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Welcome to the Jane Franklin Summer School website. Here you will find descriptions of the courses offered in January 2010 and find out a bit about the city of Hobart; one of the "hidden jewels" of Australia.

Hobart was settled in the first decade of the nineteenth century. It lies on the beautiful Derwent river and offers a deep water harbour for commercial and passenger ships virtually in the heart of the city. At first, Hobart was the administrative centre for the south of the island and after 1812 for the whole of Van Diemen's Land. The current population of the island is around 500,000 with approximately half of this number living in Hobart.

Hobart has been particularly fortunate in the survival of so many of its glorious old buildings. The Salamanca Place warehouses were built in the 1830s and the Theatre Royal in 1837. Hobart is the site of the Cascade Brewery, founded in 1832 and now the oldest remaining Brewery in Australia.

Jane Franklin Hall, where the Summer Schools are located, is named after Jane, Lady Franklin, she came to Van Diemen's Land with her husband when he was appointed the sixth Lieutenant-Governor of the island in 1837. Lady Jane was a patron of arts and education. Her behaviour was unconventional and she was accused of meddling in the government.

The College named after her, Jane Franklin Hall, is a residential college of the University of Tasmania. It was founded by the Tasmanian Council of Churches in 1950 as a non-denominational Christian college in which residents of all faiths and beliefs could feel welcome. College aims are spelt out on the crest: the pursuit of truth and the freedom that follows from it.

The Governor's Lady - A recollection

James Calder, writing in the Hobart Mercury described an "at home" held by Lady Franklin.

It was an intellectual treat. No burlesque of a queen's drawing room. Nothing beyond the usual forms and conventionalities of genteel life. It partook more of a conversazione, Lady Franklin, after taking the initiative, taking care that the subject introduced was not beyond the capacity of the company. Her study was to make every person at home and happy, and admirably did she succeed, for an evening at Government House was considered the most enjoyable of all parties. ...

To look at her in a drawing room, no one would suppose she could undergo any physical exertion: but see her under the clear heavens, ascending the slopes of Mount Wellington, and brushing the dew away through dense forests of underwood, in deep and gloomy recesses, in search of natural productions and to view from the abyss the sublime and beautiful basaltic peaks and rugged rocks and waterfalls, which are only to be seen in all their grandeur from depths below! Who could believe it was the same delicate, fragile lady who was overcome by the fatigues of a ball. But Lady Franklin was a great traveller, and had been 'tried and tutored in the world'.

So, once again, welcome to Tasmania, to Jane Franklin Hall, and to the Jane Summer Schools experience.