history

PARISH BEGINNINGS

The Saint Marys Parish is justly proud of its 155 years as an integral part of the history of this near city area of Brisbane.

In 1823, explorer John Oxley described Kangaroo Point as a “jungle, fringed with mangroves with the higher land open forest, covered with grass”. During the time of the subsequent convict settlement (1825-41), Kangaroo Point was cleared and used for cultivation of crops. Subsequently, the area was opened up for free settlement, the first land sales taking place on 13th December 1843. Among the early purchasers was Captain J.C.Wickham, the Police Magistrate. Surveyor James Warner built the first house at Kangaroo Point in 1844.

The date of the first service held in the parish is unknown, but the late 1840’s is probable as the Rector stated during a Dedication Festival on 4th November 1897 that “we have completed the fiftieth year of our existence as a Parish”.

Archdeacon Glennie is recorded as visiting the proposed site of a church on 6th June 1848, and later that year preaching at Kangaroo Point. On 12th April 1849, Capt. Wickham promised to give two allotments of land for a church, which was duly opened in July 1849. The Rev. T W Bodenham, who lived at Kangaroo Point, took services. The congregation was around 40 persons.

No known photos of this early church exist, however it is evident that it was a simple wooden slab building, 15m x 6m x 5m high, built at a cost of £80 on a half acre of land in what was then called Church Lane, later John Street and now Rotherham Street. At that time, the church, which also served as a school, was described as “a neat and substantial building and well fitted for the purpose”, although a later description was not quite so complimentary – “it was so small that but one person could approach the altar along the aisle. This was sometimes embarrassing especially when a marriage was being solemnised as the parties had to walk in single file”. Statistics for the Diocese of Brisbane in 1868 show that the church seated 45 and the annual stipend for the Rector, the Rev Robert Moffatt was £150. In that year there were 6 persons confirmed, 19 baptised, 2 married and 9 buried.

Additional land was granted by the Crown on 11th December 1849 for “Church, School and Parsonage in the Episcopalian Church of England”. This land was opposite the present Scott St. and extended to the river.

ST MARYS CHURCH (the present building)

By 1870 the original church had become incapable of accommodating the increasing congregation as well as being dilapidated and insecure. A new and larger building was needed.

The Church Chronicle of 15th November 1887 describes the acquisition of the present site: “For the splendid site on which St Mary’s is built, we are indebted to the former incumbent, the Rev R Moffatt. The piece of land originally granted by the Crown for Church of England purposes on Kangaroo Point was that on which Mr. Barker’s house now stands and extended from Main St. to the river – a most unsuitable and in fact utterly useless piece for the object for which the grant was made. Accordingly, Mr. Moffatt who was then Parliamentary librarian as well as incumbent at St Marys, made good use of the influence which his position gave him among those in authority and succeeded in effecting an exchange of one half of the original Crown grant for the magnificent site on which there stands now our Church and Sunday School and where it is hoped a Parsonage will soon be seen”.

Rector Rev David Court in 1870 persuaded the Parish to embark on the task of building a new permanent Church on this recently acquired site. Architect Mr. Richard Suter was engaged for design and construction, which was partly funded by sale in 1872 of the other portion of land granted by the Crown.

The design adopted for St Marys reflects the familiar church design practices in the country of origin of most of the essentially immigrant and first generation descendant community. As such, this colonial design practice evokes traditional small rural village church construction practice from English farming communities.

An initial contract was let to Alfred Grant builder, for construction of the nave as far as the current porch, and this was later extended to include the chancel after a construction interruption, while the parish resources struggled with the significant financial burden the new building represented.

This photo shows the church as completed in 1873 with the stumps of recently felled trees in the foreground. The plan form was a simple open rectangle with a semi-circular apse area. The current “temporary” vestry was attached adjacent to the apse.. External stone walling has provision for construction of a permanent vestry to the left of the entrance porch above, where toothed (keyed) stone bonding points have been included.

The Marquis of Normanby, Governor of the colony ofQueensland, laid the foundation stone on 29th April 1872, and the first Bishop of Brisbane, Bishop Edward Tufnell, who had strongly encouraged the Parish in its pursuing its goal of a new church, consecrated the completed building on 5th November 1873.

This photo shows the church as completed in 1873 with the stumps of recently felled trees in the foreground.

Materials used were those traditionally found in churches of such origin. The main structure is formed of roughly dressed ,coursed random rubble stone, mostly a Brisbane “tuff” material. The walls carry a traditional timber truss roof frame, steeply pitched, with stone buttresses on the external walls to support the roof loadings. The diagonally planked timber ceiling lining provides essential bracing to the roof structure, as well as a subtle visual contribution to the traditional atmosphere evoked by the heavy timber trusses. The original roof was of ironbark shingles, replaced by galvanized iron around 1921.

Dressed softwood timber flooring continues the straightforward nature of construction, and timber plank pews complement the delightful simplicity of the traditional design adopted. Some of the pews still carry evidence of youthful “doodling” over the years, reflecting the proximity of a school on adjacent land.

Some nine years after completion, the church was severely damaged by a cyclone in April 1892, which demolished the upper portion of the western end wall and belfry, and half the nave roof. During a year of reconstruction, supported by both the parish and the wider community, the church was enlarged by addition of a two bay transcept, the roof repaired, a different belfry built, and a subtle increase in floor to ceiling height in the nave was accomplished. It is this form the building remains today. It was rededicated in 1893.

Internal aspects
-The Apse and the Rivers paintings
The Church Chronicle of April 1893 mentions the decoration of the Apse of the Church by Mr. Godfrey Rivers (brother of Archdeacon Rivers, Rector of St Andrews, South Brisbane) and Mr. GHM Addison, a prominent architect of early Brisbane buildings. Godfrey Rivers was a well-known artist at that time who had exhibited at the Royal Academy, coming to Brisbane from England in 1890. He became President of the local Art Society and several of his works are on display at the Queensland Art Gallery.

The central stained glass windows in the apse, the Crucifixion, was given by Bishop Tufnell, while the Nativity and the Resurrection glass windows commemorate close relatives of a parishioner and the incumbent Rector.