Trove is a wonderful resource. I located some information about the Seven Stars from newspapers published during George's life but the most useful information was provided in a series of articles published early in the twentieth century. The following article lists the residences and businesses in part of Hobart in 1831. The streets described are Liverpool Street, Campbell Street and Argyle Street. As well as providing a graphic picture of life in this part of Hobart at the time it also provides a location for the Seven Stars Inn. This is one of a series of articles covering the streets of Hobart and published in this weekly publication from 26 January 1917 to 9 March 1917.
Notes by the Way
(By “ The Odd Man Out” )
Resuming the review of the streets of Hobart in the year 1831, one commences on Liverpool street, starting on the left hand,side from the Domain. The first house met with was that of Messrs. Bock, painter and engraver. The next was that of Mr. S. Gould, a boatman. Then followed those of Fox, bellhanger, and the chambers of Mr. Young, solicitor. This site is now occupied by the palatial Heathorn’s Hotel, which also absorbed the residences of two or three citizens each side of it. The next house was occupied by Mr. Belbin, jun., and the next, at the corner, by a Mrs. Chase. The Union Tavern occupied the next corner. This house was kept by a Mr. Young. Then came the Hospital grounds. Crossing Argyle street the first house met with was that of Mr. Hanschell, a hairdresser, and next to this was the British Hotel and board and lodging house kept by Mr. Donahoo. The business premises of Messrs. Webster and Sons cover the space taken up by the British, and all the properties existing between the Carlton Hotel and Messrs. Whitesides and Son. The next house after leaving the British was a spirit vaults, kept by the Messrs. Martin. Then followed the domiciles of Messrs. Timms, and Coley, and Muir, the White Horse, Molloy’s stores, the old Waterloo mill, Goodwin, a shoemaker; McCracken, a butcher; a -public, school, presided over by a. Mr. Stone; Mr. Turnley’s wholesale stores; Mr. Wilson’s Freemason’s Arms; Mr. Graham, board and lodging house; the chambers of Mr. Kinsman, barrister; the “ Gazette and Courier" office; and residence of Dr. Ross, Government Printer; Mr. Paine’s stores; Messrs. Woolley; Mr. Courtney, jeweller and goldsmith; John Thomas, carter; Mr. Roberts, soap manufactory; Mr. Mannington’s flour mill; Messrs. Sherwin, greengrocers and tanners; D. Dunkley, store and plough manufactory; Brown, gardener; James Willett’s store; Peel, a constable; and the habitation of a Mrs. Kimberley.
On the east or right hand side were first the premises of Messrs. Jackson and Addison, not yet finished-; Mr. Brown, D.A. Commissary-General; Mr Sergeant, baker; Dr. Scott, colonial surgeon; Mr. J. L. Roberts; the cart and plough manufactory of Mr. Mc Leod; Messrs. I. and J. Solomon, stores; Messrs. Muir, butchers; Mr. Steel board and lodging house; J. Brown’s stores; R. Pender, baker; Wood and Co., Brunswick Hotel; Ambridge, carter; Fraser, tailor; Mr. Sprent’s academy on the Hamiltonian system; Messsr. Hopwood, watchmaker; and J. Solomons’ stores. This brings us to Elizabeth street. Then comes Guy’s stores, where Findlays piano factory now stands; Mr. Tuckwell, coachmaker; Mr. Smallwood, tinware manu factory; F. Brown, druggist; Mr. Fenton, gunsmith; Hyrons, bootmaker Mason, a cooper; P. Smith, shoemaker and glazier; James Wood, stationer and stores; Mr. Laing, butcher; Mr, Cleburne, stores; the Rev. Mr. Bedford, parsonage house; Messrs. T. Leary, butchers; R. Smith, blacksmith; the residence of Mrs. Williamson; Messrs. Rae, bakers; Gray, fruiterer; Messrs; Turvey and Wilson’s pork shop; Jones, stores and fishmongery; Castles, fishmonger; Baptie’s stores; the residences of Mr. Household, clerk of St. David’s Church, and upholsterer; -Collins, the Sheriff’s prin cipal bailiff; Walker, Brittannia Inn; Eveleigh, shoemaker; Stallard and Coombs, brewery; Berry, shoemaker; Mrs. Underwood, Red Lion; J. Lindsay, butcher; Mr. McCurdy, mason and storekeeper; Hyam’s store; Hudson, blacksmith; Mrs. Bennett, board and lodging house; Mr. Giles, Ordnance Arms Inn; Mr. Watchorn, store and candle factory; Messrs. Cowles, Scotch Thistle; Seyers, a boatman; C. Sefton, a baker; Miller’s stores; the residence of Mrs. Terrall; Messrs. W. Clarke’s stores; Harrison, farrier; A. Prisnell, shoemaker; T. Hedge, constable; Chapman’s store; Wood, a sawyer; S. Cash, Mr. Morgan, Commissariat, Jacobs; Lieutenant Carew’s residence; Mr. Dunkley; Mr. Stacey, tide waiter; Mr. Offord; and Captain D’Arcy, Royal Staff Corps. Beyond this point settlement came to an end.
