No. 1617 - George Town - Anglican Parsonage (c.1821)
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 of those that no longer exist.
George Town is the second oldest town in Tasmania. After the establishment of Launceston as the administrative centre of the north of the island, George Town was destined to become a backwater until more recent times.
In 1804, a party of men led by Lieutenant Colonel William Paterson sailed into the mouth of the Tamar River where a cove on the eastern side of the river was selected as a temporary settlement. Paterson’s company had no ordained minister therefore he requested Edward Main, a former lay missionary, to read the first service. This event marks the first official religious ceremony in the north.
The first Anglican minister at George Town, or Port Dalrymple at it was then known, was Reverend John Youl. Reverend Youl conducted services in a small brick church which also served as a school. This was located on Cimitiere Street opposite Regent Square. Youl had been appointed chaplain for Port Dalrymple in 1815 but did not arrive in Launceston until 1819. He based himself at Launceston until 1821 when Governor Macquarie ordered the reluctant parson to move to Port Dalrymple and take up residence in a fine two storey residence that had been provided for him and his family which included four children.
When Youl and his wife first visited Port Dalrymple in early 1819 he “performed the ceremony of marriage between forty-one couples, and baptised sixty-seven children - an occurrence which afforded great satisfaction and comfort to the people of that settlement”.
Probably less satisfactory was an occasion in September 1824, when Youl and a Catholic priest, Philip Connolly, “attended at the place of execution”, at Port Dalrymple, of “ten unfortunate men who suffered the awful sentence of the law”. A report on the execution records “…with the exception of Corfield, the whole of these unhappy men died penitently, and in begging forgiveness of their sins to the Almighty…”.
A contemporary of Youl described him as “a very mild humane man,…who…never once caused a quarrel…”. It is no surprise that Youl hated Port Dalrymple which was filled with convicts and few free settlers. When Youl left Port Dalrymple for Launceston in 1825, the Anglican parsonage, “one of the finest houses on the island”, remained empty due to difficulties finding a permanent minister.
The parsonage did not stay empty for long as it was converted into a “female factory” to house “wayward” and pregnant female convicts in the north of Van Diemen's Land. When a new jail and Female Factory was built in Launceston in 1834 the facility at Port Dalrymple closed.
The building was refurbished for use as a magistrates residence and police office. It was sold in 1873 and in time became derelict after years of neglect. In 1889 a part of the building collapsed in a storm and the remainder of the structure was later demolished.
George Town is the second oldest town in Tasmania. After the establishment of Launceston as the administrative centre of the north of the island, George Town was destined to become a backwater until more recent times.
In 1804, a party of men led by Lieutenant Colonel William Paterson sailed into the mouth of the Tamar River where a cove on the eastern side of the river was selected as a temporary settlement. Paterson’s company had no ordained minister therefore he requested Edward Main, a former lay missionary, to read the first service. This event marks the first official religious ceremony in the north.
The first Anglican minister at George Town, or Port Dalrymple at it was then known, was Reverend John Youl. Reverend Youl conducted services in a small brick church which also served as a school. This was located on Cimitiere Street opposite Regent Square. Youl had been appointed chaplain for Port Dalrymple in 1815 but did not arrive in Launceston until 1819. He based himself at Launceston until 1821 when Governor Macquarie ordered the reluctant parson to move to Port Dalrymple and take up residence in a fine two storey residence that had been provided for him and his family which included four children.
When Youl and his wife first visited Port Dalrymple in early 1819 he “performed the ceremony of marriage between forty-one couples, and baptised sixty-seven children - an occurrence which afforded great satisfaction and comfort to the people of that settlement”.
Probably less satisfactory was an occasion in September 1824, when Youl and a Catholic priest, Philip Connolly, “attended at the place of execution”, at Port Dalrymple, of “ten unfortunate men who suffered the awful sentence of the law”. A report on the execution records “…with the exception of Corfield, the whole of these unhappy men died penitently, and in begging forgiveness of their sins to the Almighty…”.
A contemporary of Youl described him as “a very mild humane man,…who…never once caused a quarrel…”. It is no surprise that Youl hated Port Dalrymple which was filled with convicts and few free settlers. When Youl left Port Dalrymple for Launceston in 1825, the Anglican parsonage, “one of the finest houses on the island”, remained empty due to difficulties finding a permanent minister.
The parsonage did not stay empty for long as it was converted into a “female factory” to house “wayward” and pregnant female convicts in the north of Van Diemen's Land. When a new jail and Female Factory was built in Launceston in 1834 the facility at Port Dalrymple closed.
The building was refurbished for use as a magistrates residence and police office. It was sold in 1873 and in time became derelict after years of neglect. In 1889 a part of the building collapsed in a storm and the remainder of the structure was later demolished.
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| A detail from a plan for the renovation of the old parsonage for its conversion as a police station. Source: Libraries Tasmania - Public Works Department - Item Number: PWD266/1/1284 |
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| R W Treasure's drawing of the parsonage which appears in "Treasures of George Town" a publication of the George Town and District Historical Association |
Sources:
The Hobart Town Gazette and Southern Reporter, Saturday 6 February 1819, page 2
Tasmanian and Port Dalrymple Advertiser, Wednesday 9 February 1825, page 2
Hobart Town Gazette and Van Diemen's Land Advertiser, Friday 24 September 1824, page 2
Hobart Town Gazette and Van Diemen's Land Advertiser, Friday 8 April 1825, page 2
Examiner, Thursday 29 November 1928, page 8
Cox, Peter, The Story of the Anglican Parish of George Town, (2006) Published by the Anglican Parish of Riverlinks
Treasure, Reg and George Town and District Historical Society (Tas.). Treasures of George Town : the drawings of Reg Treasure from the what? when? where? booklet : together with historical notes / edited by the George Town and District Historical Society George Town and District Historical Society [George Town, Tas.] 2003
https://tamarvalleynews.com.au/around-the-square-1/
https://resources.allsaints.network/histcoll/index.php/Detail/entities/P003
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