Ingle Hall is a landmark building in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

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on the corner of

Macquarie Macquarie may refer to: People * Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of the British colony of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821. * Elizabeth Macquarie Campbell, Lachlan Macquarie's second wife Locations * Division of Macquarie, an electoral district in th ...

and Argyle Streets. It has served numerous purposes over its history and is vacant; it was most recently used as

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print museum. It is unknown when the building was built as it predates any government record holding by the state of Tasmania, which began in 1822. It is named for John Ingle, one of the two possible first inhabitants of the building. It was listed on the

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heritag ...

until that list was archived in 2007, and is on the

Tasmanian Heritage Register The Tasmanian Heritage Register is the statutory heritage register of the Australian state of Tasmania. It is defined as a list of areas currently identified as having historic cultural heritage importance to Tasmania as a whole. The Register is k ...

. It is alleged to be the oldest building in Hobart (and therefore Tasmania), but this is not proven.

History

The hall wasn't named until the late 19th century, referred to simply by its location before that time. It was either built by John Ingle or Edward Lord (grazier), brother of Sir John Owen, 1st Baronet, as a warehouse and first occupied in either 1811 or 1814. Several conservation studies have concluded it is most likely Edward Lord built it, and later sold it to John Ingle. It was brought by

Roland Warpole Loane Rowland Walpole Loane (died 8 October 1844), a merchant descended from a family of English landlords, was an early settler in New South Wales. Concerned more with his personal wealth than contributing to colonial society, Loane became well known w ...

sometime in 1814. It was used as a general store 1818–1822, a business after that and then from 1826 it became the Leek Inn for three years. 1846 it was the first location of The Hutchins School for three years, until their own building was built further up Macquarie Street. It has also been the Tasmanian Coffee Palace, a boarding house and a private residence. It was bought by the government of Tasmania in 1949, with plans to demolish the building despite widespread criticism at the time. This never happened.

References

{{Hobart landmarks Buildings and structures in Hobart Tasmanian Heritage Register