The Cathedral’s origins can be traced back to 1822 when the first permanent Tasmanian priest Fr Philip Conolly constructed a temporary wooden chapel near the present Cathedral site.
It took three attempts before the first section of the Cathedral was finally built between 1860 and 1866. A donation of £10,000 from philanthropist Roderick O’Connor finally secured the project.
Structural problems caused by faulty building resulted in the Cathedral being largely dismantled and re-constructed to a modified design between 1876 and 1881. The East window, containing the Hardman stained glass window was recovered from the original Cathedral and reinstalled. The first stained glass window installed in the Cathedral, the Hardman window is a memorial to Bishop Willson and his Vicar General, William Hall. These pioneers, in spite of their hard work, did not live to see the completed Cathedral.