The Anglican Church.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLV, Issue 250, 14 December 1903, Page 4

The Anglican Church.

DIAMOND JUBILEE IN TARANAKI. AN INTERESTING SKETCH. We have been favoured with " a copy of the paper read by Mr W. H. Skinner at the public meeting in the Theatre Royal cm Monday last, in connection with the jubilee arte- J bratians of the Anglican Church in Taranaki, and now reprint it as being an interesting account of affairs relating to the early sc I.llenient of the district. At a public meeting held in Plymouth, England, art the 25th January, 1840 was lorried the "Plymouth Company of New Zealand," with the abject of colonising New Zealand from the west of England. LaatA was purchased from the New Zealand ComiMiiny, and in the following August they despatched Mr F. A. Carrinigfon, their Chief Surveyor, with his stall to New Zealand to select the site of the " New Plymouth. seutlwmtat." No time) was lost in carrying out the intentions of the I'lyiiiouth Company, and intense interest was shown throughout the west of England in their scheme for foundling a colony in New Zealand. Mainly through the activity of Sir Wm. Molesworth (a director of the company, and after whom Molesworth Street to this- town is named), an exceptionally fine party of emigrants, morally as well as physically, was secured for the pioneer ship.

In September tenders W9re accepted for the charter of a ship to convey the first party to New Zealand. For youi information I will give some of the details of this tender, so that you may Judge for yourselves what a voyage to this faraway country meant 60 years ago. "Tender for the hire of a ship to convey passengers and goods from Plymouth to New Zealand.—We hereby offer the ship William Bryan, rated Al at Ldoyds, of 312 tons, now lying in London Docks (Alexander

McLean, master) for a voyage from Plymouth to New Zealand at the rate of £5 2s 6d per registered ton for the voyage. Height between decks 6ft lin at stern, and sft llin at main hatchway. Length of lower deck 105 ft 3in. (Signed) Donnett and England, ownere."" Such was the gallant Httte barque that soiled out of Plymouth Spund on the afternoon of 12th November, 18-10, and the last pilot quitting

the ship at Raine Head, these bold hearts bade a last farewell to the dear ok! land. This incident recalls how two hundred years earlier 1627—the Pilgrim Fathers had sped away from the same old port in the Mayflower of cherished memory, bound for those "wild New England shores" where they might claim, and where they found in that new world—"Freedom to worship God." Just think of it, my friends, calmly and dispassionately, what this venture meant. The shattering of lifeJong ties, the farewells for ever to

old friends and familiar land-marks, and the graves of their ancestors, the breaking up of homes and the severing of family and social connections, the setting forth on a

voyage of 16,000 miles to the uttermost bounds of the earth to found a new home in a practically unknown land inhabited by the most ferocious and savage people, who were even at this time in parts given over to cannibalism. But the tvoide failure and dismay ha»d no meaning for these sturdy. God-fear-ing pioneers, true men of Devon 1 .

They set out as their fathers had so often done before to subdue and comfuer, and well and nobly did they carry out tnds resolution. I am speaking in a great measure to-night to a generation who have grown up in the midst of conveniences and luxuries of a civilisation won, oil ! how hardly from the hands of nature, and in direct opposition, in Taranaki at least, of a biave, noble, and yet savage foeuian. This younger generation does not know—and what in many instan-ces-is far more grievous, does not appreciate—tfte toil, hardship, and self denying efforts undertaken by the early settlers. 1 am certain of this one fact, that had not the pioneers, the Pilgrim Fathers of Taramaiki, been of the best that Britain could send forth of her stalwart amid indomitable sons, this settlement would have been broken up and abandoned during those dark years of 1844 to 1849. Inducements were held out by the Crown for the pioneers to abandon the isolated and distracted settlement, but true to the best characteristics of the race and a wonderful tenacity of purpose, combined with a genuine love of their adopted country* they battled on against tremendous odds and finally came through victorious. But, alas, how many paid the penalty of overstrain, mental and physical, that such an effort exacted. How few lived to see the ultimate fruition of their labours and privations. Some few there are, thank God, still with us, and to those few, the remn-jnt of the gallant band to whom New Zealand owes so much, we offer a iribite of heartfelt gratitude that they, the founders of this colony, laU'so deeply and so well the foundations of the moral, intellectual, and industrial structure from which has been built up, as we find it, the New Zealand of to-day. Let us see to it that we worthily uphold the great trust, inherited from the early settlers of Taranaki. Let me conclude this short reference to the coming of the pioneers to 'Jaranakt by quoting a verse, appropriate to the occasion, it seems to me, from Mrs Heinous' noble tribute to the I'ilijrim Fathers of Sew EnglaiAl : "Ay, call it holy ground. The soil where first they trod They bate left irasfcain'd what there they foundFreedom to worship God." "IMlgiim Fathers."

