MUSEUMS HOBART CITY

Located on Hobart's historic waterfront, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) has recently undergone a spectacular $30 million redevelopment. The second oldest museum in Australia, TMAG has its origins in the collections of the country's oldest scientific society, the Royal Society of Tasmania, which was established in 1843. Opened in March 2013, the redevelopment includes more than 2,000 square metres of new public and exhibition spaces, a centralised visitor services hub and a new Courtyard Café. Visitors can now experience more of this unique site than ever before, including a fascinating range of nationally significant archaeological material, some of which has been hidden for over 150 years. TMAG has something to offer visitors of all ages and interests whether you are family seeking an educational and engaging experience with the children, a tourist seeking to discover more about Tasmania's history or art lover. Join a free guided tour or browse the galleries to experience TMAG's rich blend of permanent collections, touring and temporary exhibitions and special displays. TMAG is open to the public daily from 1000 to 1700, with the exception of Good Friday, Anzac Day and Christmas Day. Admission is free but donations are always welcome.

Hobart's Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts is a heritage collection of colonial artefacts. The Museum is located within the State Library of Tasmania in central Hobart. The Library and Museum are housed in a permanent display of Georgian-style rooms. The collection includes colonial paintings and prints, Georgian silver and glass and fine English, French and Chinese porcelain. There are displays of mahogany and walnut furniture dating from 1680, including excellent examples of Chippendale, Sheraton and Hepplewhite. The Library features fine and rare books, manuscripts and photographs dating from the 1800s. The Allport family originally settled in Tasmania in 1831 and played a significant role in Tasmania's artistic, cultural and social development. Work by Mary Morton Allport (1806-1895), one of Australia's earliest notable female artists, features in the collection. Her son, Morton Allport (1830-1878), was a scientist, naturalist and one of Tasmania's earliest photographers, and her granddaughter, Curzona Frances Louise Allport (1860-1949) was also a painter. Cecil Allport (1858-1926) began the collection in 1899. He and his son Henry Allport (1890-1965) were historians, connoisseurs and collectors. Upon his death in 1965, Henry Allport bequeathed the entire collection to the people of Tasmania as a memorial to the Allport family.

Narryna is a gem of Australian colonial architecture containing a rich collection of Tasmanian fine and decorative arts. The fine Greek Revival town house was built by Captain Andrew Haig in 1837-40. Haig purchased the Narryna holding in 1824 during a trading voyage between Calcutta, Canton and Valparaiso. Haig built warehouses facing Salamanca Place in 1834 and set up as a merchant and shipbuilder while also operating goods and passenger services to mainland ports. He was forced to sell up after an economic downturn hit the Australian colonies in 1842. Narryna was later home to businessmen and women, lawyers, politicians and bankers. In 1957 Narryna became Australia's first folk museum, thanks to the efforts of a group of Battery Point resident who assembled a collection redolent of the mercantile and maritime histories of Salamanca Place and Battery Point. Ask about our group booking rate and joint ticket with Markree House and Garden, located 200 meters from Narryna and offering insights into Hobart life 100 years later.

The Tasmanian Cricket Museum, at Hobart's Bellerive Oval, showcases Tasmania's cricketing history. Bellerive is 10 minutes' drive east of the Hobart city centre, on the eastern shore of the Derwent River. At the Tasmanian Cricket Museum you can discover Tasmania's rich cricket heritage from settlement to the present day. The museum features a collection of artefacts and memorabilia coupled with innovative displays, video and state-of-the-art interactive technology. You can also take a tour of Tasmania's world class cricket facilities at Bellerive Oval to see how a modern sporting venue operates. See the Oval from Richie's Room, sit in the television studio high above the Southern Stand and inspect the players' rooms and members' facilities. You'll also see Bellerive's indoor practice wicket with its bowling and video equipment. Your tour includes entry to the Tasmanian Cricket Museum. Bookings are essential. Scholars of the game will enjoy a visit to the Max Atwell Memorial Library at Bellerive Oval. Located adjacent to the Museum, the library features a collection of thousands of cricketing books and is open Tuesday to Thursday from 10am until 3pm, Friday from 10am until 12 noon and during Pura and ING Cup games.

