The Anglican Diocese
of Bunbury
Western Australia
John Ramsden Wollaston
(Local Saint and Hero for the
AS
A LOCAL
SAINT AND
HERO OF
THE ANGLICAN
COMMUNION IN
ACCORDANCE WITH
RESOLUTIONS 77-80
OF THE
LAMBETH
CONFERENCE 1958.
IN
THE NAME
OF GOD.
AMEN.
We
Peter by Divine Providence, Archbishop of Perth and Metropolitan of
the Province of Western Australian together with our well beloved
brothers in Christ, Gerald, Bishop of North West Australia, Hamish,
Bishop of Bunbury and Michael and Brian, Assistant Bishops of Perth
and representatives of our Provincial Synod assembled and present,
do here Proclaim and Recommend to the people of God of our Province,
a Solemn Remembrance of
JOHN RAMSDEN
WOLLASTON, Archdeacon of Western Australia and pioneer of
faith and worship.
We
give thanks to Almighty God for his signal virtues and heroic
labours as a faithful pastor of souls, his resolute commitment to
the building of the first place of worship at Picton as a sign of
his constant devotion to the building up of the flock of Christ, his
leadership in all things of the Spirit, his unflagging endeavours on
behalf of new settlers and his earnest concern for the welfare of
the Aboriginal people of this land.
To
this end we have appointed for open observance on September 18th
each year at the altar of this metro-political Cathedral Church of
St George and at all other altars in this Province an appropriate
Collect, Epistle, Gospel and other Propers and affirm if it be so
desired that a church or other institution in this Province may be
dedicated to God under the name of His faithful servant.
And
no less do we recommend to our people the example of his selfless
devotion and holy living and within the fellowship of the Communion
of Saints we ask that God will bless this Province and make us not
only inheritors of His servant’s work, but also lively followers and
instruments of it:
Through the same Lord Jesus Christ to whom with the Father and the
Holy Spirit, one God, be all mighty, majesty, dominion and glory now
and for ever.
+ Peter Perth
Archbishop
+ Gerald N W Australia
Bishop of
+ Michael Challen
Assistant
Bishop of
+ Brian Kyme
Assistant
Bishop of
18TH
SEPTEMBER
ANNUAL
COMMEMORATION
of
JOHN RAMSDEN
WOLLASTON
(1791-1856)
Saint and Hero of the
Sentence:
“How
beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good
tidings, and publishes peace, joy and salvation”.
Collect:
“Almighty God, who called John Ramsden Wollaston to preach the
Gospel amongst the early settlers of Western Australia; grant that
we may so follow his example and obey Your will for us, that, with
confidence in Your grace, we may effectively proclaim the Gospel in
our own day; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns
with You and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. AMEN.
Psalm
84
New
Testament
Hebrews
10:19-25
The Gospel
According to Matthew, Chapter 10, vv 32-38
Or John, Chapter 15, vv 9-17
Post-Communion Sentence:
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be
like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain
fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon the
house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded upon the
rock”.
Post-Communion Prayer:
“Almighty
and everlasting God,
we thank
you for your servant John Ramsden Wollaston,
whom you
called to bring the gospel to the people of
raise up
in this and every land
evangelists and heralds of your loving reign,
so that
the whole world may know
the
unsearchable riches of our Saviour Jesus Christ;
who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God,
now and for ever.
AMEN.
SONG
OF WOLLASTON
Tune:
Ode to Joy (AHB 92)
Copyright Words – vv 1-3
The late Mrs Glad
Steer
v 4
Fr Joe Hopkins
Used with Permission
Drawn by spirit of
adventure
To this
West Australian shore,
Settlers
toiled to make a homeland,
Griefs and
hardships bravely bore.
Built
their homes and raised their children
Comrades
working side by side
They were
founders of our State and
We
remember them with pride.
Wollaston’s first congregation
Few in
number – strong in praise
Worshipped
God in lonely places
In those
pioneering days.
Now we
meet in many places
Faith
still present and as strong
As was
theirs who first did worship
With their
pioneering song.