Campbell street in 1831 had not a great many houses in it. Passing from the Market Place (now the City Hall) on the left over the bridge was Rockhouse, built by the discoverer of Macquarie Harbour, Captain James Kelly. This house still stands, and is part of the Sir George Arthur Hotel. An old print shows a flight of steps up to the front door, the land slightly sloping to the rivulet, with a goat browsing on the herbage. This house must be close on a century old. In 1831 it was occupied by Mr. Bilton as a wholesale stores and residence. Next to Mr. Bilton’s was Messrs. Cooling’s stores, then the houses of Asquil, a shoemaker; Risely; Stephens, a carter; Dr. Turnbull, and -Mr. W. Hutton’s butcher’s shop. Then came the Union Hotel, at the corner. In the block between Liverpool street and Bathurst street there was only one cottage, that of Mrs. Griffith, a laundress. The prisoners’ barracks (now the Hobart Gaol) ran from Bathurst street to Brisbane street. This contained from six to eight hundred prisoners. Here was the private residence of Mr. Gunn, the superintendent, and a flour mill driven by the prisoners on a treadmill.
The first house past Brisbane street was tenanted by Mr. Mawie; the next by Mr. Herring, a bricklayer.. The remaining houses were occupied by Mrs. Hammond; Mr. Miller, of the Colonial Auditor’s Department; Mr. Stone, carpenter. Three new houses in course of construction in this year were being built for Messrs. Bodry, Cooly, and Morgan.
On the right or east side, fronting the Market Place, was the London Arms, kept by the Messrs. Lucas, afterwards the “ House of Blazes,” next to this property, belonging to G. Guest, which was afterwards the “ Seven Stars Inn,” the premises of Peart, a baker on the northern end of the bridge, a house tenanted by one Hobsell, and then the famous Dolphin Inn, the licensee being a Mr. Dennett.
Captain Wilson’s new house (not yet finished), wholesale stores, the private residence and offices of Mr. Maddox, the officer in charge of the Account Branch of the Commissariat; Mr. Sky, tinman; Mr. Crombie, wholesale stores; Mr. Moore, collector of internal revenue; Mr. John Boyes, wholesale stores; Captain Bunster; Mr. Dowsett’s Academy; Mr. Copeland’s stores. The Jolly Sailor Public House, kept by Messrs. Burgess; the residences of Messrs. Lloyd, Daniels, R. H. Woods, T. Myers, boatman; Anderson, a carpenter; Rice; Mr. Bisdee’s new villa and garden; Mr. Yates, plasterer; and at the top of the street on the hill, Boa Vista, the residence of Dr. Scotf, colonial surgeon.
