History of Hobart - Mid-19th Century

Mid-19th Century

1830 saw the consolidation of land settlement throughout the island. The most fertile parts of the island were now occupied by land holdings. Until 1831, the governor had extensive power for granting land, along with the disposition of convict labour. After 1831, free grants were abolished and all land was then sold by auction. This attracted the new class of "gentry farmers", who were more successful than earlier farmers, as the gentry farmers knew more about farming, and had more money to pay for tools and labour. Many of them became successful sheep farmers, and capitalised on the Australian wool booms on the 1820s and 30's.

Although the first decade focussed on gaining a foothold on the island, and the second concerned with the establishment of essential primary industries, very soon industrial development began to branch out. It had been discovered that the Tasmanian climate was exceptionally suited to the growing of fruit. The Hobart Town Almanack in 1833 described the growth of apples and plums as "astonishing", and apple orchards were planted in the Huon Valley in the 1840s. Many of the original orchards continue operating to this day. Hops for beer were first grown in the northern settlement in 1804, and at Hobart Town in 1806. Robert Clarke was granted land at Clarence Plains in 1806 for growing hops, and became the first brewer of beer in the colony.

Many small-scale breweries had soon sprung up. No large scale operations began until in 1824, when Charles Degreaves established the Cascade Brewery near the Cascade Falls in the foothills of Mount Wellington. By 1832, the brewery outgrew its original building. Degreaves relocated the brewery to the site of an old sawmill, slightly further upstream along the Hobart Rivulet, and a further three storeys were added to the main building in 1927, creating the iconic structure that survives to this day. The Brewery is still in operation and remains Australia's longest continually operating brewery.

This was a particularly important time for whaling and its associated industries of shipbuilding and cooperage in Hobart Town as well. The waterfront of Hobart was upgraded in the 1830s to account for ever-increasing numbers of visiting foreign ships. Although the dock areas remained quite rough and ready, other areas of Hobart Town were developing into quite pleasant locales. In the early 1820s the shoreline of the river immediately to the north of the town had been set aside as the Kings Domain (later Queen's Domain) for use as a public space.

Van Diemen's Land had been proclaimed a separate colony from New South Wales in 1824; it had been decided by 1825 that Hobart Town would be the new colony's capital city. An Executive Council (effectively a cabinet of chief public servants) and a Legislative Council (consisting of free citizens chosen by the government and lesser public servants) as well as a local judiciary in the form of the Supreme Court of Tasmania were established in Hobart Town, with the Supreme Court Building being erected in 1824. Governor Arthur continued control as before, however.

Governor Arthur drew up plans for a Botanical Gardens on the domain, which were opened in 1828, and for the creation of a grand new Government House nearby that was opened in 1829. Later that year, a convict built brick wall was added which featured internal fireplaces that heated the wall in order to allow exotic tropical plants to grow along its length. A second such wall, 280 metres in length was later added, and is now the longest surviving convict built wall in Australia.

By 1830, the population of Hobart Town was over 20,000, with 18,108 men, and 6,171 women. However, Hobart Town had grown to become a quaint, picturesque and thriving southern ocean port town. The whaling, sealing, wool and wattle oil industries were booming, as were agricultural crops such as wheat and apple growing. The economy was thriving, and life was quite comfortable for the merchants and free residents of the colony's capital.

Some of the early settlers to Hobart Town, who had arrived with very little, had become very wealthy members of Hobart Town's new gentry class, often with vast tracts of land, especially in the Midlands. One such example is Henry Hopkins. Hopkins arrived in Hobart Town in 1822 with a shipment of boots when they were in short supply. He mad a huge profit and invested the earnings in local wool for export to England. He had begun life in Hobart Town sharing a two-room house with an Earth floor with his wife. However after ten years of exporting wool, he was wealthy enough to build "Westella House", then the biggest in Hobart Town, and still standing today. It had 48 rooms and the dining room could seat 60 guests.

Hopkins was influential in the early history of Van Diemen's Land. He became a community leader and magistrate soon after arriving. He campaigned heavily to abolish transportation, which had already been abolished in New South Wales. This placed a heavier burden on Van Diemen's Land, which by 1830 was Britain's only external gaol. He was one of the founders of congregationalism in Hobart Town and built a chapel at his own expense in Collins Street. He also contributed to building funds for the still existent St. David's Anglican Cathedral, as well as other Presbyterian and Wesleyan churches, and started scholarships for theological students.