Through the years and time of growing
Men with
vision built and planned,
Built a
town and then a city
In this
golden South West land.
Rich green
farmland, crops and cattle,
Trade and
commerce, side by side
Made a
growing, thriving city
With a
strong and civic pride.
On
this day of celebration
Each of us
a Christian here,
Seeking,
trusting, loving, growing,
Praying
for God’s peace to reign.
As we do
we give Him thanks too,
From our
hearts that He did call
Wollaston
to plant the faith
And
witness to God’s love for all.
A
BRIEF
HISTORY -
JOHN RAMSDEN
WOLLASTON
(1791-1856)
A
local Saint and Hero of the
Wollaston arrived at Fremantle in April 1841, at a time of
considerable financial stringency.
He bought land at Picton, on the outskirts of Bunbury, and
began to build a chapel on his land.
He expected the annual subsidy that Governor John Hutt
had introduced in an ordinance to encourage the building of
churches: and the
payment of stipends, but he was allowed no government aid until his
church was opened for divine service.
The small wooden church with a thatched roof which was later
replaced by shingles:
was designed by Wollaston and built by him and his sons.
Consecrated in 1843 and dedicated to St Mark, his Church
still stands as the oldest church but one, in
Such enterprise was remarkable in a newly arrived clergyman, no
longer young and not by temperament readily adaptable to the change
from English village life to a pioneering society.
Moreover, Wollaston’s congregation was declining after the
failure of the Australind scheme.
But his continued labours as a parish priest earned him the
name of a ‘worthy, laborious, energetic, excellent missionary’.
Wollaston’s opportunity came in 1848:
a new and more sympathetic governor, Charles Fitzgerald,
transferred him to the parish of
During these years Wollaston covered many hundreds of miles on
horseback in the course of duties which included five Archidiaconal
Visitations throughout the settled areas of the Colony.
Growth in population:
and after 1850, the transportation of convicts increased the
church’s responsibilities, especially as the Anglican clergy had to
serve many Nonconformists without ministers of the own.
Through his own efficiency and the good relations he
developed with the government:
Wollaston successfully met this situation.
During his time the number of Anglican clergy increased from
five to ten, and the regularity of services in the Colony’s major
Centres improved greatly.
Although an earlier Aboriginal mission in 1835 had failed,
Wollaston established another Anglican mission to Western Australian
Aboriginals at
Wollaston was not personally ambitious and would willingly have
resigned in favour of an Archdeacon based in
In many ways Wollaston left his mark throughout the Colony: but mostly because he was a hard working and extremely faithful Priest. Ministering in very difficult and sometimes quite dangerous circumstances, he lovingly got alongside his people in times of crisis and need: and led them faithfully in prayer and worship: and so today we give thanks to God for this local Saint and Hero of the Anglican Communion.
EXTRACTS
FROM THE
JOURNALS OF
JOHN RAMSDEN
WOLLASTON
PINJARRA
March 1851
29th.
B. and H.S. to Fremantle, I to call on the Resident, Murray,
and Mr Peel, and then to proceed to Pinjarrah.
I found I could not have service the following Wednesday at
the church, for Mr Peel had taken possession of it, as his private
property, and had converted it into his dwelling house.
I thought it odd last year he should have a chimney to the
church; now it is explained.
He hid himself somewhere and I saw him not, but I saw the
church, full of his rubbish, with his bed, furniture, etc.
I left my name on his table.
To
Pinjarrah, hot, dusty, and heavy road.
Lost the whip dear George gave me, in the Murray Estuary.
April 1853
Friday, 8th
Weather still unsettled but got off and reached the
Saturday, 9th
Mr
Hester still accompanied me as far as the
The
Bishop seems to have overlooked this district in a scheme of
ministerial duty he sent me, nor did he visit Pinjarrah in his round
last year, although he consecrated the church and yard on his
primary visitation.
Monday, 11th
Not
so tired as I expected, wrote letters in fulfilment of yesterday’s
resolution.
