HOBART TOWN, sometimes wrongly Hobartown or Hobarton, the capital of Tasmania (named by its founder, Colonel Collins, on the 19th February 1804, in honour of Lord Hobart, then secretary of state for the colonies), is situated in the south of the island in 42° 53' 22" S. lat. and 147° 2Γ 20" E. long. It occupies a succession of hills along a sheltered bight on the western bank of the Derwent river, known as Sullivan’s Cove, about 17 miles from the ocean, and not far from the base of Mount Wellington, an eminence whose summit, 4166 feet above the level of the sea, is covered with snow during many months of the year. The city proper, forming nearly a square, and laid out in wide streets intersecting at right angles, has an area of 1270 acres, and contains about 5000 houses, with a population estimated on the 1st of January 1879 at 23,000. Of the public squares the most extensive is the Queen’s Domain, and the most central the Franklin Square, with the bronze statue of the eminent Arctic explorer, who governed Tasmania from 5th January 1837 to 21st August 1843. Most of the public buildings (the houses of parliament, the town-hall, the supreme court, and the museum) are conveniently adjacent to each other in Magdalen Street. The town-hall, erected about 1872 at a cost of £12,000, contains a large reading-room and a suite of rooms for the free public library, which has upwards of 8000 volumes. The museum comprises a scientific library and apartments for the Royal Society of Tasmania. Besides the Anglican cathedral of St David’s, founded in 1873, and the Roman Catholic cathedral of St Mary’s, the churches comprise a Congregational memorial church, a Wesleyan “Centenary” chapel, and others belonging to Baptists, Independents, and Quakers. There is also a ...synagogue, but the Jewish community consists of only a few families. The charitable institutions of the town are maintained at the expense of the state. Among the remaining buildings may be mentioned five banks, a theatre, the freemasons’ hall and the oddfellows’ hall. In the neighbourhood of the city is the official residence of the governor of Tasmania, an ornate castellated mansion; the grounds of this adjoin the botanic gardens, which occupy an area of 21 acres.
Hobart Town has been under municipal government since 1853, and was incorporated as a city in 1857. There are nine aidermen elected by the ratepayers, and one of them is appointed mayor. The annual value of rateable property exceeds £100,000. An abundant supply of pure water is brought from the springs of Mount Wellington, and stored in a reservoir about a mile from the city, capable of holding 50,000,000 gallons. Among the industrial establishments are six breweries, a candle factory, a foundry, ten hat and cap factories, seven steam flour-mills, a pottery, twelve saw-mills, and a tin-smelting work. The commerce of the town is steadily increasing. The securely sheltered harbour is capable of accommodating ships of the largest tonnage, and is provided with three patent slips of considerable size; not only is the port the headquarters of the Tasmanian Steam Navigation Company, which trades with Melbourne, Sydney, and New Zealand, but a line of colonial vessels communicates regularly with London. During the year 1877 the total burthen of shipping inwards was 79,480 tons, of the shipping outwards 82,827 tons. The declared value of the imports at the Custom House was £664,439 (£255,344 from the United Kingdom), and that of the exports £720,136 (£301,477 to the United Kingdom), £715,304 worth being produce of the colony. The customs collected during the year 1878 amounted to £118,306, being an increase of about £4000 on the previous year. According to the returns for 1877 the principal exports were tin ore (value £61,765), tin (£20,886), bark (2086 tons, £13,410), fruit (138,585 bushels, £44,001), jam (3,742,341 lb, £100,069), hops (696,048 lb, £36,457), sperm-oil (450 tons, £33,410), rabbit skins (58,781 dozen, £5072), timber, shingles, railings, &c. (£351,851), and wool (£299,514). The principal imports are sugar, tea, oil, tobacco, live stock, machinery, spirits and wine, boots and shoes, wearing apparel, ironmongery and cutlery, glass and china-ware, books and stationery, saddlery, manure, drugs, &c. The first newspaper was published in Hobart Town in 1810. There are now (1880) two dailies, one weekly, and four monthlies. During the summer season the city is a favourite resort of Australian tourists attracted by the comparative coolness of the climate. The mean temperature for 35 years was 55’41° Fahr.; and in the same period the barometer at a temperature of 32° has registered an average of 29 ’ 82 inches.
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