The shops in Hampden Road were like a meeting place for all the housewives. There was no refrigeration in those days so they had to shop nearly every day. Where the post office is now was Mr Swalwell’s shop, a greengrocer – he used to stand in the doorway. He would deliver if necessary with his horse and cart.
Joan Harvey of the 1930s
Many of the old shopfronts on Hampden Road are still commercial meeting places which have simply adjusted to a modern lifestyle and income. Battery Point residents today often refer to shopping in ‘the village’.
Today’s cafes and restaurants were once butchers, bakers, hotels, dressmakers, shoemakers and general stores which appeared from the 1840s. Jackman and McRoss cafe at the corner of Hampden Road and Kelly Street has always been a bakery.
The proprietors lived on the premises with their families and businesses were frequently family concerns. During the 1930s, the corner of Montpelier Retreat and Sandy Bay Road was known locally as ‘Kirks Corner’.
Old Kirk had a grocer’s shop right on the ‘wedge’. The next little shop just around the corner on Sandy Bay Road was a confectionery one which his wife had. The next one, nearest town, was the tobacconist, also run by a Kirk.
– Joan Harvey of the 1930s
Before public schooling, small schools were plentiful. In the 1850s, Mrs Lamont ran a ‘ladies seminary’ at 26 Hampden Road while Mrs Mary Barber ran a similar establishment at Number 52.
… He was quite a character and would deliver if necessary with a horse and cart. He was one of the first in Battery Point to have a car – an old T model Ford.
Listen
Mr Swalwell, the greengrocer in Hampden Road, used to stand in the doorway. He was quite a character and would deliver if necessary with a horse and cart. He was one of the first in Battery Point to have a car – an old T model Ford. He asked Dad if he’d like to ride out to the country to go rabbiting. But the car wouldn’t start so they pushed it along Hampden Road to the top of Montpelier Retreat and rolled it down the hill in an effort to start it, but without success. My father Fred said: ‘What’s that keyhole for in the dashboard?’ Swally had to run home and get the ignition key!
– Joan Harvey talking about her childhood in the 1930s
Cripps Bakery c1930s, now Jackman and McRoss
This building has always been a bakery. It was built and run for many years by the Cripps family.
Source
Private collection
Cripps Bakery delivery cart 1920
The bakery was on the corner of Hampden Road and Kelly Street.
Source
Private collection
Jackman and McRoss is still a popular meeting place in Battery Point 2015
The shops in Hampden Road were like a meeting place for all the housewives. There was no refrigeration in those days so they had to shop nearly every day.
– Joan Harvey talking about her childhood in the 1930s
Photo
Robert Vincent
Jackman and McRoss by Melika 2015
Source
Albuera Street Primary School
Hampden Road looking towards kunanyi / Mount Wellington at the corner of Kelly Street and Waterloo Crescent 2015
Note the range of architectural styles, indicating the different times of construction.
Photo
Robert Vincent
No 56 Hampden Road c1943
The building was then a house and shop.
Source
Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office Early Tasmanian Architecture Volume II p.23 Item 8 Photographer Frank Heyward
No 56 Hampden Road 2015
This is the house and shop of W. Chandler that was depicted in the previous photograph, a commercial premises once again in 2015.
Photo
Private collection
Looking down Hampden Road from South Street to Runnymede Street 2015
Hampden Road forms the boundary of Knopwood’s original grant, hence the curve in the street.
Photo
Robert Vincent
Adcock’s Meat Bazaar at the corner of South Street and Hampden Road c1900
The practice of hanging meat carcasses at the front of the shop was common before refrigeration.
Source
Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office PH30 1 7741 3
Café at the corner of South Street and Hampden Road 2015
This was once Adcock’s Meat Bazaar. The building no longer has a verandah.
Photo
Robert Vincent