Churches of Tasmania

Snug is situated on the Channel Highway, approximately 25 kilometres south of Hobart. The name is believed to have come from sailors who found 'snug' anchorage for their ships. The earliest settler, John Dunn (1790-1861), took up a land grant on ‘Snug River’ in 1837. Around the 1840s and 1850s a small settlement was established at what was then called “The Snug” or “Snug River” The focus of this article is on the third Catholic church built at Snug in 1968. The first church [ See No 1649 ] was replaced by a new church in 1897 [ See No 1653 ] which was lost in the 1967 bushfires which swept across southern Tasmania and destroying over two dozen churches and taking 64 lives. Snug’s third Catholic church, also dedicated to St Mary, was rebuilt in record time. It opened on Wednesday 13 December 1967, 10 months after the bushfires. The church’s opening and dedication was an interdenominational service led by Archbishop Guilford Young and accompanied by Anglican Bishop Dr R E Davis....

Zeehan is a town on the West Coast approximately 40 kilometres from Queenstown. As a significant mining town it became the administrative centre for a number of mining companies in the region. Zeehan was established in the early 1880s and by the turn of the 20th century it had become Tasmania's third largest town. Zeehan takes its name from Mount Zeehan which had been named by George Bass and Matthew Flinders after Abel Tasman's brig ‘Zeehaen’. Of the nine religious denominations that were once active in Zeehan only two remain. One of the earliest departures was Zeehan’s Presbyterian community which had a presence in the town for only 25 years. From the time of the establishment of the church until its closure in 1916, the problem of the supply of a permanent minister was an enduring issue. In 1891 Zeehan’s small Presbyterian community petitioned the Presbyterian Church in Hobart for support. In February 1892 Reverend Charles Henry Talbot of Chalmers Church, Hobart, led the fir...

Chapels have been established in almost every form of public institution including gaols, hospitals, retirement homes, schools, universities, convents and military camps. In Tasmania at least seven chapels have been established within public and private hospitals. This article will focus on the non-denominational chapel at the Royal Hobart Hospital. The chapel within the Royal Hobart Hospital is located in a small, retrofitted space located on the first floor of the hospital’s ‘C Block’. C Block was constructed in the late 1930s as the ‘Acute Wing’, replacing the original sandstone Convict and Colonial hospital. The Royal Hobart Hospital is Australia's second-oldest hospital (after Sydney Hospital) and the longest-running civil institution in Tasmania. Established in 1804, it has operated continuously for over two centuries, transitioning from a rudimentary convict facility into a premier modern medical teaching centre. In 1938 King George VI granted the "Royal" prefix, o...

In the 19th century North West Bay was the name given to a coastal region south of Kingston which included small settlements such as Snug and Margate. The Primitive Methodists was active in this region from the 1860s until the time of the Methodist Union in 1902. The Primitive Methodist movement began in 1808 and was led by Methodist lay preacher Hugh Bourne, who had been expelled from the British Methodist movement. Bourne and his followers became known as Primitive Methodists, meaning ‘first’ or ‘original’. Bourne's followers were also disparagingly called ‘Ranters’, a reference to their crude and often noisy preaching. Their outdoor camp meetings generally attracted the working classes who sometimes did not feel that they were accepted by the Wesleyan Methodists. The centre of Primitive Methodism in Tasmania was at Launceston while the movement was far less successful in Hobart and the South. Wallace Barns traces the establishment of the church in southern Tasmania in the bookle...

Snug is situated on the Channel Highway, approximately 25 kilometres south of Hobart. The settlement’s name is believed to have come from sailors who found 'snug' anchorage here for their ships. The earliest settler, John Dunn (1790-1861), took up a land grant on ‘Snug River’ in 1837. Around the 1840s and 1850s a small settlement was established at what was then called ‘The Snug’ or ‘Snug River’. Before the present Catholic Church at Snug was built in 1967, two earlier churches existed. The first was opened and blessed by Bishop Willson on 21 June 1858. [ See No.1649 ] This church, which was also used as a school, was replaced by a new building in 1898. The ceremonial laying of the foundation stone of the new church took place on Sunday 21 February 1897, exactly 39 years to the day, of the official opening of the original building by Bishop Willson. The stone-laying ceremony in 1897 was recorded by a correspondent for the Hobart Mercury: “An interesting ceremony took place at ...