The Tasmanian Transport Museum in Hobart includes Tasmanian railways history displays, tram cars and locomotives. The New Town Railway Station has been rebuilt at the museum and a new platform added. The station masters' office and signal room have been retained and restored to original condition. The former ladies waiting room and store have been developed as a display area of relics and photographs featuring the history of Tasmanian railways. There are seven steam locomotives, two operational diesel-electric locomotives, two operational diesel rail cars, six carriages and numerous goods wagons. Electric vehicles include three tram cars and two Hobart trolley buses. Train rides using a diesel railcar are run on the first Sunday each month and a vintage steam locomotive runs on the third Sunday of the month.

As an island state, the sea is significant to all Tasmanians and the islands boast a strong maritime heritage. The Maritime Museum of Tasmania explores the connections between the people of the islands and the influence of the sea on their lives. Discover the craft and art of centuries of Tasmanian ship building from an example of an aboriginal bark canoe through wooden boats to modern aluminium fast ferries. You can learn how important sailing and steam ships were for developing Tasmanian industries exporting raw materials and products of the islands, such as apples, minerals and timber, as well as the influence of early European explorers and whalers. Navigational instruments show how mariners found their way across the seas while archaeological discoveries from shipwrecks around the Tasmanian islands show how challenging, difficult and dangerous the seafarer's life could be. The Museum can be found in the Carnegie Building, at Sullivan's Cove, a short walk from Hobart's central business district and across the road from Constitution Dock, the historic heart of Maritime Hobart. We are open 0900 until 1700, seven days a week EXCEPT Good Friday and Christmas Day.

This antiquities museum at the University of Tasmania in Hobart is rated as the best such collection in Australia after the Nicholson Museum in the University of Sydney. The museum was started about 40 years ago by Professor John Elliott, the Professor of Classics, after whom it is named. The collection contains representative examples of the art and culture of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, Greece, Etruria and Rome. Most notable are over 100 Greek vases, many of them fine examples of painted decoration and about 500 ancient coins from the invention of coinage to the end of the Roman Empire.

Markree House Museum and Garden is a historical gem located in inner city Hobart. Markree was built in 1926 in the Arts and Crafts Movement style by architect Bernard Ridley Walker for Cecil and Ruth Baldwin. The house contains its original 1910s-20s furnishings together with older portraits and family heirlooms from Ruth Baldwin's family - the Manings, Knights, Fletchers and Hones - who had come to Hobart in the 1820s as merchants, civil servants and lawyers. Markree's rare, surviving 1920s garden was laid out by Cecil Baldwin in an informal Arts and Crafts Movement style. Cecil and Ruth Baldwin's son, Henry (1919-2007), bequeathed the house and its original contents to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. Markree specialises in the social history and design of the early 20th century with guided tours and changing displays to highlight aspects of the collection. Ask about our group booking rate and joint ticket with Narryna Heritage Museum, located 200 meters from Markree and offering insights into Hobart life 100 years earlier.

The Mawson’s Huts Replica Museum is  situated in Hobart, “The  Gateway to Antarctica”, on the city’s beautiful waterfront, just 50 metres from Constitution Dock and opposite Mawson’s Place.

It was opened on Monday December 2 2013 which was the 102nd anniversary of the departure from Hobart of the Australasian Antarctic expedition 1911-14 which Douglas Mawson led.

This is a replica of the historic huts in Cape Denison – Antarctica – constructed in 1911 by the men of the Australian Antarctic Expedition, led by Dr Douglas Mawson.  Constructed by heritage architects and builders, the replica was only made possible by a federal government grant and the generosity of many Tasmanian businesses and individuals who donated time, goods and goodwill. As a part of the Mawson’s Huts Foundation, all profits are toward the conservation of the historic huts.