When British colonists first established a small settlement on the land of the

Mouheneenner people on the western shore of the River Derwent in February 1804, they chose the small hillside above Sullivans Cove to set up their tents. These temporary canvas dwellings soon gave way to buildings of brick and timber.

The house of the colony’s first Lieutenant-Governor, David Collins (1756-1810) was located near the alignment of Macquarie Street, near where parked motorcycles now straddle the centre of Elizabeth Street.

The small house gradually evolved into a rambling architectural pile of buildings and outhouses, spreading from Argyle Street toward the far side of the present Franklin Square. This somewhat ramshackle vice-regal residence was home to successive governors until the new Government House was constructed on the Queen’s Domain in the 1850s.

The old government house was then demolished, Elizabeth Street extended toward the waterfront and the newly-created block between Elizabeth and Argyle streets offered to the fledgling Council as the site of a new Town Hall. At first, the Council operated a makeshift town hall out of the remnant ballroom from the old government house, which was the only structure left standing on the site.

The foundation stone of the new Town Hall was laid in April 1864. The building was

constructed from sandstone quarried from the banks of the River Derwent at Bridgewater and from the slopes of Knocklofty in West Hobart.

The government stipulated that the design of the new Town Hall had to impart an appropriate civic quality, and imposed a condition upon the Council that “the Municipal Body should impart to the Building a front which will befit the Street and the character of a Town Hall.”

The new building comprised the main Town Hall auditorium (originally called the Assembly Hall), the Mayor’s Court, offices of the Mayor, Town Clerk, Accountant and Collector, strong room, two cloakrooms, grand staircase, anteroom and municipal chamber. The original Council Chamber is now the principal committee room, renamed the Lady Osborne Room in honour of Lady (Esma) Osborne. Lady Osborne was Lady Mayoress of Hobart from 1959 until 1970, during which time she represented the City at many civic receptions. Lady Osborne was a talented pianist, and was keenly interested in women’s organisations.

The Town Hall also housed the Public Library, with a separate entrance off Macquarie Street. The library was located toward the rear of the Elizabeth Street wing, in the room now used as the Council Chamber.

The Town Hall site has been the centre of administration in central Hobart for more than 200 years.

A site is chosenBallroom of Government House, used as a

temporary Town Hall, 1859. TAHO NS1013-1-1726

Laying the Foundation Stone, 14 April 1864.TMAG Q2001.15.2.29

Front cover: Town Hall 1938, Ben Sheppard photograph Dennison Collection

The first tents are erected at Sullivans Cove, February 1804. SLNSW SV6B/Sull C/1

Government House, Hobart, 1840. TMAG AG1967

Elizabeth Street is extended and the Town Hall site is fenced, 1859. TAHO AUTAS001125643312w800

The first Government House, between Macquarie Street and Sullivans Cove, 1827. TAHO, AF394-1-170

Government House superimposed on the current street layout. The ballroom is in a darker shade.Brendan Lennard plan, based on TAHO PWD266/116, Hobart Chart 6 and HCC detail plan sheets

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This supplement uses images and text from the new City of Hobart book, Municipal Magnificence: The Hobart Town Hall 1866-2016, courtesy of the authors, editors, illustrators and publishers. Images have been used with the permission of the relevant institutions.

Text by Peter Freeman and Brendan Lennard. Supplement design by Mark Stansall.

MUNICIPAL MAGNIFICENCETHE HOBART TOWN HALL 1866–2016

The completion of the Hobart Town Hall

in 1866 marked a significant achievement

for the newly established City Council.

The building represented a proud landmark

in the life of the fledgling Council, housing

the council chambers, public library, police

offices and courtroom together with other

important municipal functions. The new

edifice also provided a much needed home

for broader community activities and

events. The sesquicentenary of the

completion of the Town Hall provides us

with the opportunity to acknowledge the

progress and achievements of the past one

hundred and fifty years. The anniversary

also allows us to honour the contributions

made by so many people over the years to

our beautiful city. This publication proudly

documents the rich and varied history of

the Town Hall and its place in the life of

the City of Hobart. This book celebrates

the ‘home’ of municipal government in

Tasmania’s capital city and commemorates

its significant role in community and

municipal activities over the years.

