The temperance movement and the 1850

	Sign In Sign-Up

The temperance movement and the 1850’s

“Every working man could alter his own

environment by altering his drinking habits”

-B Harrison

As the 1850’s began Tasmania was still a penal colony, with a large percentage of its population either convicts or ex-convicts. Even after the cessation of transportation in 1854, there was an almost equal number of free and convict males in the population. “...the effect of transportation was the lowering of the tone of society, affecting not merely the convicts themselves, but all who had contact with them, that it, the majority of the population.”⁹⁶ It was claimed that many evils emanated from convictism. Although many men and women had come to the Colony as free persons, their continued and daily contact with the convicts caused ‘moral degradation’. When the Hobart city mission was established in 1853, the moral condition of 3,807 individuals could be deemed unsatisfactory. In such homes drunkenness was prevalent.

There was also an imbalance of the sexes in the Colony caused by transportation, with men outnumbering women by almost two to one. Even free settlers were doing little to help this imbalance, as in that class men outnumbered women by 15 to 20 to one.

A lack of ‘entertainment’ meant that for the lower classes the only relief from the monotony of existence at that time was to be found in the inns, hotels and sly-grog shops that abounded at the time. In 1854 there were 180 public houses in Hobart alone, one for every 127 inhabitants of the Colony, including men, women and children. One in 23 houses there was a public house, making publicans the largest commercial group in the state. In New Norfolk alone there were between eight and ten hotels operating during the opening of the 1850s.

This condition led to an increase in the Temperance movement in the colony. This movement was founded by the Quakers George Walker and Jas. Backhouse in their visit in the 1830’s, and enlarged during 1836 when several independent organisations united under the name of the Tasmanian Temperance Society, pledging teetotalism. “Intemperance,”, said Walker, “affected the health, temporal prosperity, domestic comfort, and moral and religious well being of man.” A typical pledge was:

We the undersigned do agree that we will not use intoxicating drinks as a beverage, or traffic in them; that we will not provide them as an article of entertainment, or for persons in our employment; and that in all suitable ways will discounterance their use throughout the community.⁹⁷

It was no coincidence that the rise in the temperance movement occurred at the same time as the rise in the anti-transportation movement, as both aimed to ‘upgrade’ society. As explained in the Temperance Banner, their purpose was for the ”advocacy of principles calculated to advance the interests of every class of the society.” With the introduction of the 1854 Liquor Licensing Act there was a renewed interest in the societies and in the adoption of a Maine style Liquor Law, and total prohibition.

This may explain why the Licenses for hotels changed hands frequently in the 1850s, as debate on the subject grew.

On one side were the temperance groups, often, though not predominantly, allied with the church and women’s groups, and on the other their opponents, predominantly the publicans. The participation of women in the groups was “essential to the success of the cause”.⁹⁸ The various church groups each held their own opinion on the subject. Many Christians, themselves being moderate drinkers, saw moderation as a greater virtue than abstinence, and that the concept of the pledge denied the idea of Christian “free will”.

The evangelical churches took the strongest views on the subject, while churches like the Catholics, who were ministering predominantly to the convict and ex-convict classes, and whose majority were the “drink-loving” Irish, established their own societies. One Catholic bishop, though, a teetotal Robert Willson, took a strong stance on the evils of drink⁹⁹:

I... direct your attention especially to one vice, the parent of almost all other crimes, such as murder, adultery, theft, calumny, desecration of the Lord’s day, poverty and hunger of children and families, ruin of others, scandals, blasphemies, perjuries, prostitutions even of children- delirium tremens- often perpetual insanity- nervous trembling- drivelling and premature old age- sudden death by fire, water, and various other ways- chains and prisons- degrading punishments, even a malefactors death- I mean the debasing and hideous sin of drunkenness.

This connection between alcohol and crime became the catch-cry of the temperance movement, that “according to the statement of good judges, nine-tenths of all crime was caused by strong drink”¹⁰⁰ and seemed confirmed and emphasised by the various newspaper reports of the day.

Another factor that helped the temperance movement was the cost to the community. It was estimated by the proponents of temperance that, at a conservative estimate, the sum paid to the public houses, and other Beer and Spirit dealers by the people of Tasmania amounted to some £700,000 [$1.4 M], or £12 [$24] per head including women and children, per year.

There was a growing feeling in the community that a “Maine style” Liquor Law should be introduced in the state, and no less than five petitions, with over 100,000 signatures, were presented to the Government to support that stance.

As has been stated, Tasmanians were spending a large amount of money on liquor, and this was one of the reasons the Government did not respond to the petitions. To do so they would face a huge loss of revenue, as £91,000 [$182,000] of the states total revenue of £165,690 [$331,380], or nearly 55%, was gained from the duties placed on Spirits. Instead, they introduced the Licensing Bill of 1854, which did contain some harsh provisions, not the least of which was the doubling of the cost of Licensing, from £25 to £50. [$50 to $100]

Another issue that would arise was that of Sunday trading. Those Christians involved with the temperance movement complained that: “Sunday churchgoers were disturbed by the rowdyism generated by Sunday public-house drinking”, and “The respectable sections of the community very often had their sense of proprietary offended, by the discordant and irreverent sounds of Sabbath carousal, issuing from licensed houses”.

The publicans were annoyed that the blame for intemperance was being placed on them, and pressed for the Sunday opening hours one to three in the afternoon and from eight to nine at night, as allowed under the previous law. Though legally, regular customers could be served malt liquor take-away, only bona-fide travellers were entitled to drink in the house, though this practice was commonly contravened.

