About the book

For the Record is an architectural and social history of James Bennell’s buildings in Launceston, Tasmania. The book traces James’s career, from his arrival in the colony as a ‘House painter, Carver & Gilder’ in 1834 until his death in 1878, when it was said that he had ‘erected more buildings in Launceston than perhaps any other man.’ For the Record describes James’s houses as they were first built but it also follows the lives of the Bennell and Beaumont families in Launceston as the town developed.

James Bennell’s buildings are best appreciated when seen in historical perspective. His first pair of houses were erected in 1835, when chain gangs of convicts were toiling at their labour, the thylacine was hunted on the outskirts of the settlement and land was purchased for the site of Melbourne. Indeed, James’s own house in Cameron Street claims an association with Melbourne’s settlement through a member of the Port Philip Association, John Sinclair. James Bennell worked successfully through Australia’s first serious depression to make his first speculative property sale to the first mayor of Launceston, William Stammers Button, in the year of his election. Many Bennell houses were built before ‘Van Diemen’s Land’ became ‘Tasmania’ and the last two houses were erected in the year the last full-blooded native Tasmanian, Truganini, died.

James Bennell’s buildings may not necessarily be remarkable examples of their time but they are remarkable survivors with a rich and unusual history. They are the work of one of Australia’s first speculative builders, a decorative artist and craftsman.

About James Bennell’s houses

This story began in 1986 with the purchase of our house in Welman Street, on the edge of Windmill Hill in Launceston, Tasmania. The house was found to be one of twenty in Launceston built by James Bennell for rental and sale between 1835 and 1876. Remarkably, seventeen houses of the twenty were still standing and they remain so in 2006.

Three commercial properties were also found to have been James Bennell’s: recycled, subdivided or extended into seven separate addresses for his family. These properties had also survived, despite their deteriorating condition and valuable city sites. They were classified by the National Trust of Australia (Tasmania), listed on the Register of the National Estate, and the Bennell family home in Cameron Street was placed on the ‘Ten Most Endangered Places in Australia’ register to avoid demolition.

James Bennell regularly undertook private work for clients and neighbours so many buildings in Launceston and the surrounding districts would have been guided by his hand.

Surprisingly, there was no existing architectural record or historical information on James’s buildings for conservation and advisory groups or city planners, or for Bennell house-owners who were renovating or restoring their properties. For the Record will hopefully provide this information, bring greater recognition to the remaining Bennell buildings in Launceston and better secure their future.

About the illustrations

All illustrations (drawings, photographs and diagrams) are by the author unless otherwise stated. Drawings are based on the author’s own photographs, evidence from early paintings and photographs in public and private collections, and on an architectural study of James Bennell’s buildings.

Many of the illustrations are a combination of photograph and drawing. Modern photographic images are overlaid with mixed media drawing to remove irrelevant or personal references and restore original architectural detail.

The exaggerated perspective of the camera lens is evident in many of the images.

For the Record