Peter Freeman is an architect, historian and

illustrator, based on the south coast of NSW,

who has always had close family links with

Tasmania. Peter has been the author /

compiler / illustrator of fourteen publications

about architectural history and conservation,

local history and biography, and was

shortlisted in 2014 for the NSW Premier’s

History Award for his publication The

Wallpapered Manse. His most recent

publication was an illustrated history of

Domain House in the Queens Domain.

Brendan Lennard is the City of Hobart’s senior

cultural heritage officer. He has a particular

interest in the musical heritage of the Town

Hall and its grand concert organ. He was a

member of the Hobart Choral and

Philharmonic Society in the 1970s and has

attended hundreds of Town Hall concerts and

recitals over the years.

Dr Kathryn Evans is a Hobart-based historian

with a special interest in researching and

documenting Tasmania’s historic heritage and

the stories connected with that heritage. She

has been involved in a wide range of research

and interpretative projects, publications and

displays on significant Tasmanian historic

sites and buildings.

PETER FREEMANBRENDAN LENNARD & KATHRYN EVANS

MU

NIC

IPAL M

AG

NIFIC

EN

CE

PE

TE

R F

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EM

AN

9 780980 710281 >

ISBN 978-0-9807102-8-1

The Hobart Town Hall is one of the oldest in Australia, but it nearly looked

completely different.With the Hobart City Council spread between

the remnants of the partly-demolished government house and offices in the city market building, agitation for a new town hall began. By 1860 the state government had agreed to transfer land to the City Council and allow it to borrow money to build a suitable town hall.

A design competition was held and attracted 10 entries. The competition was won by a young architect recently arrived from England, Henry Bastow (1839-1920). Despite winning the

The tale of two Henrys

competition, Bastow’s design was not finally chosen, and his place was usurped by another immigrant architect, Henry Hunter (1832-1892). Bastow eventually left Tasmania to settle in Victoria where he built a successful career in the Public Works Department. His best-known Tasmanian building is the former Union Chapel in Bathurst Street (now the Playhouse Theatre).

Henry Hunter had submitted a Gothic style design entry under the pseudonym Nimrod (i.e. the Biblical “mighty hunter”). Despite Bastow’s claim to the prize, Hunter’s architectural skills were favoured by the aldermen. Hunter had received praise for his designs for the nearby

Royal Society Museum, which still stands on the corner of Argyle and Macquarie streets, and he was appointed to design the Town Hall in 1862.

Hunter’s Gothic design was seen as unsuitable and he was given six months to produce a new plan. He eventually won over the aldermen with an Italianate design, modelled on the sixteenth century Renaissance Palazzo Farnese in Rome.

In 1862 the Mercury noted: “Whatever building we may put up in this fine site will be the most conspicuous edifice in Hobart Town. It will remain, for centuries one of the principal ornaments or blemishes of the capital of Tasmania.”

Enhanced by its civic setting, the Town Hall

has an enduring presence and an integral architectural relationship with Hunter’s nearby Museum building and with the range of other public buildings which flank Macquarie Street.

The Town Hall was the first major undertaking by the newly-established municipal body, and its construction represented the optimism and independence of the age, a proud affirmation of civic maturity. The building has successfully served as the centre of local government administration in Hobart for 150 years.

Henry Bastow (1839-1920) - his “winning” design was overlooked. Bastow Family Collection

Henry Hunter (1832-1892).TAHO PH30-1-1050

Hunter’s perspective of the proposed building.TMAG Q11287

Henry Hunter’s 1861 competition entry in the Gothic style. TMAG R1993.3.1477

Hunter’s first Classical design, 1863.TMAG R1993.3.342

Macquarie Street elevation of Hunter’s final design. TAHO NS78-1-3

Engraving from a promotional newsletter, 1866.TAHO TL.PQ 725.137 HOB

Nearing completion, 1866.HCC 1860-111

The magnificent Town Hall chandeliers were reconstructed in 1992 to mark the 150th

anniversary of Hobart becoming a city. The three original gas jet chandeliers, supplied by Osler and Co of Birmingham, had been removed in the early twentieth century.