In 1855 the temperance movement had a vigilante group to police Sunday trading. It was openly threatened with tar and feathering. This advertisement appeared in the Mercury, June 6 1855:

Ten Pounds Reward [$20]

The above reward will be given to any party that will well TAR and FEATHER any of the above organised Vigilance Committee when discovered on any such duty, so repugnant are the feelings of a Briton. Let the business be done well- PRICE will be no OBJECT. If tar is not convenient, there is a material on the premises of every man well-suited to the purpose of such dirty work.

Those involved in the temperance organisations countered with their own advertisements¹⁰²

CHEAP WHISKY

Disease, Death and Co.

Wholesale and retail dealers in Spirits, take this opportunity to inform their friends and a discerning public, that they continue the trade of making Drunkards, Beggars and Vagabonds on the most reasonable terms, and at short notice…

N.B. Satisfactory references can be given to the Charity Workhouse, the Lunatic and Magdelene Asylums, the House of Correction, the House of Refuge, the Hospitals, Jails, or the Gallows.

and ran seminars and meetings, often using ingenious means to convey their messages. They also suggested alternatives for the entertainment of the populace, such as opening warm and well lit reading rooms, lectures on popular topics, musical entertainment and the opening of coffee houses and temperance hotels. One suggestion, from the Reverend Doctor Fry, was that “The Domain, in its entirety, be set apart as a park, for the use of the community in perpetuity. Avenues and walks could be formed by planting a large number of gum trees. A gymnasium for ‘athletic and healthful’ exercises could be established, and cricket clubs could be developed on an extensive scale. The formation of a managerie was also conceivable, with animals being added as they could be procured.”

During the 1850’s the Bush Inn changed hands five times. Other hotels in the New Norfolk area weren’t so lucky, with at least three, the Kings Head (now Valleyfield), King of Prussia (now Glen Derwent) and Rockhampton House (now Norfolk Lodge) closing down. After Charles Barkers’ second round of management ended in 1853. Henry Bridger, James Hagan, Joshua Anson, Frederick Le Geyt Piguenit and Joseph Oakley were all Licensee before 1860.

William James Hagan was listed in the Hobart Town Gazette as proprietor of the Bush Inn from 1853 to 1855¹⁰³, and was probably one of the youngest people to have the License there at 23 years of age. After leaving the Bush he went on to be publican at the Black Snake Inn Bridgewater¹⁰⁴, the Lord Morpeth in Collins Street, Hobart¹⁰⁵ and the Derwent Hotel at Bridgewater¹⁰⁶. He died 1860 in Brighton (Tas), aged 30 years, and was buried in St Marys Roman Catholic cemetery.

Joshua John Anson took over the hotel in 1855, it being first licensed to him on November 13 of that year¹⁰⁷. He was the Licensee of the Bush for three years, 1855 to 1857.

He was born on March 23 1821, the son of Henry, a New South Welshman and Sarah Fletcher, of Hobart and was Baptised at St Davids Church, Hobart Town.

He married Mary Eliza (nee Smith) at the Melville Street Chapel January 26 or 28 1849.

In 1859, on the 21st of August, he died at Claremont House, Elizabeth Street, Hobart, and was interred in St David’s Burial Ground.

Of his three children, the youngest son, Joshua Junior, was to gain the most notoriety when he was sentenced for two years for stealing from his master, a photographer. After serving his sentence, he, in partnership with his brother, formed the firm of Anson Bros, photographers. His photographs, particularly landscapes, won a Silver medals in Paris, 1889, Melbourne 1888 and Calcutta in 1883-4.

Frederick Le Geyt Piguenit¹⁰⁸ had the hotel only briefly, it being licensed to him only in 1857 and 1858¹⁰⁹

Transported from the Warwick Assizes on March 27, 1830, for “Receiving His Majesty’s Stores”, he was sentenced to serve fourteen years. He arrived at Hobart Town on the ship Royal George on October 18, 1830. His Gaol Report stated “Connexions very respectable” and his Hulk Report showed him as “Orderly”, a fact that probably helped him gain a conditional parole (no. 1245) on January 10, 1837,¹¹⁰ and a free pardon (no. 751) on August 10 1841.

While still serving his sentence, he worked as a clerk in the Muster Masters Office of the Police department, an occupation he maintained after his pardon in 1841. With the virtual abandonment of that Department in 1843 he was transferred to the Convict Department as chief clerk, where his salary rose from £100 to £140 [$200 to $280] pa.

Marry Anne Igglesden, who came out from England on the Palambam, arriving on December 5, 1832, married him shortly thereafter in 1833.

They had seven children, Augustus Frederick (1833), William Charles (1836) , John Igglesden (1838), Agnes Louisa (1840) , Emma (1842), Harriet Victoria (18440 and Alfred George (1847).

His son, William, was educated at Cambridge House, Brisbane Street, Hobart, and in 1849 was commended for penmanship and drawing at W.C. Smith’s academy. He worked as a draftsman in the Lands Department before taking up art full time in 1857, and became a noted landscape artist. His works, many being of Tasmania’s mountains, included Mount Olympus, Lake St Clair, The Upper Nepean and Flood in the Darling.

The Derwent, near New Norfolk, Tasmania

Piguenit, W. C. 1836-1914. c 1870

(www.tased.edu.au/tasimg/may1998/normal/12407244)

Joseph Oakley came to the Bush Inn an experienced publican, having been the Licensee of the Victoria Inn in Collins Street, Hobart¹¹² and the City of London Arms in Old Market Road, Hobart¹¹³. With him ended the spate of short term Licensees, as he stayed from 1858 to 1865¹¹⁴, and like Charles Barker before him, returned to the hotel for a second time.

	Height	5’ 6” [168 cm]
	Hair	Black
	Eyes	Brown
	Age	29
	Trade	Clerk 2nd.