Summer nights in Arthur Circus were wonderful times. … You could go round there at night and you were really in the centre of Battery Point and you’d play marbles and the sort of cards you’d flick against the wall and toss up in the air a bit like 2-up. … Just on dusk at tea time, you’d hear all the mothers come out calling for their kids ‘Tommy, Tommy time to come home!’ … We used to have a huge crowd there of kids … Yes they were very fond memories … .
Bill Foster talking about his childhood in the 1930s
Arthur Circus allotments were sold in 1847 by Lieutenant Governor Arthur, who had acquired the land in 1829 in dubious circumstances. Henry Jennings had bought the land very cheaply from Robert Knopwood’s creditors and sold it almost immediately to Arthur, who would have realised that his planned waterfront developments would dramatically increase land value.
For over 100 years, the crowded working-class cottages in Arthur Circus housed large families whose livelihood depended on the waterfront. Today these cottages sell for over $1,000,000. Their attraction and value lies in their proximity to the city, waterfront and place of work, just as it did in the 1840s. Ironically, it is only in recent years that the words of the 1847 auctioneer, Mr John Charles Stracey, have finally come to pass.
[T]his neighbourhood will inevitably become The Resort of the Beau Monde.
– The Courier 3 March 1847
Listen
In the past, everybody knew everybody else and if anything was wrong, people would help. When we came back (in 1971 after 20 years away), that was all gone because half the people… you didn’t know them anymore. … All the people have gone … all the people you knew … it’s not the same. The community, especially in the Circus… it’s not the same … Eight of the houses here in Arthur Circus are rented out … bought by people on the mainland to rent out … and you don’t get the same community – I mean you get some nice people come and live there, but after six months they’re gone.
– Long-term Battery Point resident
Original 1847 plan for Arthur Circus for sale of land by auctioneer J. C. Stracey
Source
From the Auctioneer’s leaflet J C Stracey, Amy Rowntree, Battery Point Today and Yesterday
Grand Old Duke Hotel 2015
Grand Old Duke Hotel at the corner of Hampden Road and Runnymede Street, leading into Arthur Circus. Directly opposite was another hotel, the Crown.
Photo
Private collection
Once the Crown Hotel 2015
This building, now a private residence, was once the Crown Hotel on the corner of Hampden Road and Runnymede Street. You can see the similarity in the layout to the hotel on the other corner, the Grand Old Duke. The entrance to the exclusively male bar was on the rounded corner and the parlour for women and residents was entered via the other doors.
Photo
Private collection
Arthur Circus 1950s
Aunties, uncles, cousins and grandparents often lived within one or two doors of each other. Arthur Circus may have become a poor and rundown area, but there was a strong sense of community – when times were tough, neighbours rallied around to help.
Source
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Q17139.31
Portrait of William Buckley
Escapee convict William Buckley lived among the Aborigines around Port Philip from 1803 to 1835. He later came to Van Diemen’s Land and is believed to have been living in Arthur Circus at the time of his death in 1856. The odds against his survival outside European settlement are believed to have given rise to the term “Buckley’s chance”, meaning “little or no chance”.
Source
State Library Victoria
William Buckley discovering himself to the early settlers at Port Philip 1835
Source
Engraving by Samuel Calvert, 1869 from La Trobe Collection, State Library of Victoria, IAN24/04/69/SUPP
Arthur Circus by Lily 2015
Source
Albuera Street Primary School
Runnymede Street running through the middle of Arthur Circus c1940
It allowed traffic flow between Salamanca Place and Hampden Road.
The Salvation Army used to come and play on the verandah of a house in Arthur Circus every Sunday afternoon… Next door was Miss Barnes’ place and she used to invite all the children back to her house for a Christmas party every year… We used to look forward to that – we got presents.
– Lynn Bluett stalking about his Battery Point childhood in the 1950s and 60s
Source
Colin Dennison Collection
Arthur Circle (sic) 1960s
We played hopscotch, marbles – nobody plays marbles anymore – chasings, hide and seek… You had to entertain yourselves in those days. No computers and things like that, at least you got plenty of fresh air!
– Arthur Circus resident talking about her childhood in the 1930s
In 1951 the original layout was restored and the road once again circled the park.
Source
Arthur Circus by Harry 2015
Source
Albuera Street Primary School
Arthur Circus from Runnymede Street 1940s
The street veered out of the Circus at a strange angle as it crossed one of the original blocks of land.
Source
Colin Dennison Collection
Looking west in Arthur Circus 1963
Source
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Q171739.30
Arthur Circus 2015
Capitalists seeking outlay are invited to attend this sale which presents a safe and certain investment, since this neighbourhood will inevitably become ‘The Resort of the Beau Monde’.
– Courier, 3 March 1847
Photo
Robert Vincent
Cottage in Arthur Circus by Ellen 2015
Albuera Street Primary School
Brae Lynden Runnymede Street demolished in 1964
It was a beautiful house that was there, all stone with big verandahs on it and a rotunda that we used to play in.
– Battery Point resident talking about her childhood in the 1930s
Source
Colin Dennison Collection
Flats in Runnymede Street 2015 on the site of former house Brae Lynden
When I came back here and they’d built those units on Runnymede Street (behind Arthur Circus), I thought ‘Oh my God, why didn’t someone do something about it?’
– Battery Point resident on her return to the area after 20 years away
Photo
Private collection