The two end chandeliers were initially replaced with temporary electrical fittings in 1899 and by new electric pendants by 1903. In 1910 the central chandelier was creating problems for the new moving picture shows, so it was also later taken down and stored in the Town Hall basement.

By the 1930s, aldermen were wondering what had happened to the “fine old chandeliers” and investigated the cost of restoring and reinstalling them. But no-one knew where the chandeliers had been stored.

When the chandelier prisms were rediscovered in 1950, the parts were catalogued and expert opinion sought regarding the cost of putting them back together, but it was seen as too difficult.

In 1963, the Council resolved to sell the chandeliers, but when few buyers could be found, they were given to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery with many pieces and two of the frames missing.

There the pieces stayed until 1986 when Alderman Doone Kennedy was elected Lord Mayor and decided that the chandeliers should be restored and re-hung in time for the 1988 national bicentennial celebrations.

The bid for bicentennial funding failed but the quest continued and in 1992, Alderman Kennedy succeeded in having three chandeliers with a mix of original and replica crystals hung in the Town Hall auditorium.

Chandeliers Town Hall interiorThe elaborately decorated interior of the Hobart

Town Hall is not the original colour scheme conceived by its architect. The present decoration was introduced in 1891, a quarter of a century after the completion of the building.

When the building was opened to the public in 1866, the ornate plasterwork had no decorative paintwork or embellishment at all. Eleven years later, local painter, James Maher was commissioned to decorate the walls and ceiling according to the drawings of architect Henry Hunter.

But by 1891, Hunter’s design was seen as too dark and gloomy, so the Council spent about £700 on a lighter and more elaborate colour scheme, including painted allegorical figures over the stage representing “Literature” and “Painting”, and the heads of leading composers around the walls. The interior was repainted during the 1950s, based on the 1891 scheme.

The large mirror with its Rococo-styled gilt frame, a gift from Henry Grimstone, was installed in 1877. Although it was described as an “eyesore” and “not to the taste of the architect” it still retains its prominent central position in the Town Hall.

The interior, c. 1880 Alfred Winter photograph.TMAG Q1990.15.1

Hunter’s decorative scheme, 1877.TMAG R1993-3-335

Working drawing of original chandelier, 1866. City of Hobart

Hobart Exceptional Customer Service

Awards ceremony, 2011.City of Hobart

Detail of the cornice and ceiling of the Town Hall. HCC Nick Osborne photograph

Detail of ceiling rose and chandelier Rosie Hastie Photography.

War &Peace

the overall Honour Roll and was responsible for its installation.

But when it was revealed that Margaret Dehle was married to a German, a scandal erupted, and other contractors refused to assist with the project. The matter ended up in court, but eventually another artist, Ellen Nora (“Nellie”) Payne, was engaged to undertake the carving.

In 1919 the peace celebrations included elaborate decorations, with the angel of peace placed centrally, and a sailor, bulldog and submarine mine at one side and soldier, kangaroo and emu on the other.

During the Second World War a recruitment booth was perched outside the Town Hall, near the corner of Elizabeth Street. When the war ended in 1945, dancing erupted in the streets.

Generations of soldiers, sailors, airmen and

nurses have marched past the Town Hall en route to service abroad, with families and loved ones waving goodbye in the streets, and civic and community leaders bidding a formal farewell to the departing contingents.

The Honour Roll which silently greets visitors to the Town Hall is a constant reminder of the service of community members for the nation. The Town Hall has always been a focal point in Hobart when war has been declared, or when conflict has ceased. Dignitaries still stand in solemn ceremony near the steps of the Town Hall each ANZAC day.

