Location: Hobart, Tasmania.
Building: St John the Baptist Church, Goulburn Street, Hobart.
Artist/Studio: Michael O’Connor, Berners Square, London.
Subject: Ten Scenes from the Life of Christ.
Memorial: N/A.
Donor: Rev Frederick Holdship Cox (1821-1906)
Date: 1856.
Status: Extant.
Photo source: Ray Brown 6 Oct 2010.
Notes: The liturgical east four-light window was originally attributed to Trowbridge Bros in the book, “Stained Glass in Australia, Jenny Zimmer, Oxford University Press 1984”. This attribution is no longer correct.
Researching and unraveling the history and age of some of Australia’s colonial-era stained glass windows is like mining for gold. You can dig for years and barely find enough clues to sustain your interest, but when you do it’s your piece of gold. Since the National Library of Australia launched “Trove” in 2009 many stories about Australian History and artefacts have been re-written or updated with new or more accurate information found in the tabloids of the time.
At the junction of Goulburn and Forrest streets in Hobart is the deconsecrated[1] church of St John the Baptist at 120 Goulburn Street West Hobart. At the liturgical east end of the church is a large four-light stained glass window depicting ten scenes from the life of Christ from the Nativity to the Ascension. In 1984[2] this window was attributed to the Tasmanian stained glass firm of Trowbridge Bros. The true age of the window is nearly half a century older than previously suspected. The east end window and two smaller ones are by Michael O’Connor of London and were in place in the church before it was consecrated in May 1856[3]. It’s likely that Trowbridge Bros may have had some involvement in the removal and repair of the east window and the Sir George Arthur memorial window in 1903 but they certainly didn’t make them. These windows were made a decade before Walter & Tasman Trowbridge were born.
The consecration of St John the Baptist Church occurred in May 1856 and there was a detailed description of the first stained-glass windows procured by the Rev. Cox for his church:
“…The ceremony of consecrating or setting apart for the Worship of the most High of the newly erected church, dedicated to St. John, and situated in Upper Goulburn-street, took place yesterday….The chancel is lighted by a window of stained glass, of four lights, representing in ten compartments, the principal events in the life of “our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,” from the nativity to the ascension. This superb specimen of art is the workmanship of O’Connor, of London. There are also two other stained glass windows, one containing a memorial of the late Sir George Arthur, and the gift of his son; the others called “the Sisters.” and representing “Martha and Mary.” was presented by a few young females of the parish….” – The Tasmania Daily News, Hobart Town, May 1856 [4]
These original windows are still extant in the church but are in poor structural condition. There is the four light window at the liturgical east end, depicting ten scenes from the life of Christ, the two light windows dedicated to Sir George Arthur[5] depicting St John’s Baptism in the River Jordan [left light] and Christ preaching at the Last Supper [right light], another single light window depicting Christ with Martha and Mary was donated by the Younger women’s Association. All these windows were the work of Michael O’Connor of Berners Square, London.
Many crude repairs have been done on these windows over more than a century and a half. By introducing additional lead Cames/Calmes to hold the broken glass in place, this crude type of repair makes the windows look like they are the result of childish graffiti with a thick back felt pen. In January 1882 there was an attempted robbery at the church. The miscreants smashed in a lower portion of the Sir George Arthur window to gain entry to the church for which there was ultimately no financial gain.
“…a portion of the memorial window to the late Governor Sir Geo. Arthur, at the west end of the north aisle, had been completely smashed; the wire guard on the outside, with the iron protecting bars, having been removed from the mullions and the stonework chiseled out so that an opening of about 1ft. 6in. x 1ft., was made for the burglar to enter…” The Mercury Hobart Jan 1882 [6]
It’s not clear when the repairs to the Sir George Arthur window were done and by whom. Apparently, it remained in a temporary state of repair for many years.
In 1902 it became evident that it would be necessary to pulldown and re-erect the chancel of the church because of foundation faults that were becoming detrimental to the stone tracery and the glass in the big four-light stained-glass window. In 1903 the window was removed along with the Sir George Arthur window. The whole east end wall of the church was rebuilt, and the windows reinstalled. In this period, it would seem logical that a local firm with knowledge of stained glass such as Trowbridge Bros would have been the ones with the experience to remove and repair the window, but I’ve found nothing to corroborate it.
The Rev F. H. Cox[7] was the first incumbent of St John the Baptist Church at Buckland. He had instigated the construction of the church and wrote to the London stained glass artist Michael O’Connor to supply the controversial “medieval” stained glass windows for it in 1848 [8]. In 1849, Cox was transferred to Hobart to St John the Baptist at Goulburn Street where he started his quest to build a church all over again. It’s not surprising to know that when it came to selecting the first stained glass windows for St John’s at Goulburn Street he would go back to his favoured stained glass artist in London, Michael O’Connor. These first windows for St John’s at Goulburn Street can now attributed as the third oldest extant stained glass windows in Tasmania.
Later stained-glass windows erected in St John the Baptist at Goulburn Street between 1864 and 1947 include makers/studios by:
Charles Clutterbuck, London 1864;
Trowbridge Bros, Hobart, 1906;
Burlison & Grylls, London, 1872 & 1891;
Brooks, Robinson & Co, Melbourne, 1913 and 1947;
Lavers, Barraud & Westlake, London, (attributed) no date.
Unidentified maker: Single light depicting “Suffer little children to come unto me”, no date.
[1] Deconsecrated 13th September 1998.
[2] Stained Glass in Australia, Jenny Zimmer, Oxford University Press Melbourne, 1984, p117
[3] Tasmanian Daily News, Hobart Town, Friday 23rd May 1856, page 2.
[4] The Tasmanian Daily News, Hobart Town, Friday 23rd May 1856, page 2.
[5] Biography: Sir George Arthur (1784–1854)
[6] The Mercury, Hobart, TAS, Tuesday 10th Jan1882, p2.
[7] Biography: Frederick Holdship Cox (1821–1906)
[8] St John the Baptist Buckland, Stained Glass Australia web site, Ray Brown, 7 Jul 2012.
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