We will now pass on to consider the establishing of the. Church in the mlant settlement. When the lirst settlers landed they found already a mmisu-r of the Oospei established on tlve.se shoivs. The Rev. Mr Creed a missionary of the Wesleyan Methodist Society, wns living near Motuioa, on the sea shore, in what is now, known ax the Wblteley Township, amd this good earnest man officiated as the minister of the settlement until the corning of the Rev Win. Boiland. The little raupo chapel which stood about the pivsent junction of 'Brougham and Powdeifcain streets was ihe first Christian place 01 worship Uuilt for the use of white people in Taranak-i. A few months after the William Bryan droll*.. I her anchor off Moturoa on JOU, .March. 1841, George Augustus Selwyn was consecrated the lirst Bishop 01 New Zealand, ami on the 30th .May. ,842, fr. ttml M £ Zvyn landed at Auckland. With characteristic energy the at O] , CL . startul npon the arduous work of visiting and organising his great diocese. On Oetolier 28th of the same year (1842) te made his first visit to New Plymouth, walking fiom Wellington, a distance of 270 wiles. In connection with this hist visit the Bishop state* :—"On the •28th Octoijer, 1842, we reached New Plymouth, or Taraumki, where I was received by Mr Wicksteed, the company's agent. ... 1 was lodged in tihe house of Mr Cooke, who most kindly plated his whole estabJisliment at the disposal of the Chief Justice and myself." ilr Cooke's house stood on the site of the present building known as the old parsonage at Te Heuui. Tlie Bishop, «ontinuiiig. says :—"At the foot of j the grounds ran one of those be&u,-

fTful clear and rapid streams (Hemii) which abound throughout Taranaki, and all around the fresh foliage of a New Zealand spring tipping all the evergreens with a bright and sparkling verdure formed a base upon which the white peak of live mountain reposed. My favourite verse came into my mind, "The lot is fallen unto me in a fair ground ; yea, 1 have a goodly heritage." Taranaki is a lovely country, dist'in'gjirtehed even among the many natural beauties which I have now seal." Continuing, he writes : "At

11 1 performed the morning service ■and again at 3 the afternoon service (Sunday, October 30th, 1842), and preached to the English in a wooden building prepared for the purpose. I baptised several children and ended with the native afternoon service. 1 am much satisfied by the disposal of the people of this settlement and the friendly and cordial manner in which I hityve been received. The New Plymouth settlement pleases me much by its honest agricultural character, and the absence of attempt to appeal' what it is not. My impression is that an active and zealous clergyman will find a most hopeful held of usefulness among the Devonshire immigrants, who seem really desirous of such a privilege." On the following <lay— Monday, 31st—the Bishop, with the Chief Justice, the Messrs Carnngton and others, selected sites for churches, a,nd on Wednesday the Bishop's party left for Wellington on the Government brig Victoria.

(Note.—The first service taken by Bishop Selwyn in what is now the provincial district of Taranaki was conducted on Sunday, the 23rd October, 1842, at the native pah of Waokena on the sea clifis, two miles north of the Mamawapou River, near Hawera. This was a native service.) By the foregoing quotations we lind that the first Church of Emig>fhrad service held toy the pakehias in Tarainaki took place an Sunday, 30th October, 1842. The wooden building in which the service was held stood on an allotment of the store house reserve on the north side of the lame connecting Brougham and Ourrie Streets, and close to the present site of the Jubilee boarding house in Currie Street. The buiAisng was erected by the Plymouth Company as a depot and hospital for the young settlement. It was aflerwarids removed to the north-east corner at the junction of Devon and Brougham Streets, where it stood for many years as a general store occupied by Messrs' T. lbbotson, W. R. King, and others. As

