Thomas Nevin’s appointment to the Town Hall appeared in The Mercury Supplement on January 24, 1876, Page 1, column 6:
Mr. Thomas Nevin, photographer, has been appointed Town Hall keeper, Hobart Town, in succession to the late Mr. Needham. There were 24 applicants for the office.
Town Hall Hobart Town 1875, H.H. Baily photo
W.L. Crowther Library
ADRI: AUTAS001124850751
Life at the Hobart Town Hall as hall-keeper must have been an interesting time for Thomas and Elizabeth Nevin, despite the death of their son Sydney John aged 4 months which was reported in The Mercury on January 29th, 1877.
The New York Times on February 9th, 1875, printed an account by the American team visiting Hobart to photograph the Transit of Venus in December 1874. Their description of the Town Hall mentions the Public Library and the availability of overseas newspapers: [read the full account New York Times on Transit of Venus in Hobart 1874 pdf]:
New York Times, February 8th, 1875
Other early accounts detail not only the Library, but other areas of the building which housed the police offices, a municipal court and a number of lock up cells in the basement.The Town Hall was the venue for shows ranging from musical performance, to art and photography, to poultry. These notices in The Mercury (transcribed from the Stilwell index) give some idea of the events which called for duties by Thomas Nevin:
Title: John Northcote wins prizes at the Poultry Show, Hobart Town Hall
In: Mercury 17/08/1877 . Page(s): 3, column 1.
John Northcote wins 12 prizes for his canaries at the Poultry Show, Hobart Town Hall.
Subjects: Northcote, John Carter, 1817-1883.
Title: Miss Hope’s easel
In: Mercury 21/12/1876 Page(s): 2, column 5
St John’s Presbyterian Sunday School Bazaar, Town Hall, Hobart – mention of easels reminds us to call special attention to one of them … exquisitely figured with flowers by Miss M. Hope.
Subjects: Hope, Margaret Anderson, 1848-1936
Title: Mr. Beauchamp’s Art Union
In: Tasmanian 14/04/1877 Page(s): 10, column 1
” … Mr. Beauchamp exhibited at the Town Hall a considerable number of his artistic watercolour sketches …”Subjects: Beauchamp, Robert Proctor, 1819-1889
Title: St John’s Presbyterian Sunday School Bazaar.
In: Mercury 22/12/1876 Page(s): 2, column 5.
At the St John’s Presbyterian Sunday School Bazaar Town Hall, Hobart … there is a handkerchief sachet, the lid of which is beautifully painted by Miss Piguenit, sister, of the well-known artist.
Subjects: Piguenit, H. V. (Harriet Victoria), 1844-1919
Title: John Fry’s panorama
In: Mercury 10/02/1877 Page(s): 2, column 4
Panorama by “the well-known artist Mr. J. Fry”, 42 scenes in Australia and New Zealand is in the Town Hall, Hobart.
Subjects: Fry, John V., (d. 1891)
The real excitement for Thomas Nevin must have been in June 1879 when he was sworn in as Special Constable to maintain the peace during the visit and lecture at the Town Hall by the Canadian lapsed Catholic priest, Charles Chiniquy. Mention of this fact was made in the report which appeared in The Mercury December 4, 1880, of Nevin’s dismissal from his position at the Town Hall for drunkeness while on duty some eighteen months later:
BY THE MAYOR: Witness had never been sworn in to act as a special constable except on the occasion of the disturbances which arose during the visit of Pastor Chiniquy.
There are several accounts of the Chiniquy riots, depending on the teller. Some saw the events as a disturbance, others called them riots. Chiniquy’s account tells how the door of the Town Hall was broken down, and hand-to-hand combat ensued between the Protestant guard and the Catholic protesters, resulting in wounds on both sides. Thomas Nevin was possibly armed as a Special Constable, as were the rioters. Although a Wesleyan, the son of a devout Wesleyan, and married according to Wesleyan rites, he was neither especially a tee-totaller nor a pacificist.
Charles Chiniquy, in his own words apparently, gave this account:
The very next day (21st of April) at Castlemain, I was again fiercely attacked and wounded on the head as I came from addressing the people. One of the ministers who was standing by me was seriously wounded and lost much blood. At Geelong, I had again a very narrow escape from stones thrown at me in the streets. In 1879, while lecturing in Melbourne, the splendid capital of Victoria, Australia, I received a letter from Tasmania, signed by twelve ministers of the Gospel saying:
“We are much in need of you here, for though the Protestants are in the majority, they leave the administration of the country almost entirely in the hands of Roman Catholics, who rule us with an iron rod. The governor is a Roman Catholic, etc. We wish to have you among us, though we do not dare to invite you to come. For we know that your life will be in danger day and night while in Tasmania. The Roman Catholics have sworn to kill you, and we have too many reasons to fear that they will fulfill their promises. But, though we do not dare ask you to come, we assure you that there is a great work for you here, and that we will stand by you with our people. If you fall, you will not fall alone.”
I answered: “Are we not soldiers of Christ, and must we not be ready and willing to die for Him, as He did for us? I will go.”
