The History of Ingle Hall

The History of Printing

The History of The Mercury

Tour Information and Bookings

The Mercury Print Museum, in Ingle Hall, Hobart

Tasmania's printing heritage is the focus of the special museum in Hobart's historic Ingle Hall. The museum has been developed by the Mercury newspaper in its 1814 Georgian building, in Macquarie St, Hobart, adjoining the company's head office. The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery assisted the newspaper in creating the specialised museum which occupies the entire ground floor of Ingle Hall, one of Australia's oldest early colonial buildings.

 

Extensive restoration was done by historic home restoration specialist builder, Brian Freeman, as part of a conservation plan prepared by Hobart architects Stephen Firth and Peter Freeman. A series of interpretive displays and exhibits was designed by the Tasmanian Museum, covering the history of early printing in Tasmania, the development of the Mercury from 1854 to today, and the evolution of 19th, 20th and 21st century printing.

 

Displays range from a collection of early printing memorabilia covering the early days of typesetting by hand with "movable type", the development of "hot metal" type, and today's computer-based typesetting techniques.

 

The museum was developed by the Mercury as part of its Newspapers in Education program. There is a strong education focus as the museum traces the development of printing through actual historical objects and images as well as visual and oral presentations.

 

The museum building itself reflects the history of Hobart. Ingle Hall is regarded as one of Australia's finest examples of Georgian architecture from the early 19th century to have survived almost intact. Over two centuries it has seen many uses, including a private residence for early occupants including merchants John Ingle and Edward Lord. It was the first Hutchins School building in 1846, and served as a private boarding house for much of the early part of the 20th century.

The Mercury would appreciate information to assist with its historical research into print in Tasmania, and the Ingle Hall building in particular. Contact the Mercury by clicking here.