decline. Despite the economic and population declines of the early 1850s, the decade proved to be one of social and cultural advancement for the young city. Transportation of convicts to Van Diemen's Land was abolished in 1853, the last convict ship from England, the St. Vincent, arrived on 26 May 1853. Calls for responsible self-government were successful, with a new constitution drafted, and Van Diemen's Land became an independent British colony in 1856. The new colony immediately changed its name to Tasmania, to disassociate itself with its past as a penal colony. Hobart Town was proclaimed as the capital, and the Customs House at Sullivans Cove was renovated to accommodate a two house Parliament House with the previous Tasmanian Legislative Council re-constituted as the upper house, and the newly formed Tasmanian House of Assembly as the lower house. Two years later in 1858, the elegant Tudor-Gothic style Government House was completed, and by 1866 a magnificent Italian Renaissance style Town Hall had been completed adjacent to Franklin Square and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. As the colony grew, so too did the need for more administrative buildings. The Treasury Offices were built between 1859 and 1864, and a Registry of Deeds Office was built in 1884. It was not just the administrative needs of the colony that were increasingly being catered for, but also the spiritual needs. Construction on a Catholic Cathedral designed by architect William Wardell, widely regarded as Australia's finest architect of the 19th century, was commenced in 1860, and was to be built on the site of the first Roman Catholic Church in Tasmania. In 1866, St Mary's Catholic Cathedral was opened, but without the originally designed tower. The magnificent St David's Anglican Cathedral, seat of the Bishop of Tasmania, and administrative centre of the Anglican Diocese of Tasmania, was completed in 1868 in high Gothic style, designed by George Frederick Bodley. By the late 19th century, the central waterfront area of Wapping, which included the original wharf area built on Hunter Island, had declined dramatically as a result of government attempts to control prostitution, gambling and excessive drinking. As the areas of Wapping and to a lesser extent, Glebe declined, Battery Point and Sandy Bay located to the south of the town, were becoming home to the town's more prosperous residents. Soon, Battery Point was centred on the pleasant Arthur's Circus, where many of the