A Tasmanian Treasure Christopher Bantick introduces one of the Heritage Collections of the State Library of Tasmania Tasmania’s Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts, in Hobart, is a cornucopia of remarkable and rare books, colonial paintings, works of art, and extraordinary examples of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century furniture, silver, glass, china and objects d’art. One of the Heritage Collections of the State Library of Tasmania, it is housed in a permanent display of period rooms, decorated and furnished to reflect the decorum and elegance of the Georgian era. Besides the books, kept in fine cedar bookcases, there are displays of mahogany and walnut furniture dating from 1680, together with many outstanding examples of Chippendale, Sheraton and Hepplewhite furniture, Georgian silver and glass, plus fine English, French and Chinese porcelain. The Allport collection is named after one of the most noted benefactor families in Tasmania. Joseph Allport, the sire of the Tasmanian branch, was born at ‘Cedar Court’, Aldridge, Staffordshire, England, on 15 October 1800. He and his family arrived in Hobart in December 1831, and soon after became actively involved in the development of the artistic, social and cultural life of the island. In 1965 his descendant Henry Allport (a Hobart solicitor) died, bequeathing his collection of books and fine art to the Tasmanian Government to be used ‘for the benefit of the public’. His will, made in 1949, was unambiguous about what he wanted to happen to the collection. It was to be a ‘permanent memorial to the Allport family’, and the will specifically stated that the State Library of Tasmania was to manage it.
The creation of the Allport collection was not the sole work of Henry Allport, but developed the collecting by his father Cecil from 1899, thus dating back over several generations. For the Tasmanian Government the bequest was akin to opening a treasure-house. Henry Allport’s will described the collection as:
There was unease over whether the State Library of Tasmania should accept the collection in its completeness. Some thought that its diversity would best be served by division among a number of institutions. Although in accordance with Allport’s wishes the collection has remained in its entirety, as an integral component of the State Library’s Heritage Collections, the securing of the collection was not without its controversy. In addition to bequeathing the collection, Henry Allport bequeathed his home, ‘Cedar Court’, in the Hobart suburb of Sandy Bay—with the intention that the collection would stay in the family home. Opinion, however, was that the house was unsuitable for holding the collection, presenting difficulties regarding management, security and access for researchers.
Thus (as noted by Tony Marshall in a paper presented to the Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand in October 2004): ‘In September 1966, the Chief Secretary of Tasmania, with the Tasmanian Library Board and the trustees of Henry Allport’s will (with consent of Henry Allport’s next of kin) entered into an agreement to vary the terms of the will, and that agreement was then ratified by the Tasmanian Parliament.’ The major provisions of the agreement were: ‘that the collection could be moved into the proposed new wing of the State Library; that the collection would remain entirely separate in its identity and integrity; and that the proceeds of the sale of Cedar Court would be used to establish a capital fund to equip, maintain and add to the collections.’ This decision caused considerable public disquiet at the time. It was one thing to change the stated wishes of a will, but extraordinary that parliament could in effect intervene in the conditions of a will and reconfigure the terms. Letters of deep unease flowed into Hobart’s Mercury newspaper, but these protests came to nothing. The Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts Agreement Act of 1966 was passed, and the collection was duly transported to the State Library in 1972. For librarians and bibliophiles, the Allport collection offers some particularly fine examples of colonial publishing, and a chronology of works influential to Australia’s bibliographical past. It boasts a number of works by John Gould in their original parts, and the rare gems of the official published accounts by Dampier, Anson, Cook, Bligh and Flinders relating to their explorations. Besides offering a core sample of intellectual, scientific, artistic and creative life of Australia and the wider Pacific, the Allport collection contains many books not found in any other public Tasmanian collections, including a set of 11 pamphlets relating to the affairs of the Port Phillip Association.
One set of pictures in the Allport Library inspired Tasmanian author Richard Flanagan’s award-winning novel, Gould’s Book of Fish (2001). Theses pictures are in the William Buelow Gould sketchbook, which contains 35 watercolours of fish once found in Macquarie Harbour in Tasmania’s west. They were painted when Gould was a convict at Sarah Island in 1832. Besides this duly famous sketchbook, the Allport collection holds works, mainly watercolours, by John Glover (1767–1849), who was well known by the Allports in both England and Tasmania, and two line and wash works by his son, John Richardson Glover (1790–1868). Marian Jameson is senior librarian at the Allport Library and Museum. She is part of a small group of dedicated staff in the Heritage Collections, which helps maintain a flow of temporary exhibitions displaying the collection’s paintings and prints, rare books, manuscripts and photographs. Jameson, who has been librarian for 10 years, says that the collection is distinguished by its superb condition.
Jameson, with her excitement over the library’s holdings still palpable after a decade, says the Allport collection is truly remarkable.
Rare as the books are, in comparison with the original works of art a good proportion of them could be replaced, albeit at great expense.
When Cecil Allport began the collection in 1899, he wrote to his brother in England, advising his interest in gathering books on early Australian settlement, Tasmanian settlement and the voyages to Australia.
With such management, the Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts is in good hands. A Tasmanian treasure, it is also a wonderful example of a gift from a generous benefactor to the people of Australia. CHRISTOPHER BANTICK is a Melbourne-based journalist and literary critic who writes for several newspapers across the country |
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