On the 24th of June, as I was delivering my first lecture in Hobart Town, the Roman Catholics, with the approbation of their bishop, broke the door of the hall, and rushed towards me, crying, “Kill him! kill him!” The mob was only a few feet from me, brandishing their daggers and pistols, when the Protestants threw themselves between them and me, and a furious hand-to-hand fight occurred, during which many wounds were received and given. The soldiers of the Pope were overpowered, but the governor had to put the city under martial law for four days, and call the whole militia to save my life from the assassins drilled by the priests.
THE PRESS
Architect Henry Hunter wrote to The Mercury, published on June 24, 1879, complaining of “orgies” at the Town Hall:
The Mercury on June 25th (1873) was scathing of the incompetence of the police and Superintendent Propsting, who was caricatured by T. Midwood in his cartoon “The Light of Other Days”, 1880 (State Library of Tasmania Collection).
T. Midwood’s cartoon of Supt Propsting
State Library of Tasmania, Ref: AUTAS001124067547
… A more helpless display of cowardice, imbecility, and ignorance of duty, was never manifested on the part of the police of Hobart Town, and that is saying a great deal…. But the presence of the police, and their inactivity, though jostled by the rowdies, countenanced disturbance rather than repressed it; and when Mr Superintendent Propsting publicly declined interference, he admitted that the police were present where they were useless, while, to allow them to be present, the city was left unprotected …
Click on image for readable version
The Mercury report, June 25, 1873
THE OFFICIAL ACCOUNTS
William Henry Burgess (1847-1917) was a Wesleyan, a wholesale merchant, and the Hobart Town Mayor at the time. His biographer in the Australian Dictionary of Biography gives this account:
Believing that civic administration in Hobart needed improvement he offered himself as an alderman. He was elected in 1876, was made a justice of the peace in 1878 and became mayor in 1879. In that year Charles Pasqual Chiniquy, a priest expelled from the Roman Catholic church, caused great disturbance when he applied for the use of the Hobart Town Hall. The premier, W. L. Crowther, notified Burgess that he was responsible as mayor for the public peace. The City Council supported the right to liberty of speech and decided to enforce law and order with their own resources. Burgess recruited 150 volunteers to act as special constables, but when violence seemed imminent Governor Weld and his Executive Council decided to call out the volunteer corps. Two buglers were stationed at the Town Hall to give the alarm, but Bishop Murphy appealed to his flock and Chiniquy addressed a capacity audience without interruption. This was perhaps the most remarkable military episode in the otherwise peaceful history of Hobart.
Mayor W. H. Burgess by Beattie, J. W. Date: 19–?
Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts
ADRI: AUTAS001125880815
The Catholic Archbishop Daniel Murphy’s biographer saw it this way:
In July 1879 when the Canadian lapsed priest, Charles Chiniquy, lectured in Hobart, Catholic Archbishop Daniel Murphy (1815-1907) was praised by Governor Weld for preventing bloodshed. He persuaded a large gathering of armed Catholics in the Domain not to march to the Town Hall which was guarded by Orangemen; instead they escorted the bishop home.
And the Premier of Tasmania’s son, Edward Crowther, contributed by mustering the militia:
Like many others [Edward] Crowther (1843-1931) was alarmed by Russian infiltration towards India and he decided to reform the neglected Southern Tasmanian Volunteer Artillery. With carefully selected recruits and experienced officers he helped to make an efficient unit, despite official reluctance to provide powder and shell for gun practice; their discipline and appearance with field guns had a steadying effect when martial law was proclaimed in the Chiniquy riots.
A contemporary academic assessment appeared in the journal Labour History, Number 75, 1998, titled Creating an Orderly Society: The Hobart Municipal Police 1880-1898 by Stefan Petrow:
ABSTRACT
The late 19th century witnessed a remarkable decline in urban crime and disorder in Australia, England, and America. Historians have suggested various reasons for this decline including the spread of education, the introduction of social reforms, and greater economic prosperity. Another key factor was the development of more numerous and efficient police forces. As the importance of these factors differed from city to city, local studies of particular cities are needed to help understanding of the wider processes at work. This article examines the role of the Hobart municipal police in helping to make Hobart into an orderly city. It considers the reform of the police after the Chiniquy riots of 1879, the role of Superintendent Frederick Pedder in enforcing a new code of conduct on the police and the improved working conditions enjoyed by the police. The article considers how successfully the municipal police dealt with disorder created by the Salvation Army, prostitutes, and pubs. The conclusion examines why centralisation of the police was introduced in 1898.
Left: Town Hall & Public Library
Creator(s): Anson Bros Date: ca. 1878
Description: 1 photograph : sepia toned ; 105 X 180 mm.
Notes: View taken from the corner of Macquarie and Elizabeth Streets.
Location: W.L. Crowther Library
ADRI: AUTAS001127111730
Right: Macquarie Street looking west
Creator(s):Anson Bros Date: ca. 1878
Description: 1 photograph : sepia toned ; 105 X 180 mm.
Notes: View taken from the corner of Macquarie and Argyle Streets.
Location: W.L. Crowther Library
ADRI: AUTAS001127111755
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