One now comes to Argyle street. On the west side, after passing the warehouse of Mr. R. Lewis, now Ingle Hall, the first house met with is that or Mr. Kerr, blacksmith. Next to this was the premises of J. Clark, cooper. Then all was blank space until the bridge was crossed. Here was small tenement used as an eating house by a person called McKavitt. Behind Ibis place was a school kept by a Mr. Squire, and then came the Bird in Hand, kept by Mr. Mezger. This building was pulled down some seven or eight years ago, and the spacious wool and fruit warehouses of Messrs. A. G. Webster and Son now stand upon the site of the old inn. Between this place and the corner of Liverpool street there was one house, being occupied- by a -Mr. Knowles. Mr. Bodry’s store stood where Palfreyman's premises are erected. In sub sequent years this place was turned into a concert hall of the dancing rom type, which was started by an enterprising citizen named Josiah Hands. Then it became the Waterman's Arms, which was burnt to the ground in the early sixties. Next to Bodry’s was the bakery of a Mr. Roberts, and then the houses may be ticked -off as follows:—Bowman’s, saddler; Goulston and Scott, corn factors; Kentish lodging house, kept by a Mrs. Johnston; Mr. M Ellis, carpenter. Then came a Government quarry, near where the Ocean Child inn stands. Passing round this quarry we come upon the residences of Mr. Bye Willard, a bricklayer; Pudney Overell, carpenter; Wright, a butcher and Thomson, a hairdresser. The last habitation on this side was that of Mr. Wirret, a carpenter.
On the right or east side of the street was the Colonial Secretary’s office, now the Hobart Hotel; Messrs Askin Morrison’s stores; the shop of Briggs, a saddler; and the residence of one, Mr. Tidd. Next to this was the Spread Eagle Public House, kept by Mr. Bush; Roberts’ Brewery; Smith’, bakery; Nichols, upholsterer; Roberts stores, where chaises were advertised for hire. This building stood on what is now part of the General Hospital grounds, and the space is covered by the residence of the house surgeons and secretary of that institution. Crossing Liverpool street, at the corner were the stores of J. and Solomon, now Temple House, the residence of Robinson, a carpenter; that of Robinson, a sausage maker; and Mr. Woodward, of the Commissariat Department. This brings us once more to the quarry of the Government, remains of which are to be seen to this day in the Melville street cutting. Passing the quarry, the first house met with was that of Carmichael, a builder, and then the following dwellings:—Grant, a builder; T. Smith, baker; Howard’s stores; A. Gill, a tailor; the residence of Mr. Lempriere, of the Commissariat Department; the Wheatsheaf Inn, kept by a Mr. Pain; Mr. Dixon, and Air. Watts. There building operations ceased, the country beyond being wild waste land.
[The article also provided more detailed information about the building on the corner of Argyle and Liverpool Streets.]
In connection with the building which stood at the corner of Liverpool and Argyle streets, once the Gordon Castle Inn, and now the Carlton Club Hotel, the Argyle rooms were erected here between the years 1831 and 1834, as one finds that Mr. Deane, who kept a bookselling establishment at Walch’s Corner in 1831, removed here. Here is Deane’s advertisement for March for the year 1834:—“ Mr. Deane respectfully begs to inform his friends and the public that he has removed his circulating library to the corner of Liverpool and Argyle streets, opposite the stores of Messrs. J. and J. Solomon. The terms of the library were years, 21/; quarterly, 15/; monthly, 7/; new books, 6d. per volume; old books, 3d. The annuals for 1830, 31, 32, and 33 were announced at reduced prices. These premises were then (known, as the “ Argyle Rooms,” which, for many years, was a place of public entertainment. Deane was not long in possession of his new premises when he announced the appearance at the Argyle Rooms of Mr. and Mrs. Mackay, assisted by several professionals and an amateur, in the farce, “ Love' Laughs a t Locksmiths.” A second result in the theatrical line was a week or two later, when a theatrical company gave another performance. Many improvements were made in the Argyle Rooms, which changed their name to the Argyle Theatre, and was styled the Theatre Royal in the advertisements of the management. In March, 1836, Mr. Deane, after catering for the public amusement for a period of thirteen years, found himself obliged, owing to the depressed state of business, to emigrate to Sydney, where he anticipated more patronage. Until the early sixties this old-time theatre, which was called the Albert, did a fair business. Some of the worst and some of the best actors and actresses performed on its boards, but after the days of Chatley, it went down hill, and degenerated into a music and dancing hall, frequented by persons of unconventional taste, and in the end of the seventies it was closed down, and the premises, after undergoing extensive structural alterations, were converted into one of the leading hotels of the city.