stated above, fhe Bishop on his first visit selected the site for tu.e future church—now occupied by St, M&ry's, the Mother Church of Taranaki. How wise t/he choice was, we now, after .an interval of 60 years, can fully upprec.ia.te. At that time the groiind was partly occupied by an olid Maori gaiden, the remainder was covered with a. luxuriant growth of native shrubs and trees, the slopes of Pukaka or Marslaivd Hlill being clothed to its .vuniiiijt by the beautiful veidure of the New Zealand bush. The next event p-f interest that presents itself is the oidi'Wtiou of the Rev. William Bollauiri, who was admitted to deacon's orders at Waimate, Bay of Islands, on Sunday, September 24th, 1843. (Mr Holland was oidained as priest on Sunday, Sept. 21, 1845,) The day following—September 25bh—'t»be Bishop left Waimate for Auckland and the Thames toy the schooner Union. From the Tihames he walked across the island to New Plymouth, to meet the Rev. Win. Bolland, who, with Mrs Holland, was to sail for this settlement, via the North Cape, in the Government brig Victoria. In this eventful journey the Bishop walked and canoed a distance of 550 miles ; they were detained live days on the Upper Wanganui by floods, and had to subsist on fern root aind a few wood-hens that they were fortunate enough to snare. • Eventually he had to send two of Jris Maoris for assistance down the river on his air mattress fitted up as a raft or canoe. After great hardships and danger, such as oan only be understood by those who have helped to lay the foundations of our colony, this truly great Bishop arrived in New Plymouth for the second time on the 25th November, 1843. Four days after the Victoria came in sight, but tine wind being contrary, it was not until early on the morning of Sunday, 3rd December, that the brig came to an anchor in the roadstead. In the Bishop's diary we find this entry : —"December #rd (1843), Siuiday.—At 9 a.m. boat landed Mr and Mia Bolland, Mr and Mrs Butt. Woat to church with my two deacons, who divided the service wjth me. . . Very thankful for the successful completion of the saconld point of my journey, the establishment of a clergyman at New Plymouth." . . Fixmi this service hehl in a temporary rush building, plain-, yet dignified, conducted by one of the noblest sons of the Church —assisted by two youthful deaconsdates the foundation of the Church of England in Taraireaki. From that celebration onward the regular services have been maintained. This service, from which the foundation of our Church in Taranaki dates, was held in a raupo building which stood on the south side of Currie Lane on town section No. 923, some 25 yaids from street. Here services were held for about six months, but on assembling to worslhip one winter's morning in 1844, the congregation found themselves without a church—a furious gale raging during the previous night bad flattened out the flimsy

structure. Fresh arrangements had to be made, and the Courthouse was littsd up in July as a temporary church, and here regular services were held up to the opening of St. Mary's. It was in this building that the late Miss Allen started our first Sunday - school some time during 1844. This temporary church was a raupo building standing on tiie western slope of Pukeariksi, or Mount Eliot. It was originally huilt as a dwelling-house by Captain King and Mi Cutlield, and upon their remoival to BiXHvklunlds it wias occupied as a Courthouse. Hei'tj Vice-Royalty in the farm of Goivornor Fitzroy, wildi members of his staff, used to join in worship with the regular members of the congregation during the disastrous yoar of J. 844.

A small hamlet having spi-ung up on fhu east bank of the'Hi'mii '-River known at that time by the name of Weekstown.the Bishwp, out of his private purse, built a small church for tfUs isolated centre, and about Mart*, 1845, it was Opened for public worship. This was the lirst Umrcth ol England built in Taranuki. mid a portion of the origin-; building is still sitmidiiMg- as the nave and eliancel of the present litzroy Church. JlisJwi.p Selwyn, writing about tihe chapel „i H« wi , wtJ . s: ■'Lles-ides the congregation in the pa >rirfh church, l luid the pleasure of assembling a small body of ,„„• people at the rustic chapel of the liemil, two miles ironi the church. The building is lormed of rough hugs of timber, but Its appearance indicates the uses to which it is applied ; ami W)th , ollt afj . sent rang to the common approbation ol cheap churches, it i s . a stttKsra( ._ tiwi to taw that a Milage population to the nwm'bwr of 70 or 80 have bren provided with- u temporary chapel ol poasing appearance at an expense of £50."

One of the many bright features of the early Church in Tarauaki wa6 he great g0,,,! feeling and truo Christi.au spirit existing w iUl , in thc young community. -], his was shown by the happy intermingling of the two congregations then existing Every fourth Sunday Mr BolJand's

duties called him away to minister to the Maori population. On these occasions lus congregation mingled with that of the Rev. Mr Turto-n, the Wesley-am clergyman, and in the absence of Mr Turton his congregation would worship with Mr Boltand—m line example of Ch|risli«n tolerance that might be followed

with advantage to-day. It was in the Courthouse and temjvorary church on Mount Eliot that the first regular meetings of communicants was held, of which we baive recojid. In the old mi'nute-'boiok « find the first entry reads as follows :—At a meeting of communieamts held on the 24th day of December, 1815, in the building used as a eMuroll—for the puimpose of appointing church wardens for the ens/uing year, the Rev. William Bolland in the chair, Mr Richard Ohilmuln was appointed by the clergyman as his churchwarden, auwl Mr William Wheeler,- sonr., appointed by the coimmuvioants, the following persons who have hereunto subscribed their names, -being present :—William Holland, minister ; Robert Parris, Stephen GiMingham, Naii'n. Of these, the first churchwardens of Tarainaki, Mr Chilman continued to hold oflice as warden or Vestryman up to February, 1875, a period of 30 years, and was intimately connected with every movement during that period for the good of the Chjuroh and for the material advancement of the settlement. He was one of the test types of the early colonist, and to him

