Introduction

Narryna was built in 1836 for Captain Andrew Haig; just thirty three years after the British first settled Tasmania. Captain Haig came to Tasmania (or Van Diemen's Land as it was know) on the 16th June 1824 carrying cargo from India on his Brig, The Snipe. In Hobart, Captain Haig purchased two acres of land from Rev. Knopwood for 150 pounds.

With the remaining cash I had I purchased 2 acres of land for 150 pounds currency or 600 Spanish dollars, besides 2 pounds or 3 pounds expenses for documents. I left Messrs. Bethune and Grant, our agents, a Power of Attorney to take care of the same and desired them to enclose it should they deem it expedient. This place is in a very flourishing condition and will no double become of much importance. The British Government have determined on settling a place on the West side of New Holland in 20 degrees N(?). There is considerable trade carried on between this and Port Jackson in wheat, the Colony being peculiarly adapted for the growth of that article. Port Dalrymple exports the greatest quantity. There is a carriage road from Hobart Town to that place. Every ship from England brings out a great number of settlers who generally bring dollars with them so there is no want of specie.

This land extended from Hampden Road to the shore of Sullivans Cove, or where present Salamanca is situated. Despite this Captain Haig found it difficult to sell his items in Hobart and departed Van Diemen's Land on July 1st for New Zealand and then to Valparaiso.

1824 Monday 28th June. We weighed from Sullivan's Cove. On 1st July at noon took our departure from V.D.Land running to the N. of New Zealand where we arrived in 10 days. From hence we experienced a very rough passage to the coast which we made on the 20th August at noon  about 90 miles to the south of Valparaiso. Ran along shore and hove to during the middle watch and at 2 p.m. on the 27th August 1824 anchored in 24 fathoms in the Bay of Valparaiso after a passage of 147 days from the Sand Heads and 57 days from the Derwent.

 Nine years after his initial purchase of land in Hobart, Captain Haig returned to the colony in 1833. In this time the port of Hobart had changed dramatically and there was an increase in buildings and development in the area. There were complaints made to Captain Haig as soon as he arrived, as his property was un-developed and over grown, and not in fitting with the new industrial Hobart Town.

We are glad to hear that Captain Haig...is about immediately to improve and will erect a suitable building on his allotment, which has so long in its neglected state been a disgrace to the improving neighbourhood of Battery Point.

In 1833 Captain Haig commenced building a warehouse in Salamanca Place. When this was completed, he and his family lived in the warehouse whilst Narryna was being built. Narryna is a four square Georgian design house. It is built of brick and has local sandstone foundations. It is said that the front facade is stone used as ballast from Scottish merchant ships, but it is also possible that the sandstone came from the same quarry as the foundations (Tasmanian stone), as it is still a high grade stone quality.

Unfortunately, Captain Haig did not prosper in the colony. In 1842 Captain Haig was forced to sell his property, including his warehouse and Narryna. At the time Narryna was very close to being finished, but Captain Haig did not have a lot of time in his new house before it was sold during the economic depression of the time. Over the next 100 years it became the residence of many notable Tasmanian personalities. In 1842 a wealthy landowner by the name of Michael Lackey purchased Narryna, and was later left to his daughter Maria Orr in 1847. Maria later re-married and rented the house until 1857. There were a number of tenants housed in Narryna. Hyram L. Moses was a member of the Jewish community who rented the property for a while, until George Washington Walker followed. George Washington Walker was a Quaker missionary who came to Australia in 1831 as a missionary. He is best remembered for founding the Hobart Savings Bank. In 1855 Major Hugh Calveley Cotton moved into Narryna after twenty five years service as an engineer involved in irrigation projects in India. He became the Deputy Surveyor-General of Van Diemen's Land. Charles Butler took up residence between 1856-57. In 1858 Maria and her new husband Charles Lempriere lived at Narryna for a short period before moving to Melbourne. They decided to keep Narryna because of a drop in housing prices, and continued to rent out the residence.

In 1836 David Lewis and his family resided at Narryna until 1881. Lewis was Mayor of Hobart Town in 1858-59 and was a Member of the House of Assembly for Clarence and then Hobart from 1864-1882. Edward Hurst Pearce and his family then resided in Narryna from 1885 to 1926, the longest period of occupancy for the house. After the death of the family, the estate went into the hands of Martha Peate where it was turned into a boarding house. In 1940 Peate apparently had twenty people boarding in the house for two pounds, fifteen shillings a week.

In 1944 the boarding house was closed and Narryna was let to Mrs Beatrice A. Seccombe before being acquired by the State Government in August 1946. The house then became an after-care hostel for female tuberculosis patients, where 14 people were accommodated at a time. In 1954 Narryna was closed as a hostel. There were suggestions to make Narryna into an aged care facility, but due to the stairs and lack of natural light, this rejected. Representatives of the Tasmanian Historical Research Association, the Shiplover's Society of Tasmania, and the Battery Point Progress Association requested that Narryna be preserved as a museum. The request was granted and Narryna was established in 1955 as Australia's first heritage museum.

