Churches of Tasmania

Taroona is an outer suburb of Greater Hobart located on the western shore of the Derwent River. ‘Taroona’ is a Mouheneener word for chiton, a marine mollusc found on rocks in the intertidal regions of the foreshore. The name ‘Taroona’ was adopted by Clarendon James Cox Lord for his 18-acre property which he purchased in 1894. Mary’s Grange was a Catholic aged-care home opened in 1957 by the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. In 1956 the Catholic Church purchased a house and property known as the “The Grange”. The property was the site of a house built in the 1820s by George Cartwright. The house was rebuilt in 1837 but this was destroyed by fire in 1868. The house was again rebuilt and it was this building that was acquired by the Church 1956. Following the acquisition, the name "Mary's Grange" was adopted. Following the bushfires that swept through Taroona in 1967, the Grange was considered to be a significant fire risk. This resulted in the demolition of the build...

Taranna (an Aboriginal word for wallaby) is a small settlement about 15 kilometres north east of the Town of Nubeena on the Tasman Peninsula. Taranna was previously known as 'Old Norfolk’ and the settlement was the site of the Norfolk Bay Signal Station. The Taranna Sawmill was the main industry at the settlement in the early 20th century. Little information is available about the former Congregational Church at Nubeena. In the book ‘Congregationalism in Tasmania’ Theo Sharples states that in the late 1880s: “Rev. James Button had charge of Port Arthur, Bream Creek and Carlton. In 1894, he reported having the oversight of nine preaching places in houses, schools and a hotel, and of riding on horseback 20 miles a day, six days a week, to perform his duties. By 1896, preaching places included Green’s Creek, Port Arthur, Swan Bay and Wedge Bay (Nubeena). Taranna was included when Rev. James Hebblethwaite succeeded Mr. Button in 1898…. By 1930, the Peninsula was divided into Home Missi...

Nubeena is a small town on the western side of the Tasman Peninsula. It is approximately 13 kilometres northwest of Port Arthur. The town was previously named Wedge Bay. Little information is available about the former Congregational Church at Nubeena. In the book ‘Congregationalism in Tasmania’ Theo Sharples states that a fellowship at Nubeena was formed and a church was built in 1880. However, it is likely that the church was only built (or perhaps replaced an earlier building) at a later date. This is surmised from a report published in the Hobart Mercury in January 1893: “Members of the Congregational Church have lately erected a nice little building at Nubeena, which is now being used, but will be formally opened by Rev. George Clarke, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Tasmania, early in the year”. George Clarke (1823-1913), was a Congregational minister and educationist. In 1851 Clarke was ordained at the Union Chapel, Islington, and returned to Hobart to become minister of th...

A mortuary chapel is a building typically located within a cemetery or crematorium. It is used to hold funeral services, memorial services, or to temporarily house a coffined body before burial or cremation. With the advent of commercial funeral chapels in the early 20th century, mortuary chapel’s became redundant. In Tasmania mortuary chapels were located at cemeteries such as Carr Villa (Launceston); Cornelian Bay (Hobart); Devonport General Cemetery and Queenborough Cemetery (Sandy Bay). The closure of Hobart’s St. George's and St. David's burial-grounds in 1872, following the development of a new cemetery at Cornelian Bay, greatly inconvenienced the residents of Queenborough and Sandy Bay: “…the closing of these places imposed upon them the necessity of having to go to Cornelian Bay, a distance of at least four or five miles. Two or three funerals in the depth of winter — through cold, rain, and mud — and the inhabitants were roused”. In 1873 two Sandy Bay businessmen, Geor...