Free architecture city walk Architecture Week is a wonderful thing for Hobart because it means you get to come for a walk with me to find out all about the architectural styles of Hobart’s major colonial era buildings. Open House Hobart is about showing off secret places to architecture fans, mystery lovers Read more…
May 18th – International Day of Museums. Hobart is loaded with interesting museums, and one of my favourites is Australia’s oldest folk museum: Narryna at Battery Point. Construction of Narryna began in 1835 as a private residence for merchant, Captain Andrew Haig. Over time Narryna was rented to several significant Read more…
When we think about conditions experienced by convicts and settlers in the first years of colonial Hobart, it is very easy to fall into the trap of the usual line: everyone had a rotten time, all convicts were illiterate, exploited, badly treated and they died young and miserable. Deeper investigation Read more…
The declaration of a public health emergency in Tasmania on 17th March 2020 meant that stronger powers and sanctions would become available to the director of Public Health. The Tasmanian Public Health Act, 1997, allows for the Tasmanian Director of Public Health to declare a public health emergency. These powers Read more…
Coffee Palaces in Hobart got off to a shaky start, with only 6 men turning up to the first meeting to establish the Hobart Coffee Palace Company in April 1880 . Alcohol-free taverns were very popular in England, starting off in 1872 in industrial towns of Bristol, Liverpool and Reading. Read more…
Irishwoman Mary Yeoman entered the drapery store at 65 Liverpool Street early in the morning of March 1st, 1845. As a recently married convict, still under sentence, she could not have anticipated that her next action would be the start of what became a significant institution in Hobart’s history, the Read more…
This series of articles on the buildings of colonial Hobart will cover: Architectural Eras and Styles in Hobart Classical Orders you’ll see in Hobart Doric Ionic Corinthian Composite Tuscan Traditionally British architecture adhered to a particular set of styles, rules and proportions which were applied by professional designers employed by Read more…
As part of the Open House Hobart weekend in November each year, I lead a walking tour of the Hobart CBD, called What Style is it? On this walk we explore and discover Hobart’s fabulous colonial architecture of the CBD. By the end you will be able to tell your Read more…
A seminar in Hobart on female convicts: In 1859, the Commissioners of the Hospital for the Insane at New Norfolk wrote, ‘It must be borne in mind that a large majority of the patients … confined in the asylum have been of the convict class, the offspring of diseased parents, Read more…
