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Description
St Joseph’s Catholic Church is on the corner of MacQuarie and Harrington Streets in Hobart,
Tasmania. The foundation stone for the sandstone church was laid in 1840 and it was opened by Fr. John Joseph Therry (1790-1864) on Christmas day, 1841. It was the principal Catholic church in Tasmania until St Mary’s Cathedral was completed in 1866, so Tasmania’s first Catholic bishop, Robert William Willson (1794-1866), was installed there when he arrived from England in 1844. The church was designed by ex-convict James Alexander Thompson (1805-1860), and it was built using convict labour. Alterations to the interior were made under the direction of Bishop Willson in 1856 by Henry Hunter (1832-1892). The interior is in the Gothic Revival style and features pointed arch windows and doorway, blind arcading, a gallery supported by rounded clustered gothic columns, and lancet windows. The timber trusses of the roof were painted brown to make them resemble English oak. The large brass electric lights were designed in the Gothic style by Fr Walter McEntee and added in 1972.
For the exterior see http://ausmed.arts.uwa.edu.au/items/show/1125
For more on St Joseph’s see http://www.passionistshobart.org.au/