D.S. Murray, Esq.,
Sir, - On the occasion of my visit to the church of Pinjarrah
yesterday I could not but observe the serious inconvenience arising
from the destruction of the bridge, the greater part of the
congregation assembling there live, as you are aware, on the
opposite side of the river, and the only means of transit to the
church is by foot-stones and the trunk of a tree, which to females
and children is positively dangerous, and even this will be cut of
entirely when the waters begin to rise.
As no minister or catechist is yet appointed to Pinjarrah and
February 1856
Friday, 22nd
To
Pinjarrah, calling on Resident (Murray) and at Ravenswood, where
baptised Armstrong’s child and refreshed myself with fine grapes.
23rd
At
the
Sunday, 24th
This, and the next day, the hottest this summer.
I never before felt anything like it.
Whole body in a bath.
Divine service once – at 11 – 50 people present, 5 baptisms,
3 churchings – but only 5 Communicants.
People very attentive, but I fear, very ignorant of the
truths of their religion, and of their personal concern for them.
No school here.
Returned with
Tuesday, 26th
To
Australind – dreadful road – tho’ cut out wide and straight.
Warm and friendly reception.
PICTON
February 1842
I
arrived at the head of our estuary at about 10 o’clock a.m., there I
bathed and made my toilet.
I got some lunch at Australind, for which place I had letters
and reached home in the afternoon:
thank God, safe and well, but very tired.
I had been absent 19 days, and had ridden as well as I could
computate, 275 miles altogether.
The
country through which I passed was characterised by a repetition of
great sameness. The
soil, except near rivers, very poor, sandy and worthless.
Many of the plains abound in beautiful and elegant flowering
shrubs, sometimes covered with unsightly grass-trees, sometimes of
great extent, the soil barren sand, on which grew a few stunted
trees and low scrub, but for the most part producing only coarse
grass, very scanty, withered and nearly parched up.
The
view on such occasions was cheerless, depressing and almost awful,
not a living creature to be seen.
The sky glowing with a misty fervent heat, and the deep
silence unbroken by the slightest sounds.
During the whole journey, backwards and forwards, the only wild
animals seen were two kangaroos and a native dog.
The latter was about the size of an English lurcher and very
like one of a tawny colour.
He crossed us at about 40 yards, on seeing us trotted slowly
off and was soon lost in the bush.
At
this time of the year all the swamps are dry, or nearly so and
easily passed, as are also the mouths of rivers which disembogue
into estuaries (the peculiar feature of the country) by taking the
sand bar which for the most part is now above water, dry and firm.
The
scenery of
In
that which I have seen, generally speaking, the absence of animal
life, the want of verdure and the terrible effects of fire render it
melancholy and distressing.
It did not experience that effect upon the mind which is
caused by the magnificence and sublimity of nature, yet,
notwithstanding, I must own I felt the truth of the lines –
“Midst forest shades,
and silent plains,
Where man has never trod;
There in majestic power He reigns,
The ever-present God!”
Wednesday, 16th
February, 1842
The
people here have no idea whatever of observing Lent, or attending
Service on Ash Wednesday.
Is it not the same in the Mother Country, taking into account
the population? How then
can her migrating sons be expected to think about it?
I had no service beyond introducing the Collect into our
family prayers. As to
fasting, our diet is too poor and scanty to render it necessary.
Rice, a boiled onion and a bit of bread occasionally makes my
dinner.
A
colonial life is a very hard one to persons like ourselves.
Monday, 28th
February 1842
At
last I have received a letter from the Local Government promising,
as soon as my Chapel is erected, I shall be allowed 100 pounds a
year. Thank God for
this. So now I must
endeavour to raise the building as soon as possible.
My neighbours are very liberal in assisting me all they can,
but much labour and expense must fall to my share.
It is however, to God’s Glory and the benefit of His Church
and will secure me some income.
The plan is considered a neat one, devised by myself,
cruciform in shape and shall be accurately described when, please
God, it is erected.
Monday, 13th
June, 1842
My
Church is going on slowly.
