Iviii 



accordingly prepared and submitted, and that 

 no exception has been taken to the same since 

 they have been in the possession and under the 

 consideration of your Excellency's responsible 

 advisers. 



"That the ground originally proposed as a 

 site for the Museum at the angle formed by 

 Macquarie and Murray streets has been other- 

 wise applied, and in lieu thereof a piece of 

 land near the site of the old Government 

 House, in every way suitable, promised for that 

 purpose. 



"That a subscription has been commenced 

 for raising part of the fund required for the 

 erection of the Museum, and it is confidently 

 hoped that £2,000 aud upwards will be thus 

 obtained, the expense of erecting the building, 

 including space for a Free Library, being esti- 

 mated at £7,000." 



The ground herein describe!, as originally 

 proposed as a site for the Museum, at the angle 

 formed by Macquarie and Murray streets, is 

 that on which the Derwent and Taniar Offices 

 and the Savings Bank now stands. 



It will be noticed that the original design was 

 to have a Free Library attached to or adjoining 

 the Museum. The records of the Royal Society 

 show that on the 3rd of August, 1857, the 

 Secretary wrote to the then Treasurer of the 

 colony, the Hon. F. M. Innes, inquiring whether, 

 in accordance with a letter which had been re- 

 ceived from the Colonial Secretary, the ground 

 that had been specified by the Government as a 

 site for the proposed Tasmnnian Museum 

 (namely the fjrouna at the angle of Murray aud 

 Macquarie streets above-mentioned) had been 

 defined and its boundaries marked ofl:' on the 

 maps of the colony, and requesting that, if 

 this had not been done, such instructions might 

 begiven as would ensure it? execution at an 

 early date, so that the Society might be in a 

 position to take immediate steps for raising 

 funds to aid in the erection of the buildings. 

 To this letter a reply was received, dated 5th 

 September, 1857, which stated that "the sale 

 of the allotment in question has been decided 

 upon, but that the claims of the Royal Society 

 will not be overlooked when the land attached 

 to the present Government House is avail- 

 able. " 



In a subsequent letter to the Colonial Secre- 

 tary, dated 30th November, 1857, the Secretary 

 of the Society again urged the immediate 

 necessity for making provision "for the erec- 

 tion of a building suitable for a Museum, or so 

 miach of a building as may suffice for the pre- 

 sent requirements of the lastitution and the 

 country, hearing in mind that amiJle space must 

 he left around for extension hereafter, such In- 

 stitutions heing in their nature cumulative and 

 expansive heyond any limit ive can assign to 

 them." 



The Report of the Society for the year 1858 

 sets out that the overcrowded condition of the 

 Museum had at length drawn from the Govern- 

 ment a practical recognition of its urgent 

 claims for assistance, the Legislature having 

 granted a sum of £3,000 in aid of a building 



fund, conditionally upon £1,500 being raised by 

 private subscription. It is further reported 

 that a subscription list had been commenced 

 some time before, but that it was suspended in 

 consequence of some doubts having arisen as to 

 the possibility of obtaining from the Crown an 

 appropriate site for the building, but the site 

 si) long promised having been gazetted on the 

 22nd of January of that year, and as it might 

 be presumed that it was practically granted, 

 the canvassing for subscriptions had been 

 resumed, and the sum of £1,500 was shortly 

 afterwards raised. (This was subsequently 

 increased to £2,000.) The site last referred to 

 is that now ocuupied by Franklin Square, and 

 is marked on the Official Chart as " granted for 

 a Museum," and gazetted on 22nd January, 

 1859. This site had a frontage of 140 feet on 

 Macquarie-street and a similar length of front- 

 age on Davey-street, with a depth of 265 feet, 

 the whole area being 3 roods 16 perches 



The report for the year 1860 relates that, 

 resting in all confidence on the good faith of the 

 Government as to the granting of the site for 

 the Museum, the sum of £1,600 had been raised 

 by private subscription in accordance with the 

 condiiions of tlie Parliamentary Grant, but that 

 the Government had intimated to the Council 

 its inability to make a grant of the land which 

 had been gazetted as a site, and expressed an 

 intention of otherwise providing accommodation 

 for the Museum. It was further reported that 

 the pmposal of Ministers was to give wholly 

 inadequate and unsuitable accommodation in 

 connection with a new range of buildings for 

 departmental purposes which it was intended 

 to erect at the back of the new Supreme Court- 

 house in Macquarie street. This proposal was 

 acconopanied by very onerous and, in fact, im- 

 possible conditions. It is to be noted in passing 

 that the action of the Government in the 

 matter was a distinct breach of faith with those 

 who had subscribed so largely, relying upon the 

 arrangement as to the site being loyally adhered 

 to. In the following year it is reported that 

 the Council had succeeded in obtaining a good 

 site for the new Museum, and that designs had 

 been furnished for the building. In the year 

 1862 the portion of the building, vi^hich was 

 evidently only designed as a patt of a more 

 extensive building, was completed, and the 

 Museum was established in its new quarters at 

 the angle of JNIacquarie and Argyle streets. 



No record has yet been discovered as to the 

 exact area granted at this site, but from all 

 that can be gathered it was clearly the inten- 

 tion to grant the land extending from Mac- 

 quarie-street to Davey-streat, and it is impor- 

 tant to remember that even this area would be 

 one-third less than that originally granted (now 

 Franklin Square). The portion now left un- 

 coloured on the accompanying plan was origi- 

 nally more or less covered by the waters of the 

 harbour at high tide, and it was gradually re- 

 claimed and came to be used as a convenient 

 place for depositing stacks of timber. No steps 

 seem to have been taken by the Society to 

 secure their occupation of it. Attention having 