Peace celebrations, 1918.TAHO NS869-1-58

12th Battalion AIF soldiers marching in Elizabeth Street.www.flickr.com/photos/70994841@N07/9757832354

Celebrating Victory in the Pacific 1945. Mercury Historical Archive Collection

Welcome Peace, 1919.TAHO NS869-1-59

Children in costume, Flag Day 1942.Mercury Historical Archive Collection

Plane spotting, 1942.Mercury Historical Archive Collection

Returned soldiers welcomed by the mayor, 1919. Tasmanian Mail

When people first enter the central doorway of the Town Hall off

Macquarie Street, they are often overwhelmed by the huge Honour Roll that envelopes three walls of the vestibule. The Honour Roll is dedicated to all those men and women from the local community who served in the First World War. The small crosses against far too many names signify those who paid the ultimate sacrifice and whose names are also commemorated on the Soldiers Memorial Avenue.

The blackwood Honour Roll features elaborately carved panels with the Rising Sun military motif. The artist originally chosen to carve the Honour Roll was Margaret Dehle, a Tasmanian student selected by Lucien Dechaineux, principal and art lecturer of the Hobart Technical School. Dechaineux designed

The magnificent Roll of Honour carved by Nellie Payne. Rosie Hastie Photography

View of Town Hall, Franklin Square and Hobart waterfront from the tower of old St David’s Cathedral, c. 1873.Henry Hall Baily photograph,James Backhouse Walker collection, UTAS

Floral shows, pictures and protests

A year after the opening of the Town Hall, the Gardeners’ and Amateurs’

Horticultural Society wrote to the Council in December 1867, requesting use of the Town Hall for a display of “flowers, fruits and vegetables” on 21 and 22 January 1868. Ultimately, the show was only held on the one day (Wednesday 22 January 1868), but this was to be the first of many floral shows in the Town Hall – a tradition that continues to today.

The 1879 visit to Hobart by Canadian pastor,

Charles Chiniquy, a strong critic of the Roman Catholic Church, created pandemonium. Organised marchers descended the Town Hall in massive numbers, and at the second attempted lecture on 25 June, a riot erupted at the Town Hall. Here’s how the Mercury described it:

The ladies rushed towards the platform, as if to seek safety there, the cushioned crimson seats were trampled under muddy feet, the clergy besought order, the police, of whom there were at first five or six, gathered round the rioters, and

tried, but in the mildest manner, to quell the disturbance. But in vain! The clangour sounded louder, hoarser, with all attempts to subdue it.

When motion pictures were introduced, there were few places in Hobart equipped to show them, but the Town Hall proved to be a suitable venue. In February 1909, however, local church groups complained about the screening of a boxing film on a Sunday. The aldermen reacted by passing a by-law which prohibited entertainment if a fee was charged, unless

approved by the mayor. In January 1912 one alderman tried unsuccessfully to ban all Sunday entertainment.

In the 1970s, Lithuanian-born photographer and explorer, Olegas Truchanas gave a series of compelling audio-visual presentations about the impending loss of Lake Pedder. There was standing room only in the Town Hall, and hundreds were turned away. The slide shows, accompanied by the haunting music of Sibelius and Delius left a strong impression on those

present, who could not believe that the unique beauty of Lake Pedder was about to vanish. The Town Hall has been the venue for other landmark events in the Australian conservation movement.

The Town Hall is still regularly used for flower shows, philatelic exhibitions, protest meetings, citizenship ceremonies, eisteddfods and other continuing activities, much as might have been envisaged when the building was constructed in the 1860s.

Mercury advertisement for the first floral show in 1868.

Pastor Chiniquy’s lecture sparked a riot.ML SLoNSW a4260043h

Wool auction, 1955.TAHO AB713-1-4461

Daffodil display at spring flower show 2015.City of Hobart collection

Forests Plantation protest meeting at the Hobart Town Hall in 2000. Mercury Historical Archive Collection

Early cinema poster, 1900.JWB Murphy Collection, TAHO

Flower show, c. 1880.TAHO NS1013-1-3806

The Town Hall opened on 25 September 1866 with a glamorous ball, followed

during the next few weeks by a series of concerts and musical presentations. On 27 September a performance of Haydn’s great oratorio The Creation took place, with Henry Hunter, the architect, singing the part of the tenor soloist in his own new creation.

