This outstanding collection of rare books, works of art, photographs, manuscripts and English and European decorative arts is a unique part of the State Library of Tasmania.
Joseph Allport and his family settled in Van Diemen's Land in 1831. From that time members of the family played an important role in the artistic, cultural and social development of the colony and the state of Tasmania.
Henry Allport, a Hobart solicitor, died in 1965 and bequeathed to the people of Tasmania his Sandy Bay house and all its contents, including an extraordinary collection of 18th and 19th century furniture, colonial paintings, silver, ojects d'art, and fine china as well as a library of rare and antiquarian books.
The Allport Library, containing almost 6,000 books and pamphlets, was started by Cecil Allport in around 1900. It was his son Henry Allport who continued the work and extended the collection considerably. The Library contains rare books relating to Australia and the pacific, as well as a good representation of manuscript and pamphlet material with a Tasmanian focus. Many of the items held are the only copies publicly available in Tasmania. More than 1000 titles have been added since Henry's death through purchase from his Endowment Fund or by donation. The Library also includes a collection of photographs of family members, prominent Tasmanians and views of Hobart and its environs.
The guiding principle has been to acquire items of the finest quality which reflect the interests of the Allport family members responsible for the creation of the collection. The books and pamphlets in the collection are listed on our online catalogue TALIS.
The Museum is presented in a permanent display of period rooms which recall the elegance of the Georgian era. There are displays of mahogany and walnut furniture dating from 1680, and many excellent examples of Chippendale, Sheraton and Hepplewhite; Georgian silver and glass; and fine English, French and Chinese porcelain.
The Allports were a gifted and artistic family. This is reflected in the fine arts collection of approximately 2,000 original artworks and almost 500 prints, as well as albums and sketchbooks which contain further treasures. Artistic family members such as Mary Morton Allport, the first woman artist of note in Australia, and her grand-daughter Curzona Frances Louise Allport are well represented. Convict artists and the work of many colonial landscape artists are a feature of the collection.
The gallery presents several exhibitions a year showing artworks and other items from the collections. Most can be viewed on the "Images from the Heritage Collections of Tasmania" database.
Monday to Friday, 9.30am - 5.00pm
Last Saturday of each month, 9.30am - 2.30pm
Street address
91 Murray Street, Hobart, Tasmania 7000
(on the corner of Bathurst Street)
Telephone and fax
(03) 6233 7484 (telephone)
(03) 6233 7902 (fax)
