A Short History of Hobart’s Battery Point
At Heritage Horse Drawn Carriages, we take pride in ensuring your tourism experience in Hobart will be unique and unforgettable.
We aim to immerse you in the history and romance of Colonial Hobart by touring the Battery Point area and Salamanca Place driven by a pair of horses pulling an open carriage.
Hobart is Australia’s second oldest city, established in 1803. Battery Point’s first resident was Hobart’s first Reverend and Magistrate, Bobby Knopwood. After 16 months of living in a tent, he was relieved to move into his beloved Cottage Green in 1805. Sadly, his cottage no longer stands and his property was divided up when Knopwood fell into debt due to his somewhat loose ways with money and women! By 1814, several farms were located in the area. In 1818, a battery of guns, called the Mulgrave Battery, was placed on the southern side of the point as part of the coastal defences on the deep water port established at Hobart Town and it is from this, the area derives its name.
Grand manor houses dominated the area but soon the merchants and whalers fell on hard times. Large blocks were then subdivided to turn the farms into a range of houses by the middle of the 1830s. These ranged from cottages to fine Georgian styled homes, many of which still stand today.
From that point on, Battery Point developed with an influx of ship builders and sailors. The area abounded with pubs and became quite unsavoury! Despite the passage of time and the numerous owners over the years, most of the houses in Battery Point are pristinely maintained, complete with tiny cottage gardens.
Today, the Gun Battery no longer exists but, despite the passing of the years, Battery Point is a wonderful example of Georgian and Victorian architecture so well preserved. The best way to take in the atmosphere is by travelling the area the way the original residents would have done – take a horse drawn carriage ride.
During your tour, we will tell you about the colourful characters of this area – William Buckley, James Francis, and Errol Flynn, to name but a few. We take the time to tell the stories and show you the character of the area. You’ll come away with a new appreciation of Australian colonial history. You might even like to find out if there is a convict lurking in your ancestry!