I get no assistance in labour which was promised me.
Must persevere alone.
Church principles not understood in this country yet people
are jealous of the name of Churchman.
Friday, 26th
August, 1842
I
have now, thank God, finished thatching my Church which is done in a
very superior manner. I
now hope to open it in a fortnight.
My quondam parishioner has deservedly obtained great credit
for his work. We must
now get in our maize crop, for all our own work has been suspended
for some time, except when we could do a little by snatches.
Thursday, 15th
September, 1842
I
have issued notice for the opening of my Church next Sunday.
The plastering is done and white-washing nearly so.
William and I are busy contriving the windows with calico.
The natives are getting very troublesome again, by their
quarrels among themselves.
Tuesday, 20th
September, 1842
On
Sunday last, the 18th instant, occurred the most
important event of my life, the opening of my new Church; the first
testimony for God and his Christ erected in this district.
Blessed be His Holy Name that I and others have been made
instruments in bringing this good work to a conclusion and to Him be
all the glory! I have
described the plan of the Church before.
The elevation of it quite justifies my anticipations.
It is a neat and ecclesiastical building and everyone is
pleased with it.
Excellent effect is produced by a contrivance in the temporary
windows, which are made of calico, prepared with oil and turpentine
and painted with cross stripes in imitation of Quarries.
The extact dimensions of these windows I shall send home with
direction, in the hope that some kind friend of the Church will send
them out in glass and leaded. Such
work is not to be procured in the whole colony.
I have received word from
The
meeting was fixed at 11 for 12 – this was to give time for the
gathering of the settlers from a distance, as well as to have the
shorter service. I
omitted to have the numbers counted, but about 100 I am told
assembled. Mr Clifton
and his family (not Mrs Clifton) and others from Australind, the
Vasse and Bunbury, I had erected a temporary desk on a platform with
a table. I began, “Let
us pray” and the Collect, “Prevent us, O Lord” etc. and then I spoke
as follows:
“My
dear brethren, before I proceed to the services of the day, allow me
to say a few words explanatory of the circumstances connected with
the erection of this Church.
“In
every point of view we ought to think it a privilege, for which we
cannot be too thankful, that we have been permitted to raise the
first House of God in this district and are assembled together this
day for the first time, to offer up to Him therein our united
prayers and praises.
“Amidst many disappointments and delays, it has been a great comfort
and encouragement to me to have met with those who have readily lent
their aid to this good work and I take this opportunity of publicly
thanking them, in my own name and in the name of the Church at
large, for their kind assistance.
My thanks are due not only to the friends of the Church in
this district, but also to those in the district of the Vasse, who
have voluntarily come forward in the handsomest manner to assist in
this undertaking. I beg
therefore that they also will receive my grateful acknowledgements.
Yet, for whatever we have jointly accomplished, or may
hereafter accomplish in the cause of the
Sunday, 3rd
July, 1843
Thank God, had a good congregation this morning, but long sadly for
my church and bell to summon the people.
No one ever knows what’s o’clock except by looking at the
sun. All watches are out
of order and no watchmaker in the colony.
Friday, 7th
July, 1843
Teddy has sent me a note saying the
Water Witch is arriving
from the Swan and that she brings word the
Champion is in from
I
shall, of course, most heartedly comply with my Diocesan’s wishes,
but things must be getting serious at
All
this comes of our having lost sight of the Church’s primitive model
and in proportion as we get back to I, or the contrary, so will be
the stability and efficiency of our reformed branch in whatever part
of the world she is planted.
The whole system of the Evangelical party has a tendency to
break up that model, to depreciate Episcopacy and the Sacraments.
The Papists see this and are taking advantage of it.
It is they and not the Puseyites who are helping the cause of
Inscription on tablet in
Sacred
to the memory of
Archdeacon
Wollaston
who died May 3rd,
1856,
aged 65 years.
This tablet is erected by his congregation in grateful remembrance
of his zeal in promoting the temporal interests of this church, and
by his earnest solicitude for the spiritual welfare of his people.