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With a population of just over 200,000, the capital city of Tasmania has an unusually rich cultural history, one that comes complete with a dark, complicated past. Formerly a prison colony, today's Hobart is a colourful vibrant city that is full of life, with a tranquil island setting made all the more scenic thanks to its large collection of well-preserved Georgian and Victoria architecture. Built almost entirely of locally sourced sandstone, the heritage streetscapes of central Hobart, along with a fine collection of churches and country estates, define the look and feel of the Tasmanian capital. The architectural character of Hobart provides the city with a distinct historic charm. This edition of Cityscape will take an in-depth look at the history of the city, one which will explore Hobart's fascinating evolution from prison colony to capital over the course of the nineteenth century.
Settled in 1803 as an overflow penal colony for the network of prisons already established on the Australian mainland in the 1780s, the site that would become the capital of the island state of Tasmania began with the arrival of a ship, her captain and crew, and 21 convicts. Led by Lt. John Bowen, the whaling ship Albion took one of the earliest expeditions into what was then known as Van Diemen's Land, carrying what would become Tasmania's first colonists and permanent European residents. Arriving at the outset of the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, the British were eager to claim the island for Britain as its close proximity to their Australian possessions could pose a threat should it ever come under French control.
Starting with the incorporation of Hobart Town in 1804, the work of building up the prison colony into a thriving port city began. The abundance of natural sandstone on the island aided in the construction of the city centre and outlying areas. Central to this task was the steady influx of convicts sent to Hobart for the first 50 years of the settlement. Hundreds of men — and eventually a sizeable number of women — were put to work building the city, one sandstone block at a time. While only about six percent of the convicts arriving in Hobart were constrained to penitentiaries since the vast majority were small-time petty criminals, the arriving convicts were considered to be best suited as government-retained day labourers or as privately-held indentured servants. So it was that with the help of prison yard chain gangs, thousands of government-employed convict day labourers, and the added productivity of the convict-operated Cascades Female Factory, Hobart soon became a grand port city, replete with stately Georgian and Victorian architecture that was nearly all built with the same distinct local sandstone.
Hobart remained a British penal colony from its founding until the triumph of the Hobart Anti-Transporation League in 1853, which concluded a half-century of importing convicts. The impression left by this legacy remains in the look and feel of the historic city which has retained much of its colonial architecture, a constant reminder of the Tasmanian capital's checkered past. Bolstered by the success of the Anti-Transportation League, local officials began the call to move towards self-government, and Van Diemen's Land was granted the power of responsible self-government just three years later in 1856, after which the colony was known as Tasmania, a nod to the collective desire for reinvention.
Though no longer mandated as a penal colony, the transition from prison to port city did not occur overnight. Endowed with a sizeable population of prisoners, convict day-labourers, and female convict factory workers with active sentences, Hobart's complicated past would haunt it for years to come. Petty crime in the city continued to be a perennial issue for many years following the 1853 decision, and Hobart's reputation as a rough port town stayed with the city for most of the nineteenth century. By the mid-nineteenth century however, Hobart had grown to become a bustling shipping centre and port city, its docks and adjacent sandstone-constructed warehouses a scene of constant activity.
By 1850, thanks to the abundance of locally available, high-qaulity lumber, Hobart Town became Australia's premier ship-building centre, single-handedly producing more ships than the entirety of the Australian mainland combined. During the city's heyday, from about 1820 to 1880, Hobart's signature sandstone look was cemented into the urban fabric of the city centre with the construction of row upon row of stately Georgian and elegant Victorian sandstone buildings that continue to define the city to this day. During this period, many of Hobart's most notable historic structures were built, the majority of which were designed by local architect John Lee Archer. Along with a motley crew of mostly unskilled convict day labourers, Archer transformed Hobart into the beautiful colonial-era port town and capital that it is today.
Seen in the image above, the Cascade Brewery holds the distinction of being Australia's first and longest-running brewery, the site today a popular destination for locals and tourists alike. Originally a sawmill operation, the history of the Cascade Brewery goes back nearly two centuries to the initial founding by partners Hugh Macintosh and ex-con Peter Degraves. Today, the brewery produces more than a dozen varieties of beer, including several within the 'Tasmanian Range,' which remain exclusive to Tasmania.
Pictured above, the Theatre Royal began life in 1837 as the Royal Victoria Theatre. It was founded by Peter Degraves of Cascade Brewery fame, who believed that Hobart was due a grand playhouse worthy of the fine city that the future Tasmanian capital had become. After purchasing some less-than-prime dockside real estate in 1834, Degraves and his business partners saw to it that the theatre would be able to attract the type of high-brow clientele such an establishment ought to command, placing an alternative off-street entrance into the building via a passageway connected to an adjacent pub. While tip-toeing around drunken sailors and convicts at the pub was bad enough, it was seen as the better option when compared to the foul stench of the seaside abattoir across the street, not to mention the area's many brothels and bawdy houses. Despite the manager's efforts over the years to keep the theatre respectable, the area proved too much of a force of nature to contain, and the first several decades saw a curious mixture of cockfights, boxing, vaudeville, and Sunday sermons — drunken affairs all. After a period of decline, a visit by no less than legend of the stage and silver screen, Sir Laurence Olivier, to the Theatre Royal in 1948, paired with a a rousing speech in favour of the theatre's restoration, kickstarted a campaign to restore the theatre to its former (anticipated) glory. The public and the government of the day agreed, and since then the theatre has thrived in a capacity befitting its original intent.