Savio College was one of four Catholic schools in greater Glenorchy that amalgamated in 1973 to form Dominic College, Tasmania’s first co-educational Catholic college. Along with Savio College, the other founding schools included St John's Primary; Savio Primary and Holy Name School. Savio College was located on Tolosa Estate, a 28-hectare site that had housed the Catholic orphanage Boys’ Town, established in 1947. The College was was established in 1956 and run by the Salesians of Don Bosco. In 1957 a chapel was built at the College replacing temporary chapels used at Boys’ Town. In 1956 Archbishop Guilford Young engaged Roderick Cooper – of the architectural practice Cooper & Vincent – as Diocesan Architect, and commissioned Cooper and his partner in practice Max Vincent, to design churches in the Modern architectural style across the State. One of the first of these buildings was Savio College Chapel which was built in 1957 and opened on 24 November in the same year. At th...

Snug is situated on the Channel Highway, approximately 25 kilometres south of Hobart. The name is believed to have come from sailors who found 'snug' anchorage for their ships. The earliest settler, John Dunn (1790-1861), took up a land grant on ‘Snug River’ in 1837. Around the 1840s and 1850s a small settlement was established at what was then called “The Snug” or “Snug River”. On Wednesday 23 February 1927, the foundation stone of St John’s Anglican church was ceremonially laid. An article published in the Hobart Mercury reveals some interesting details about the building: “The foundation stone of an Anglican Church at Snug was laid yesterday, in the presence of a large number of persons. The ceremony was performed, by Mr. K. W. G. Shoobridge, of New Town, and addresses were also given by Ven. Arch-deacon Richard and the rector of the parish (Rev. W. A. Best). The site for the building is the generous gift of Mr. A. H. Bisdee, of Snug, and the plans provide for an attractive ...

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. New Town was settled in 1805 and is one of Hobart’s first suburbs. Wendover house is located off Risdon Road. The two-storey section of Wendover House was built in the mid 1830s for John Offor, school-master at the nearby Orphan School (St John's Park). The property was originally named Risdon Park. In the 1850s the property was redeveloped by Lavington Roope, a successful merchant and landowner. The name of the property was changed to Wendover around the early 1920s. In the mid 1940s the property was purchased by the Catholic Church for use as a monastery for the Redemptorist Order. The Order (officially the...

Snug is situated on the Channel Highway, approximately 25 kilometres south of Hobart. The name is believed to have come from sailors who found 'snug' anchorage for their ships. The earliest settler, John Dunn (1790-1861), took up a land grant on ‘Snug River’ in 1837. Around the 1840s and 1850s a small settlement was established at what was then called “The Snug” or “Snug River” The first of three Catholic churches was built at Snug in 1858. All that is known about the church is that it was opened and blessed by Bishop Willson on 21 June 1858. A single account of the event provides a few details about the church, which also served as a school: “The lovers of education of and religious progress will be rejoiced to learn that this small township can now boast of having a church and school. His Lordship the Right Rev. Dr. Willson, Bishop of Hobart Town, assisted by the Rev. Mr. Hunter, opened the church and consecrated a burial ground, on Tuesday last, the 21inst. The Bishop deliv...

Boys' Town (also known as St John Bosco Boys’ Town) was a residential care home and school for boys at Glenorchy. Operating from 1945 to 1956, it housed orphans, at-risk youth, and British child migrants. Due to changing child welfare needs and government policies, Boys' Town ceased operating as a residential home. In 1956 it became Savio College, a Catholic secondary school. In 1973 Dominic College was established as Tasmania’s first co-educational Catholic college, formed from amalgamating St John's Primary; Savio Primary; Holy Name School and Savio College. Boys’ Town was initially run by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. In 1946 it was taken over by by the Salesians of Don Bosco, a Catholic order focused on disadvantaged youth. The facility was officially opened by Archbishop Tweedy on 13 May 1945. In January 1947, a school opened on the site. During the Boys’ Town era (1945-1957), three chapels were established on the Glenorchy precinct. The first chapel was house...

Castle Forbes Bay is located on the Huon Highway approximately 50 kilometres south of Hobart. overlooking the Huon River. It is named after the ship, Castle Forbes, which landed sick Irish women migrants at nearby Hospital Bay in 1836. It is thought that the Captain of the "Castle Forbes" mistook the Huon River for the Derwent. It was settled in the 1850s and in 1856 a pardoned convict, James Reid, planted the first apple trees in the area. Irish settlers were prominent at Castle Forbes Bay and were mainly engaged in market gardening. Two churches were built at Castle Forbes Bay, a Methodist church in the 1870s (which was replaced in 1905) and a Catholic church which opened in 1904. Little is known about the settlements first Wesleyan-Methodist church and the exact year of its establishment cannot be determined. The earliest report of Wesleyan-Methodist preachers active at Castle Forbes Bay dates back to May 1860: “While paying a visit to the locality [Mr Cope] had preached t...