tps.org.au

Can anyone identify the location of these 2 sandstone churches, which I believe to be Tasmanian. Card 1 is captioned St Georges Church. This card was posted from Hobart to Kempton in 1910. There are no clues in the letter on the back. Card 2 has no writing on the back but I am sure it would be located in Southern Tasmania. The man on the bicycle adds interest to the photo. Perhaps he is carrying pigeons in the 2 boxes on his way to the railway station!

re St Georges Church - During a short troll through the State Archive website I
managed to find these images. The first image of St Georges Church of England at Sorell
dated 1900 looks like a match - three windows down the side, similar cross on front, position and
type of trees, etc BUT........

this image from c.1870 also entitled St George's Church Sorell shows a church
with 4 windows down the side so it's not quite Q.E.D. on this one yet


re the other church (with man on bicycle) - it is definitely the Presbyterian Church at Sorell
as this image from the Tasmanian State Archives confirms.

Good detective Ross.
re St Georges Church, I would guess that stuctural alterations took place on the church over time, hence 4 windows down to 3 windows each side. As you mentioned the 3 window photo looks later, which matches the 1910 postcard view. Everything else ties in with the photos. So I am happy to say it is the C of E at Sorell.

Ross is correct with the identifications.

St. George's at Sorell was built in 1825, on a massive scale. It was designed to hold 800 worshippers. By the 1870's, the church had fallen into disrepair, so much so that in 1874 the Bishop of Tasmania declared that "the house of God at Sorell was now in ruins". Repairing the church was considered, but given the building was much larger than the community required, it was decided to demolish the building and erect a smaller church in its place. The stone from the old church was used in building the new.

The new building was not completed until 1884.

It is, of course, the new church which features in the postcard and the examples shown by Ross. Importantly, the photographs cannot date from before 1884.

Hello Alex
Thankyou for the additional information. We can definitely say the 2 churches have been identified !!