The Parliament House (above), designed in 1835 by John Lee Archer, joins dozens of other Hobart landmarks including the Cambell Street Gaol and Penitentiary Chapel, Cascades Female Factory, Theatre Royal, Court House, Government House, along with several bridges, roadways, churches, schools, and private homes, remains a testament to the shared aspirations of Archer and of Hobart in general. Truly a masterpiece, the Parliament House was opened in 1840 after five years of construction (again, using a team comprised mostly of unskilled convicts). Initially used as a colonial Customs House, the grand structure was repurposed in 1856, following Tasmania's successful bid to become a self-governing entity. Nearly 100 years later, while on an official visit to the island state in 1954, Queen Elizabeth II graced the parliamentary chambers and opened parliament, marking the only occasion upon which the Tasmanian Parliament was opened by Australia's head of state. Today, the Parliament House remains one of the most visited historic sites in Hobart.
Viewed to the left in the image above, St. David's Anglican Cathedral, built in 1868, is representative of the gradual shift from Georgian to Victorian architecture throughout this period. The cathedral was completed in the High Gothic style then popular for structures of its type. Built almost entirely of sandstone, the cathedral is also representative of the continued reliance upon the locally sourced natural material well into the mid-to-late nineteenth century. Visible along the right side of Murray Street, one of the main thoroughfares in central Hobart, one of the many continuous rows of Georgian- and Victorian-era commercial structures that line the downtown streets can be seen, their facades maintained to an impressive historic standard.
Seen above, the Hobart General Post Office (right), along with a later addition (left), was designed by local architect Alan Cameron Walker in 1901, and opened four years later in 1905. Designed in the Edwardian Baroque style, the building's cornerstone was laid by the Duke of Cornwall and York, the future King George V, while on a royal visit. Built entirely of sandstone, the grand structure remains one of Hobart's most intricate examples of architecture completed in this medium.
Moving into the twentieth century, the traditional use of sandstone finally began to give way to more modernist styles, with the introduction of Art Deco into central Hobart bringing about a relatively small but impressive collection of stark white Art Deco-influenced structures, which can be found across the city to this day. Seen above, the site of the old Mercury Building, built in the early 1930s, stands prominently between the Hobart General Post Office (left), and the diminutive white-washed brick structure (right), which housed The Mercury during the late nineteenth century. Launched in 1854, The Mercury remains one of Hobart's top newspapers more than 160 years after its founding.
Viewed above, the 1940-built, A & K Henderson & Partners-designged Hydro Electric Commission Building stands as another prime example of Hobart's Art Deco experimentation during the first half of the twentieth century. The six-storey steel-frame structure was one of the tallest in central Hobart at the time of construction. Clad in stone-coat painted masonry walls in a similar fashion to the Mercury Building, the Hydro Electric Commission Building was decked out in an impressive array of neon detailing, which served to accent the structure's linear decorative verticality. Seen again below as it appeared on the eve of Queen Elizabeth's Coronation in 1953, the structure's signature neon, with an extra dose of royal embellishment for the occasion, can be clearly seen.
Featured in our most recent edition of Once Upon a Tram, the city of Hobart continued to grow throughout the twentieth century, with the Tasmanian capital experiencing firsthand the effects of the automobile and suburbanization. By the 1950s and 60s, with the Tasmanian Tramway now defunct and the city centre experiencing a period of relative decline, the city's built heritage entered into dangerous waters. Long derided as a painful reminder of the capital's penal colony past, urban renewal became a real threat to the historic integrity of the city centre.
Fortunately, due in part to Hobart's prolonged period of stagnation, much of the city's colonial and other historic architecture remains standing. The majority of buildings have been either well maintained or restored to their former glory. The historic city centre has been well looked after in recent years thanks to the efforts of Heritage Tasmania, which has worked in partnership with Hobart City Council to ensure the prolonged protection and adaptive reuse of the city's numerous heritage structures and historic sites.
Built via a mix of convicts, sailors, and sandstone, the evolution of Hobart from a prison colony to Tasmanian capital was more than a century in the making, and the city's distinctive transformation makes it one of the most unique destinations in the entire Commonwealth of Australia. Having long shed its complicated relationship with its past, the architectural legacy of Hobart remains an impressive reminder of the collective power of public memory, reinvention, and hope for a better future.
Cityscape will return soon with a new installment, and in the meantime, SkyriseCities welcomes new suggestions for additional cities and styles to cover in the weeks to come. Got an idea for the next issue? Let us know!
