and the building had “been altered and adapted as a place of worship capable of accommodating about 250 or 300 persons”.
Worship at the Collins Street Chapel continued for a total of 9 years. Under the leadership of a new evangelist leader, George Bickford Moysey, the congregation grew rapidly. During this time services were also held at Cromwell Street in Battery Point while baptisms were conducted at the Public Baths at Sandy Bay. In 1881 a chapel was built on a site on Lower Harrington Street. [See No. 1401]
In 1886 a third chapel, designed by Henry Hunter, was built on Collins Street. This was officially opened on 12 December 1886 [See No. 1405] Services at the ‘new’ Collins Street Chapel ended in 1992 when the Church of Christ relocated to a much needed larger building located on a site between Liverpool Street and Goulburn Street.
A church was established at Hobart in early 1872 by an American evangelist, Oliver Anderson Carr, who began preaching at the old Particular Baptist Chapel on Harrington Street. A prominent member of the congregation was John Bradley, who was later to become Chairman of the Hobart Stock Exchange a Member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. Services moved to the Odd Fellows Hall and then to the “People’s Hall” on Bathurst Street. In July 1872 the former “Mechanics School of Arts” building on Collins Street was acquired and worship took place there for the next 9 years.
The Mechanics' School of Arts was established in Hobart in March 1850 in a former Music Hall that had been built by William Russell in the early 1840s. The Music Hall had previously been used as a temporary chapel in 1844 by Reverend William Jarrett of the Van Diemen’s Land Colonial Missionary and Christian Instruction Society.
The Mechanics School of Arts merged with the Hobart Town Mechanics Institute located on Melville Street (1827-1871). Thereafter the Collins Street ‘School of Arts’ building was rented to various organisations and businesses, including an auctioneer premises, until it was acquired by ‘the Christians’ and converted into a chapel in 1872.
The official opening of the chapel in July 1872 is recorded in several newspapers including this report published in the Tasmanian Tribune:
“In the building formerly known as the School of Arts, Collins-street, now converted into a place of worship where Mr. O. A. Carr preaches, about 350 persons assembled to enjoy a social tea last evening, at half-past 6 o’clock. The old building, repaired and neatly fitted up, besides being adorned with with evergreens, flowers, and with cheerful happy faces, seemed altogether a new place.… After tea Mr. O. A. Carr took the chair and interested an d instructed the audience with an admirable address, in which he gave an outline of the faith which he and his brethren hold. It amounted to this. They simply claimed to stand on the Apostolic ground, having no creed but the Bible, claiming the divinity of Christ as the, central truth of their teaching…They aimed at inducing an unqualified return to the faith and practice of the primitive Catholic and undivided Church of the First Ages…”.
Another report reveals that the church had “secured a three year lease of the building in Collins-street” at rental of £20 a year and the building had “been altered and adapted as a place of worship capable of accommodating about 250 or 300 persons”.
Worship at the Collins Street Chapel continued for a total of 9 years. Under the leadership of a new evangelist leader, George Bickford Moysey, the congregation grew rapidly. During this time services were also held at Cromwell Street in Battery Point while baptisms were conducted at the Public Baths at Sandy Bay. In 1881 a chapel was built on a site on Lower Harrington Street. [See No. 1401]
In 1886 a third chapel, designed by Henry Hunter, was built on Collins Street. This was officially opened on 12 December 1886 [See No. 1405] Services at the ‘new’ Collins Street Chapel ended in 1992 when the Church of Christ relocated to a much needed larger building located on a site between Liverpool Street and Goulburn Street.
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| The Mercury, Saturday 7 September 1872, |
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| Oliver Anderson Carr (1845-1912) |
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| Oliver Anderson Carr's (1845-1912) headstone at West Hill Cemetery, Texas - 'Find a Grave' |
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| The Mercury, Thursday 7 November 1872 |
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| The Mercury, Saturday 27 July 1872 |
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| The Mercury, Saturday 24 August 1872 |
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| The first Christians' Chapel was housed in the former "Mechanics School of Arts" on Collins Street. The building had been established as a music hall in the 1840s and had previously been used as a place of worship before being acquired by the "School of Arts". The Austral-Asiatic Review, Tasmanian and Australian Advertiser, Friday 3 May 1844 |
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| Hobarton Guardian or True Friend of Tasmania 1852 |
Sources and Further Information:
The Austral-Asiatic Review, Tasmanian and Australian Advertiser, Friday 3 May 1844, page 2
The True Colonist Van Diemen's Land Political Despatch, Thursday 17 October 1844, page 3
The Courier, Saturday 1 June 1850, page 2
Hobarton Guardian, or, True Friend of Tasmania, Saturday 7 August, 1852, page 2
The Mercury, Friday 1 July 1866, page 2
The Mercury, Thursday 25 July 1872, page 3
Tasmanian Tribune, Friday 26 July 1872, page 2
The Mercury, Saturday 27 July 1872, page 3
Launceston Examiner, Tuesday 30 July 1872, page 4
The Mercury, Saturday 24 August 1872, page 3
The Mercury, Saturday 31 August 1872, page 1
The Mercury, Saturday 7 September 1872, page 1
The Mercury, Thursday 7 November 1872, page 3
Tasmanian Tribune, Friday 17 January 1873, page 3
Tasmanian Tribune, Tuesday 13 July 1875, page 3
https://www.therestorationmovement.com/_states/texas/carr,oa.htm
https://webfiles.acu.edu/departments/Library/HR/restmov_nov11/www.mun.ca/rels/restmov/people/ocarr.html
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/43698690/oliver-anderson-carr
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