When the Town Hall was completed, there was a “gaping hole” behind the stage – a recess for a pipe organ. The organ was not installed until 1870, when sufficient funds had been raised to purchase a new instrument from JW Walker and Sons, London.

The Mayor in 1864, Robert Walker, envisaged that once installed “…the organ should be played at least once a week, with a view as far as possible to afford a bona fide cheap source of amusement and refinement to every section of the people.”

The City Council appointed Frederick Packer to the position of City Organist, a role he maintained from 1870 to 1895. Since 1870, there have been eight City Organists and each has played an important role in the musical life of the city. The two longest-serving City Organists were James Scott Power (from 1910 to 1939) and John Nicholls (from 1939 to 1981).

The organ has been rebuilt on two occasions, in 1929 by George Fincham and Sons Pty Ltd of Melbourne and in 1966-1967 by JW Walker and Sons, the original firm responsible for the organ.

The Town Hall has been the venue of many memorable concerts, including those by local musicians and visiting international artists. Nellie Melba performed at the Hobart Town Hall twice in April 1909. The great pianist Ignacy Paderewski, organist Marcel Dupre and singers

Music

such as Peter Dawson and Joan Sutherland all performed in the Town Hall’s wonderful musical acoustic.

The Town Hall is still regularly used for eisteddfod performances, Musica Viva recitals and concerts, Festival of Voices concerts and many other musical activities.

In July 2016 the Festival of Voices presented a specially commissioned work for choir, chamber orchestra and organ entitled Hear the pipes call by Paul Jarman and Bonnie Nilsson, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Town Hall.

Public performances in the setting of a large municipal auditorium provide special opportunities for the local community, and its increasing number of visitors, to participate in cultural activity in an exceptional setting, much as was envisaged in the 1860s.

Entertainment for Operative Lodge Centenary, 1935. TAHO NS2502-1-4

James Scott-Power (1881-1939).St David’s Cathedral archives

Program for reopening of organ, 1967.

Concert program, 1900.JWB Murphy Collection, TAHO

John W Nicholls (1916-2009).St David’s Cathedral archives.

New organ case, 1929.TMAG R3116-1

Sunday School Choirs, 1903.Weekly Courier, 21 February 1903

Organ pipes with original stencilled decorationAlfred Winter photograph. TMAG Q1990.15.1

Ogilvie High School Choir at City of Hobart Eisteddfod, 2013. Craig Opie photograph

A large number of international visitors and dignitaries has been welcomed by civic

leaders at the Town Hall. The most memorable events include royal visits, when thousands of loyal Hobartians have thronged for a glimpse of important visitors.

The first royal visit came less than two years after the completion of the Town Hall, when Queen Victoria’s second son, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh came to Hobart, in January 1868.

The city, “festooned with flags and several arches” greeted the prince warmly, with the civic highlight being the quaintly-named Colonists’ Ball at the Town Hall, which had been specially illuminated for the occasion. The dancing continued “with great spirit” until the early dawn. During his Hobart visit, the Duke laid the foundation stone of St David’s Cathedral.

In July 1901 the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (later King George V and

Royal Visits

Queen Mary) spent four days in Hobart. The royal visitors attended a civic reception at the Town Hall, hosted by the Mayor, Alderman JG Davies. During the 1901 visit, the Duke also laid the foundation stones of the GPO and the Boer War Memorial – even though the end of the South African conflict was still nearly a year away.

The visit of the popular Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) in 1920 prompted lavish displays of affection, including a municipal welcome arch, illuminated decorations and civic entertainment. Seven years later, the visit by the new Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth) attracted great crowds: “Never did the people of Hobart demonstrate their loyalty to the Throne more sincerely and unmistakeably.” In 1934, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester made a brief visit to Hobart, returning as Governor-General in 1945 and 1946.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II made the first visit to Hobart by a reigning monarch in February 1954, coinciding with the 150th anniversary of the establishment of a colonial settlement at Sullivans Cove. After disembarking at Princes Wharf, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh proceeded to the Town Hall where the Lord Mayor, Sir Richard Harris presented a Loyal Address, and formally presented the aldermen to the royal visitors. The Queen attended a display by schoolchildren at North

Hobart Oval in the afternoon, before unveiling the Sesquicentenary Memorial in Hunter Street. In April 1970 a Meet the People event in Macquarie Street, saw the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles and Princess Anne all mingling with the Hobart crowds.