Although Hobart Town was becoming more commercially successful, the number of felons transported from England to the colony had dramatically increased by the late 1820s and 1830s. Demobilisation following the Napoleonic Wars had left thousands of veterans unemployed, and many turned to crime, resulting in an increasing number of transported felons. The Campbell Street Gaol had opened in 1831, and its magnificent penitentiary chapel, designed by convict architect John Lee Archer was added later in the same year. The chapel remains one of the finest examples of colonial Georgian architecture in Australia. Two further wings were added to the gaol in 1860 and were soon converted to Criminal Courts that remained in use until 1985.

Charles Darwin visited Hobart Town arriving there on 5 February 1836 as part of the HMS Beagle expedition. He writes of Hobart Town and the Derwent estuary in his Voyage of the Beagle:

...The lower parts of the hills which skirt the bay are cleared; and the bright yellow fields of corn, and dark green ones of potatoes, appear very luxuriant... I was chiefly struck with the comparative fewness of the large houses, either built or building. Hobart Town, from the census of 1835, contained 13,826 inhabitants, and the whole of Tasmania 36,505. If I was obliged to emigrate I certainly should prefer this place: the climate & aspect of the country almost alone would determine me.

Hobart Town had become a town dependent on external trade. Although many of the primary industries were highly successful, they were never conducted on a scale sufficient to bring long lasting wealth. By the 1830s, the sealing industry had petered out, and although whaling persisted, it was on a scale diminished from the first twenty years. Despite the decline in these industries, the export of Tasmanian wool continued to thrive. New industries were required to replace the declining trades, and shipbuilding was one of the new successes for Hobart Town in the 1830s. The quality of the island's hardwood timber resources, combined with excellent port facilities and access to major shipping routes meant that by 1850, Hobart Town was producing more wooden ships than all other Australian ports combined. Hobart built ships plied all of the world's oceans, and could be found as far a-field as the United States and Europe.

As often proved to be the case in Hobart's history, the world advanced faster than the city. Just as Hobart Town was growing to dominate the international shipbuilding trade, shortages of labour struck the industry, as men migrated en masse to the Victorian goldfields, and the shift towards steam and steel in shipbuilding undermined Hobart's production of quality wooden built ships.

Hobart Town had developed a reputation as a rowdy town very soon after its foundation. The area immediately to the north of the docks had become a bustling waterfront district called 'Wapping', and was a mixture of crowded terrace housing, pubs, hotels, brothels, and gambling houses as well as various other forms of seedy entertainment for visiting sailors. Cock-fighting and Dog fighting were popular in the area. The Theatre Royal, built in 1834, is located in the area, and Wapping was very much seen as the entertainment part of the town. The theatre was fitted out with a plush Georgian interior which was restored after the disastrous fire which affected it in 1984.

The wild nature of Hobart Town's seedier side almost had a disastrous effect. The town was in danger of losing trade from Royal Navy vessels due to the large number of sailors contracting venereal diseases whilst on shore leave in the port. The local authorities clamped down on the behaviour in the area, and the visits were allowed to continue.

Outside of Wapping the town was growing well. Numerous grand sandstone buildings and colonial residences were being built. Whilst Wapping remained an inner city residential slum, the wealthier residents were moving south of the town to Battery Point and Sandy Bay. In the 1810s and 20s, Battery Point had been one of the first areas cultivated for farmland and crops, but by the mid 1830s, it had become a collection of cottages and fine homes, from which the port that it overlooked was operated. The area was dominated by the battery of guns from which it took its name. In 1839, 'Kelly's Steps' were built by shipwright and adventurer Captain James Kelly to provide a short-cut from the pleasant colonial houses of Kelly Street and Arthur Circus in Battery Point, directly down to the warehouse and dockyards district of Salamanca Place.

