Churches of Tasmania

Hobart’s Baptist Church, or Tabernacle, opened in January 1889. While the Baptist presence in Hobart dates back to 1835, it was the arrival of Irish born preacher Rev. Robert McCullough, supported by William Gibson of Native Point, the benefactor of tabernacles at Deloraine, Longford, Launceston and Latrobe; that revived the Baptist cause in the city. The Hobart Tabernacle is the third place of worship built at the Elizabeth Street site. The history of the Tabernacle’s development is succinctly outlined in an article in the Hobart Mercury, published at the time of the laying of the building’s foundation stone in 1887: “The history of the Baptist cause in Hobart, or at least that portion of it over which Pastor McCullough exercises spiritual charge, is not a long one. Just four years ago - on the first Sunday in October, 1883 - he commenced preaching in the Exhibition building, and kept it up for some time with success, until at last the use of the building was taken from him. It was hi...

Stanley is a historic town on the northwest coast approximately 80 kilometres west of Burnie. The Van Diemen's Land Company once had its headquarters at Stanley when it was known as Circular Head. The settlement was later named after Lord Stanley, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, who went on to serve three terms as British Prime Minister. This year, on Sunday 31 October, the final service of St Paul's Anglican Church will take place, 174 years after the the opening of Stanley’s first Anglican church in 1847. [ see No. 991 ] The original stone church stood for less than 40 years and was demolished due to significant structural problems. A report in 1882 reveals that these flaws had become urgent: “Mr.Conway condemned the building entirely, considering the foundations [are] the most defective part of the structure. One of the walls is considerably out of the perpendicular, and he thinks the roof, if allowed to remain, will certainly some day collapse altogether from the ...

The suburb of North Hobart, as the same suggests, is on the northern fringe of the city. It has evolved into a mixed residential and commercial area since it was developed in the 1830s. Pitt Street, which runs southwest from Elizabeth Street, was called King Street until 1921 when it was changed to avoid confusion with another King Street in nearby Sandy Bay. The 'King Street' church and school were established by Reverend Isaac Hardcastle Palfreyman in 1883. The construction of the church was funded by Palfreyman while the school house was probably the same building as the King Street Baptist Sunday school which was established by the Sunday School Union in August 1871. The church and schoolhouse stood alongside each other but only the church remains. Isaac Palfreyman was an ordained minister of the Church of England who migrated to Victoria from Derbyshire in 1861 to become assistant pastor of the Primitive Methodist Mission at Ballarat. In 1872 he moved to Longford to take c...

New Town is a northern suburb of Hobart. It is also one of Hobart’s oldest suburbs and consequently the area contains many historic churches. New Town became a municipality in 1907 but was absorbed into Greater Hobart in the 1920s when its municipal status was relinquished. Sacred Heart Catholic Church is the fourth Catholic church built at Hobart. The church at New Town was established largely as a result of the work of Father P. R. Hennebry, who appears to have had charge of the New Town, Glenorchy, Bellerive, Rokeby, and Kingston congregations from about 1869 until 1888, when the district was served from St. Mary's Cathedral.  Sacred Heart church took nearly four years to complete following the laying of the foundation stone in 1878 on a green-field site purchased for £120. While the church opened in 1880, a further two years were to pass before the sanctuary was completed in 1882.  The construction of the church was covered in great detail by contemporary newspapers. This ...

Collinsvale is a rural settlement approximately 12 kilometres west of Glenorchy. It is named after Colonel David Collins, first Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen’s Land. The area was originally known as Sorell Creek but this was changed to Bismarck in 1881. Following the outbreak of the Great War, the name Collinsvale was adopted given strong anti-German sentiment in Tasmania. The Seventh-day Adventist Church was established in Tasmania in 1888. The denomination originated in the USA in 1863. In 1885 a group travelled to Australia and began preaching in Melbourne. After a community was established in Melbourne in 1886, some members moved to Sydney, Adelaide and Hobart. Public tent meetings were held in Sandy Bay in 1888, which lead to the establishment of a Hobart community. Seventh-day Adventists arrived at Bismarck in February 1889 and began to preach in the local Wesleyan church. When the church was closed to them, they held meetings in the State school classroom before this too wa...

This chapel was built in the 1880s on the property ‘Woodrising’, near Spreyton, south of Devonport. The chapel was established by Reverend Claude Roberts after he purchased “Dean’s Point” in 1880 from Colonel Michael Maxwell Shaw, a retired Indian Army officer. Roberts arrived in Tasmania with his wife Helen and children in 1879 and after spending some months at Hobart he moved to the North West Coast. He renamed the property he purchased after his father’s parish, “Woodrising”, at county Norfolk, England. Woodrising is now part of the Devonport Golf Club which was established on the property in 1954. After Roberts’ death in 1895 the chapel was used for public services. In 1913 the chapel was moved to a site near the Spreyton railway station where it became All Saints’ Anglican church. Roberts was buried next to his chapel but his body was later reinterred at Don Congregational Cemetery. While Reverend Claude Roberts is no longer a familiar name, his legacy remains. After Roberts sett...

Devonport was created from the merging of two towns in 1890 on opposite banks of the Mersey River; Formby on the west bank and Torquay on the east bank. The area was first settled in the 1840s. While an Anglican church was established at Torquay (East Devonport) in the 1860s, Formby (West Devonport) lagged behind and only acquired a ‘permanent church’ in 1906, although Anglican services were held regularly from the mid 1880s: “Several denominations have held divine service in Formby for some time past, the church of England alone being unrepresented till now. Yesterday, (Sunday), the Rev. Mr. Hogg officiated to an overflowing congregation at the school-room in Formby. These supplementary services are to be regularly continued, as they evidently meet a great religious want”. (The Examiner 1885) By 1886 plans were underway for the construction of a temporary Anglican church: "A growing necessity is felt for the erection of a permanent Church of England, especially as the temporary ...

Waratah is a former mining town located approximately 80 kilometres south of Burnie. For a brief time Waratah was the site of the largest tin mine in the world. The town had its beginnings in 1871 when James "Philosopher" Smith discovered tin at Mount Bischoff. The population of Waratah reached 2500 at its peak but is now under 300.  Anglican services at Waratah began in the early 1870s with Reverend Richard Smith of Table Cape (Wynyard) making the treacherous journey to the mining camp on two or three occasions, holding services in a tent. In September 1877 Reverend R. Hayward of Emu Bay chaired a meeting where a decision was made to build a church. The foundation stone for the building was laid ceremonially laid on Monday 8 April 1878 by the Bishop of Tasmania, Charles Bromby:   “The residents of Bischoff have first been gratified by receiving a visit from His Lordship the Bishop of Tasmania, who, accompanied by the Rev. R. Hayward and Mr. Willis, of Table Cape, left Emu ...