No. 1634 - Fern Tree - St Raphael's Anglican Church (1893) - 'Mothers of the Church'
Fern Tree is a suburb of Hobart located on the eastern side of Mount Wellington, about 8 kilometres from the city centre. It is named after the ‘Fern Tree Inn’ established in August 1861 by Alfred Hall, a local landowner. The Inn took its name from the ‘tree fern’ (Dicksonia antarctica) which are found in abundance in the area. St Raphael’s is the only church built at Fern Tree. Anglican services were first held at “St Chad’s”, the summer home of Alfred Mault and his two daughters, Agnes and Martha [ 1 ]. The home of Miss Sarah Hall, of Fern Tree Inn, was also used for services. In January 1892 a “strawberry festival and cake fair” was held at the Fern Tree Bower in aid of a building fund for an Anglican church. The success of the festival resulted in it becoming annual fundraising event, known as the Fern Tree “Strawberry Feast”, which continued to be held well into the 1940s. Two sites were offered for a church, one by Mrs. Dunkley of Leslie Farm, and the other by Mrs Emily Dobson [ ...