In 1835, convict architect John Lee Archer had designed and overseen the construction of the magnificent sandstone Customs House facing Sullivans Cove, with construction completed in 1840. The building would later be used as Tasmania's parliament house, but its use as the Customs House is commemorated by a famous pub baring the same name (built 1844) which is now a favourite of yachtsmen after they have completed the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

Similarly, many fine churches were also being constructed. The Scot's Church was built in Bathurst Street from 1834–36, and a small brick building within the churchyard had been used from 1834 as the first Presbyterian Church in Hobart Town. The Salamanca Place warehouses and the Theatre Royal were also constructed in this period. The Greek revival St George's Anglican Church in Battery Point was completed in 1838, and later had a grand Gothic tower, designed by eminent architect James Blackburn, added in 1847. St Joseph's was built in 1840. Although many such fine churches were being built throughout the town, it took another twenty years for Hobart to finally get a cathedral.

Sir John Franklin arrived in Hobart Town on 5 January 1837 with his wife Lady Jane Franklin to become the 5th Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land. The colony they took command of was orientated towards commerce and industry, but lacking in culture and opportunities for education. Lady Jane was passionate about improving the town and colony, as was her husband. However, their liberal views were not well received by many members of Hobart Town's civil service, and civilians who benefited from exploiting convict labour did not appreciate their humane views.

Despite this, the Franklins did much to reform Hobart Town society and the colony of Van Diemen's Land in general. Lady Jane Franklin ordered built a replica Greek Temple, modelled on the Parthenon and designed by James Blackburn in the bush in Lenah Valley, which opened in 1841. Inside the temple, she housed the Lady Jane Franklin Museum, resplendent with replicas of the Elgin Marbles. The Franklins inaugurated the Royal Hobart Regatta in 1838. This popular event has been held annually since, and features sailing, rowing, swimming, and other water-sports events, culminating in a fire-works display. They also founded Christ College, now part of the University of Tasmania, the first tertiary education institution in the city. Lady Jane attempted to establish evening gatherings to discuss art, literature and science, but these proved unpopular with well-to-do 'Hobartians', who preferred that she host parties and dances instead.

Not to be outdone by his wife, Lieutenant-Governor Franklin opened the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery a year later in October 1843. In 1844 he also founded the Royal Society of Tasmania, the first such Royal Society outside of the United Kingdom. The enlightened governorship of the Franklins' brought much social and cultural improvement to Hobart Town, and culminated in the town's incorporation as a city in 1842. The town had grown from a defensive outpost into a penal settlement, and from there, into a prosperous trading port. Free settlers were outstripping the arrival of convicts, and soon the colonists were clamouring for an end to transportation, and greater self-representation. The Tasmanian Journal of Natural Science was first published in 1840; however economic depression hit all of the Australian colonies that year, and Hobart Town suffered badly in what was to be the beginning of the first of many economic downturns.

By the mid 19th century, elegant sandstone public buildings had replaced the crude early mud and timber edifices of the pioneering days, and many fine stately colonial mansions were being built in the town by the colony's more successful citizens, such as Stowell and Secheron House (1831) in Battery Point; Runnymede (1836) in New Town (originally called 'Cairn Lodge', it was built for prominent Scottish born lawyer Robert Pitcairn); Narryna House (1836) in Battery Point; Bellkirk House (1863) in Hobart; Lenna House (1880) in Battery Point; and Westella House (1890) in Hobart. Although not as grand as some of the stately homes, many fine cottages from the same period still survive, such as Barton Cottage (1837), Moina Cottage (1850), Colville Cottage (1877), and Cromwell Cottage (1880). There is also whole row of magnificent sandstone houses along Macquarie Street dating from the 1850s that survive much as they originally were.

The middle of the century saw Hobart Town as a major southern trading port with excellent rates of growth, well known and regularly visited, attracting commerce and emigrants. The colonial outpost prospered and had developed into an elegant city with stone buildings having replaced most of the early pioneering structures. By the mid-1840s, Hobart Town's shops were said to be as good as in many English towns, although at night the only lights in the streets were the lamps outside hotels and public houses. Some of these shop fronts can still be seen around Hobart's streets, such as the old Conner's family store in Murray Street. Hobart Town's main streets were lit by oil lamps from the 1840s, and eventually by gas lamps in 1857.

Read more about this topic:  History Of Hobart