AUSTRALIA’S OLDEST PUB
- A HISTORY
For more than ten thousand years Tasmania / lutruwita has been home to the palawa. We acknowledge our pub is built on palawa land and has a history steeped in colonisation. We pay our respects to elders, both past and present.
Thomas Hopkins first opened the doors of this pub in 1807, just 3 years after the British began their colonisation of Hobart with the landing at Risdon Cove. The name on the front door was “The Whale Fishery”.
The pub's earliest recorded mention comes from the diary of Reverend Robert Knopwood on July 25, 1807, where he noted: "This day Hopkins opened a Publick House, the Sign of the Whale Fishery, and at 8pm Capt Johnson, Lt Lord Lt Bleedon and self supped. At past 11 we came away the weather very wet and cold."
The pub was built on the banks of the Hobart Rivulet, and though the river may now follow a different path (it originally flowed down what is now Market Place) the pub has stayed in the same location ever since.
The building only stayed in the hands of Mr Hopkinds hands until the 1820’s when it was renamed ”Tom Donnelly’s Hotel Alexandra” by a new owner named Tom (we’ll let you guess his last name).
Large renovations took place in 1820 and 1840 to grow the building and give the pub the footprint it has today.
Over the years the pub has weaved its way into several corners of the story of the growing city of Hobart.
A watering-hole, always, but before the city had built it’s courts and other public buildings our space also hosted inquests, public hearings, and a multitude of other pubic gatherings.
The pub has also been known by many names over the years.
“The Whale Fishery”
”Tom Donnelly’s Hotel Alexandra”
”Hope”
”Anchor and Hope”
”The Hope and Anchor Tavern”
and now simply
”Hope & Anchor”
In 1914 the building got electric lights, and since 1998 it has been listed on the Tasmanian Heritage Register, recognising it’s historical significance and well maintained Georgian architecture.
The interior of the pub can be attributed primarily to a man named Gunter Jager, who owned the pub in the period leading up to 2008. He was a collector of all things 1800’s and maritime, and purchased the majority of the artifacts you can see around the pub today. During to this time you could’ve called the pub a museum and a bar in the same breath, as the collection onsite was extensive.