more than any other individual layman the Church in Taran»Jci owes a debt of gratitude that so far I am sorry to say has not -been recognised in a tangible manner. In February or March, 1844, at a meeting l of churchmen, the Rev. W. Bolland amid Mr Wicksteed were -appointed a committee to solicit contributions from the settlers either in cash, produce, or labour, for the erection oi a fitting place of worship. The account was opened under the name oi lne Huatoki Ohureh Building Account. The first stone of the new church was laid by Captain Hoary King, K N Chief Magistrate of New Tlymouth, on the 25th March, 1845. (Annunciation of the Virgin Mary—and the nbuich was consequently dedicated to St. Mary). The building was opened by the Bev. Wm. Boiiand on Tuesday, 29th September, 1846. It was a noble effort—this building of St. Mary's in the early years oi the settlement—but their faith was strong—and the object aimed at, the building of a'permanent memorial as a tWank offering to Him who gu:ded them in safety to this' distant alitire appealed so strongly to their better feelings, that ail classes came forward to bear their share in the undertaking. Rich and poor alike gave freely. Never" 3i'"ee m our history Las iivis early effort 'been surpassed. The total cost of the building amounted to £1095 7s 6d. Of this sum the Bishop provided £250, and £72 2s M was given by friends in England, 'pie balance, £773 2« 6d, was subscribed locally- in cash or given in material aiud labour, am effort for which the pioneers should receive every credit when we consider the adverse circumstances surroiuud'ing them. The total population of the settlement at this time was 10§i0, fund the depression was suoh os we venture to' say no part of New Zealand has ever since suffered. Farm labourers were receiving 12s a week, paid partly In cash and partly in wheat at 6s per bush-

Mr Bolland did not live lpng to enjoy the privilege of conducting worship in the building he bad laboured so earnestly to complete. He was attacked by a fever, and altter languishing for a few weeks expired to the grief of the entire settlement. When we consider that Mr Bolland was only 27 at the time of his death, aaid that his ministry in Tai-a!nia)ki only extended over the short period of 3J years, the results of his ministrations are little short of marvellous. His work lives on, and will continue to do for' many years to come. To our shame be it again said we as a jieople have never shown our appreciation of his many virtues and noble qualities in a tangible mianner. A single window in the chancel of St. Mary's Is the only mark erected within the Church to his memory. This window was the gift of an early friend of the deceased.. It yet remains for the church-folk of Taramadi to erect a suitable memorial to the Hev. Win. Holland, of saintly memory. Mr Bolland died on May 29, 1847, and in February, 1848, the Rev. Henry Go'vett took charge of the ment, and continued the worn, of his early friend, ministering to Europeans and Maoris alike. It will be unnecessary for me to dwwij on the life and work of our late venerable pastor, Archdeacon Govett, and the share lie too'k in founding and moulding the infant Church in Taranaki. This has all' been placed before you'quite recently. 1 will now conclude by a brief Quotation from Bishop Selwyn's journal," in which he pays a high tribute' to the selfsacrifice and zeal of the founders of our Church jn Taranaki :—"We anchored oft' Turainaki early on t-jie morning of Sunday, 9th April, 1848. If 1 may confess a partiality such as a latfter may feel for one particular child without injustice to the rest this is my favourite settlement in New Zealand. My arrival on the Sunday morning was opportune, as Mr Govett was absent at the native villages on the cow*. The duties ot the parish therefore devolved r.pon me, and a great pleasure it was to spend the whole of the Lord's l>ay among this friendly and earnest people. The beautiful stone chapel was crowed at the evening *%?*■ UiS ill,tteed a ■V'eht m a new country to see such a to withstand an earthquake. Everything was in character and in order all directed by Mr BoJland's u ment and taste, and «* proc red without much effort and seHenia The same may be «,id o{ the pa 1 i h oners who s iab scri l K d lmwt H h t Y* n ' y °" ,t tte fl "l Plan of " (Mr Thatcher Vuo «w 3- ,;Hs uis name, and to tell lo jut,,,-,. generat,an K ll wt . the first clergvm „ ml file first settlers (rf TanS <> .ered tins worthy tbankoffering to I'm who tad gufctai UKm in on. their native country to this instant land.