Inside Narryna

Narryna Heritage Museum holds a large collection of colonial items from Tasmania's past. Due to the financial hardships experienced by Captain Haig, his furniture was sold to help pay debts. As a result, a lot of the furniture in Narryna is not originally from Captain Haig. However, the furniture is original to the period and is what would have been in Narryna when it was a homestead.

There are however some items that the Museum was able to acquire that belonged to Captain Haig. The first is Captain Haig's sea chest. These items of furniture were designed for easy storage and to take up little space onboard ships. The top of the draws slide out to form a writing desk were Captain Haig could write in his ships log and letters to home. The remainder of the draws are for storage. The handles on the front are flush with the wooden finish to make it easier for the furniture to sit together and this avoid losing storage space and breaking the drawer handles. The next item is the rosewood "teapoy". These "teapoy's" were designed for storing and sorting expensive teas. During the 19th century, tea was a valuable luxury, and a lot of the time it was locked away so that servants could not steal it. The last is an oil painting of the Sir John Rae Reid, a sailing ship that was last commanded by Captain Haig before he settled in Tasmania. The floors of Narryna are made out of two different types of timber. In the areas where the master of the house would have been present, New Zealand Kauri Pine has been used. This timber was originally from one of Captain Haig's ships, and thus accounts for the varying sizes of board used throughout the rooms. Where servants would have predominantly resided, Tasmanian Baltic Pine was used. Although an excellent timber, it was cheaper and did not have the same look as the New Zealand Kauri Pine.

The main stair case was used by the Master and the family of the house. The servant's stair case is situated near the kitchen and is a lot narrower than the grand staircase leading to the nursery and ballroom.

Outside Narryna

Much has changed outside since Narryna was built by Captain Haig. Captain Haig's property originally stretched from Hampden Road to Salamanca. Today much of this land has been sold off, and only a small part of the land remains. The coach house is original to the house. Today it is used for storage as well as small exhibits in the left hand side of the building. Captain Haig would have had a garden on his property, and most probably had one or two livestock animals wandering the property.

The Name "Narryna"

 The meaning of the name "Narryna" is unknown. Where it does sound Aboriginal, it has no significant translation to the Aboriginal language. In the early days, Narryna sounded more like mariner. Today it is pronounced nar-rin ah. The earliest use of the name Narryna was by Sarah Benson Walker, in her book "My Memories of life in Hobart Town" which was written in 1852. She goes on to say: "About the end of 1852, my husband leased the house 'Narryna', at Hampden Road...". Little else is known about the origins or the name or what it means.

Life at Narryna

When Narryna was built in 1836, there was no electricity or plumbing. All lighting was first provided by candles and lanterns. The front rooms are surprisingly well lit through natural light, mainly because of the two windows in each room. The study and morning room would have received sun from the morning in the morning room and sun in the study at sunset. These rooms would have however still been fairly dark. The upstairs rooms are well lit due to the size of the rooms as well as having more than one window to let in natural light. The stairway would have been fairly dark without the aid of candle or lantern light.

There are no toilets in Narryna. In the early days the toilet was outside, commonly called an "out house". The toilet "bowl" was collected once a week, and replaced with a fresh bucket by men called "Night Men". At night, chamber pots were used. These are large decorated bowls that usually lived under the bed and were emptied in the morning by the maid and cleaned for use that night.

In 1836 there were no automobiles. All transport was carried out by horse and buggy. These were usually reserved for long trips, or when one needed to collect something large from the city. Otherwise, walking was a good form of transport at Narryna as it was close to the centre of Hobart Town and the docks. Most homes of Narryna's style would have had a couple of cows to provide milk for drinking or to be made into butter. Chickens too would have been kept for eating as well as for their production of eggs. Large houses of this type also had a substantial vegetable garden. As mentioned above, there is no plumbing at Narryna, so there is no bathroom. In 1836 most families only bathed on a Sunday night with good washes by hand in between Sundays. This process was also carried out because there was a lack of water in the area. In country areas buckets of water would have to be carried back to the house until the bath was full. In most cases the water was heated over the fire and then poured into a small bathing tub, where one would carry out their cleaning and throw the water outside when finished.

Security was very important at Narryna and in Hobart in its early days. All the windows at Narryna had shutters, and these would be locked at night to stop break-ins, or prevent the house being raided by bushrangers. They were also useful for keeping the heat in at night when the fires were lit. There are trapdoors in every room down stairs. These were put in place so that if there was a need to escape, the occupants could be lowered into the hole and escape through a side exit.