Other royal visitors to the Town Hall include King Rama IX and Queen Sirikit of Thailand, who attended a civic reception in 1962. The Town Hall has been a dignified and formal setting for civic ceremonies associated with visiting heads of state and other world leaders.

Duke and Duchess of York, 1927.Dennison Collection

Prince of Wales, 1920.TMAG Q2001.15.1.64

King and Queen of Thailand, 1962.HCC Lord Mayor’s Report 1962-1964

Queen Elizabeth II at the Town Hall, 1954.TAHO PH30-1-6082

Queen Elizabeth II with Lord Mayor Sir Basil Osborne, 1970. HCC Lord Mayor’s Report 1968-70. Mercury Historical Archive Collection

Decorations for visit of Duke of Edinburgh 1868.SLV IMP31-01-68-12

Map of “Royal Progress” in Hobart, 1954. Official Souvenir Programme.

Songs of Welcome for Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York, 1901.TAHO SD_ILS:549347

Queen Elizabeth II, 1954.TAHO AB713-1-2639

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother with Lord Mayor Sir Archibald Park, 1958. HCC Lord Mayor’s Report 1956-1958

Mayor Rogers welcomes the Duke and Duchess of York, 1927. Tasmanian Mail

The Hobart Town Hall was conceived as a major public building in the city’s primary

civic thoroughfare. Located on the site of the colony’s first government house, the Town Hall has significant associations with the wider history of Tasmanian administration and development, dating to the first decade of European settlement.

Like the city, the Town Hall has also evolved. The public library has moved, initially into its own premises in the Carnegie Building, and later to the current Murray Street complex. There are no longer police or court activities within the Town Hall. The Council is no longer responsible for supplying gas or running trams, but new responsibilities have been absorbed.

Administrative officers have relocated to the Hobart Council Centre in Davey Street but the Town Hall is still the seat of Hobart’s local government. The meetings of the council and its committees are regularly held in the Town Hall, providing a continuum of political activity since

Our Town Hall today

1866. The principal offices of council administration are still accommodated within the Town Hall. Offices of the General Manager, the Deputy General Manager and senior corporate officials are all located within the Town Hall, just as they were 150 years ago.

The Lord Mayor and aldermen all have their own offices within the building. The principal public reception rooms are still used for civic functions and receptions. The auditorium or ballroom is regularly used for public concerts and events.

The dramatic technological advances since the Victorian period area also reflected in the Town Hall complex. The building is equipped with contemporary building services. In recent years new energy-efficient heating and air-conditioning systems have been installed. Computers and wireless technology now serve the building in a manner that could never have been imagined. Today’s council meetings are

streamed live over the internet, giving council meetings a global audience, a dramatic contrast to the somewhat secretive deliberations of the past.

When the Town Hall site was transferred to the Council in the 1860s, the government had stipulated that the new building should be of an appropriate civic nature, and imposed a condition upon the Council “that the Municipal Body should impart to the Building a front which will befit the Street and the character of a Town Hall”. Envisaged as a magnificent civic building and “a principal ornament” for the capital city, the Hobart Town Hall is a venerable edifice that continues to serve the City of Hobart and its community very effectively. The building stands in the twenty-first century as a testament to the confidence of Hobart’s past civic leaders, the architectural talent of the young Henry Hunter and the craftsmanship of the builders responsible for its construction.

