From Convicts to Covid: 200 Years of Clergy in Charge of St. Thomas Church Port Macquarie – From Convicts to Covid (1824-2024)
John BarrettPaperback 2024-08-12
This book outlines the vocation of 31 Anglican clergypersons who have dedicated their lives to the Christian ministry and mission in the Australian seaside town of Port Macquarie and its surrounds. From humble convict origins, to a vibrant regional city, St Thomas’ Church, has been a “lighthouse on the hill” to Port Macquarie and its citizens of the district for 200 years.
In this book, the author outlines the challenges, opportunities, grief and sadness, and moments of sheer joy that each clergyperson has encountered on their journey. St Thomas’ Church (built 1824-1827 is the fifth oldest Anglican Church still in use in Australia. The older churches still in operation are: St Luke’s Liverpool (1819); St Matthew’s Windsor (1820); St James King’s Street Sydney (1822); and St Peter’s Campbelltown (1823).
The Town of Port Macquarie, NSW, at the mouth of the Hastings River, was founded as a Penal Settlement in March 1821. Whilst visiting Port Macquarie in November 1821, Governor Macquarie chose the site for a future church on a hill overlooking the settlement, originally Oxley Terrace (named after John Oxley, Surveyor General NSW), but subsequently known as Church Hill.
The Reverend Thomas Hassall (son-in-law of Reverend Samuel Marsden) was appointed the Chaplain for the settlement in August 1824, and he and others conducted open-air services on Church Hill until St Thomas’ was opened for worship in February 1828.
When St Thomas’ was opened for worship in 1828, the population of Port Macquarie was 820 persons, of which only 153 were free. With a proclamation in August 1830, the Port Macquarie area was thrown open to free settlement. It is understood that the last convict was brought to Port Macquarie in 1847.
The church was built by convict labour under military supervision and took two years and two months to complete. The clearing of the timber, pegging out of the ground plan and digging of foundations, was carried out in 1823. The Commandant, Captain John Rolland, who had died of sunstroke on 16th November 1824, was buried in the precincts of the church to be, and his gravestone is to be found in the nave.
The foundation stone (whereabouts unknown) was laid by Lieutenant G R Carmac, Acting Commandant also Engineer and Inspector of Public Works, on 8th December 1824, at a service conducted by the Reverend Thomas Hassall.
In 2024, Port Macquarie is a flourishing coastal Regional City on the Mid North Coast of NSW, 390 kilometres from Sydney and 570 kilometres from Brisbane. Present population is around 55,000 with the Port Macquarie Hastings Municipal area of 90,000. Port Macquarie has two major shopping centres: Settlement City and Port Central, a major airport, Base Hospital, Private Hospital, Koala Hospital, Charles Sturt University, and Public, Roman Catholic and Independent Schools.
Acknowledgements: “History of St Thomas Church, Port Macquarie” – research: David Rogers; Nanette Lewis; Gwen Griffen, Port Macquarie Historical Society; preparation Michael Matthews.
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This book outlines the vocation of 31 Anglican clergypersons who have dedicated their lives to the Christian ministry and mission in the Australian seaside town of Port Macquarie and its surrounds. From humble convict origins, to a vibrant regional city, St Thomas’ Church, has been a “lighthouse on the hill” to Port Macquarie and its citizens of the district for 200 years.
In this book, the author outlines the challenges, opportunities, grief and sadness, and moments of sheer joy that each clergyperson has encountered on their journey. St Thomas’ Church (built 1824-1827 is the fifth oldest Anglican Church still in use in Australia. The older churches still in operation are: St Luke’s Liverpool (1819); St Matthew’s Windsor (1820); St James King’s Street Sydney (1822); and St Peter’s Campbelltown (1823).
The Town of Port Macquarie, NSW, at the mouth of the Hastings River, was founded as a Penal Settlement in March 1821. Whilst visiting Port Macquarie in November 1821, Governor Macquarie chose the site for a future church on a hill overlooking the settlement, originally Oxley Terrace (named after John Oxley, Surveyor General NSW), but subsequently known as Church Hill.
The Reverend Thomas Hassall (son-in-law of Reverend Samuel Marsden) was appointed the Chaplain for the settlement in August 1824, and he and others conducted open-air services on Church Hill until St Thomas’ was opened for worship in February 1828.
When St Thomas’ was opened for worship in 1828, the population of Port Macquarie was 820 persons, of which only 153 were free. With a proclamation in August 1830, the Port Macquarie area was thrown open to free settlement. It is understood that the last convict was brought to Port Macquarie in 1847.
The church was built by convict labour under military supervision and took two years and two months to complete. The clearing of the timber, pegging out of the ground plan and digging of foundations, was carried out in 1823. The Commandant, Captain John Rolland, who had died of sunstroke on 16th November 1824, was buried in the precincts of the church to be, and his gravestone is to be found in the nave.
The foundation stone (whereabouts unknown) was laid by Lieutenant G R Carmac, Acting Commandant also Engineer and Inspector of Public Works, on 8th December 1824, at a service conducted by the Reverend Thomas Hassall.
In 2024, Port Macquarie is a flourishing coastal Regional City on the Mid North Coast of NSW, 390 kilometres from Sydney and 570 kilometres from Brisbane. Present population is around 55,000 with the Port Macquarie Hastings Municipal area of 90,000. Port Macquarie has two major shopping centres: Settlement City and Port Central, a major airport, Base Hospital, Private Hospital, Koala Hospital, Charles Sturt University, and Public, Roman Catholic and Independent Schools.
Acknowledgements: “History of St Thomas Church, Port Macquarie” – research: David Rogers; Nanette Lewis; Gwen Griffen, Port Macquarie Historical Society; preparation Michael Matthews.