TasPride Festival, 2015.City of Hobart

Volunteer Recognition Awards 2001.HCC Annual Report 2000-2001

150th anniversary illumination of the Town Hall.Image courtesy of the Mercury, Hobart

DesignMade Exhibition, 2015.City of Hobart: Deputy Lord Mayor Alderman Ron Christie

Dark MOFO at the Town Hall 2014.Alastair Bett F8 Photography

Citizenship ceremonies are held regularly at the Town Hall. City of Hobart: Deputy Lord Mayor Alderman Ron Christie

Open Day

Sunday 25 September 201610.00am - 4.00pm

To mark the 150th anniversary of the Town Hall, the City of Hobart is hosting a special Open Day on Sunday 25 September.Guided tours of the Town Hall will allow visitors to explore the building and its history. Restored trams will be on display at the front of the Town Hall, while inside, a new publication on the history of the Town Hall will be launched. A portrait of the building’s architect, Henry Hunter, will be unveiled and the celebrations will continue with the cutting of a spectacular birthday cake. There will be fun activities for children, including folklore games, plenty of music and dance performances to entertain. ABC radio will be running an outside broadcast from 10.00am until 2.00pm.

For a full list of activities visit hobartcity.com.au/hobarttownhall

This new publication, to mark the Town Hall’s sesquicentenary, proudly documents the rich and varied history of the Town Hall and its place in the life of the City of Hobart. This book, written by architect, historian and illustrator, Peter Freeman, celebrates the “home” of municipal government in Tasmania’s capital city and commemorates its significant role in community activities over the past hundred and fifty years.The book tells the story of the Town Hall site from its earliest days, as an Aboriginal landscape, the location of the colony’s first government house and the design and completion of the present Town Hall

MunicipalMagnificence

Introducing a commemorative book

Members of the public are invited to share their stories about the Hobart Town Hall. A special Time Capsule has been prepared, and this will be opened on the Town Hall’s 200th anniversary in 2066. The City of Hobart is looking for personal stories that involve the Town Hall to include in the Time Capsule.

MUNICIPAL MAGNIFICENCETHE HOBART TOWN HALL 1866–2016

The completion of the Hobart Town Hall

in 1866 marked a significant achievement

for the newly established City Council.

The building represented a proud landmark

in the life of the fledgling Council, housing

the council chambers, public library, police

offices and courtroom together with other

important municipal functions. The new

edifice also provided a much needed home

for broader community activities and

events. The sesquicentenary of the

completion of the Town Hall provides us

with the opportunity to acknowledge the

progress and achievements of the past one

hundred and fifty years. The anniversary

also allows us to honour the contributions

made by so many people over the years to

our beautiful city. This publication proudly

documents the rich and varied history of

the Town Hall and its place in the life of

the City of Hobart. This book celebrates

the ‘home’ of municipal government in

Tasmania’s capital city and commemorates

its significant role in community and

municipal activities over the years.

Peter Freeman is an architect, historian and

illustrator, based on the south coast of NSW,

who has always had close family links with

Tasmania. Peter has been the author /

compiler / illustrator of fourteen publications

about architectural history and conservation,

local history and biography, and was

shortlisted in 2014 for the NSW Premier’s

History Award for his publication The

Wallpapered Manse. His most recent

publication was an illustrated history of

Domain House in the Queens Domain.

Brendan Lennard is the City of Hobart’s senior

cultural heritage officer. He has a particular

interest in the musical heritage of the Town

Hall and its grand concert organ. He was a

member of the Hobart Choral and

Philharmonic Society in the 1970s and has

attended hundreds of Town Hall concerts and

recitals over the years.

Dr Kathryn Evans is a Hobart-based historian

with a special interest in researching and

documenting Tasmania’s historic heritage and

the stories connected with that heritage. She

has been involved in a wide range of research

and interpretative projects, publications and

displays on significant Tasmanian historic

sites and buildings.

PETER FREEMANBRENDAN LENNARD & KATHRYN EVANS

MU

NIC

IPAL M

AG

NIFIC

EN

CE

PE

TE

R F

RE

EM

AN

9 780980 710281 >

ISBN 978-0-9807102-8-1

complex. This rich and generously illustrated publication details the evolution of the building and its ongoing use by the Hobart community. The book will be launched at the Open Day and will be available for sale at the Town Hall and in bookshops. RRP $60.00