All Saints Anglican Church, Henley Brook

Last updated

All Saints Anglican Church, Henley Brook
All saints hnly bk gnangarra.jpg
The church in 2008
All Saints Anglican Church, Henley Brook
31°47′45″S116°0′14″E / 31.79583°S 116.00389°E / -31.79583; 116.00389 (All Saints Anglican Church)
LocationHenry Street, Henley Brook, Western Australia
CountryAustralia
Denomination Anglican
Website All Saints Church
History
Status Church
Founded1841 (1841)
Dedication All Saints
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Years built1841–1938
Specifications
Materials Brick
Administration
Province Western Australia
Diocese Perth
Parish Swan
Official nameAll Saints Anglican Church
TypeState Registered Place
Designated31 May 1996
Reference no. 2492

The All Saints Church in Henley Brook is the oldest [1] church in Western Australia. It was built by Richard Edwards between 1838 and 1840, with the first service taking place on 10 January 1841. The site is on a small hill overlooking the Swan River and near the conjunction of the Swan and Ellen Brook. This site was where Captain James Stirling camped during his 1827 exploration of the area.

Contents

1827 expedition

On 13 March 1827, Stirling's expedition of the Swan River finished in the area, unable to venture further upstream due to lack of navigable water. The party made camp on the high bank overlooking the river. He wrote in his diary:

"...the richness of the soil, the bright foliage of the shrubs, the majesty of the surrounding trees, the abrupt and red colour banks of the river occasionally seen, and the view of the blue mountains, from which we were not far distant, made the scenery of this spot as bieutiful [ sic ] as anything of the kind I have ever witnessed..." [2]

Religious services

The distance to Perth for church attendees was unreasonable, so St Mary’s — Middle Swan, was opened in 1840. However, in the absence of a bridge, the Swan River made it too difficult for those on the west side of the river. It was decided that an additional church would be built on the west side of the river at Upper Swan. [3] Frederick Irwin, a devout Anglican, had been holding regular services on his property since 1830. The acre of land where Captain Stirling had camped was donated by Irwin and William Mackie, and in 1838 Reverend William Mitchell was appointed rector. Richard Edwards, Irwin's manager at Henley Park and a master bricklayer, undertook the building of the church. [4]

With the assistance of local residents who donated both labour and materials, the church was completed in 1841. The flagstones of the church came from the ballast of ships that had sailed from England. The first service was held on 10 January 1841. Bishop Augustus Short of Adelaide consecrated All Saints Church in November 1848.

Services have been regularly held in the church since it was built. The Anglican Church holds services every Sunday, with additional services on significant occasions. All Saints Church is in the Anglican Parish of Swan. [5] Prior to the establishment of the Perth diocese in 1857 churches in the Swan River Colony were part of the Adelaide diocese.

Cemetery

The cemetery that surrounds the church includes the graves of a number of individuals who were significant to the development of the colony: William Mackie, John Connelly and Richard Edwards are all buried in the graveyard. There is a memorial to George Fletcher Moore inside the church.

In 1929, to mark the centenary of settlement, a lychgate was erected to mark the farthest point inland that Captain James Stirling's 1827 expedition reached. During 1974 a memorial wall was built in the south west corner of the cemetery. [4] As part of the WAY 1979 celebrations the Western Australian chapter of the Australian Institute of Builders restored the lychgate. Wrought iron gates completed the boundary fence in 1991; [4] the gates are decorated with the words All Saints and Ellen's Brook.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swan River (Western Australia)</span> River in Perth, Western Australia

The Swan River is a major river in the southwest of Western Australia. The river runs through the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia's capital and largest city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Stirling (Royal Navy officer)</span> Australian politician

Admiral Sir James Stirling was a British naval officer and colonial administrator. His enthusiasm and persistence persuaded the British Government to establish the Swan River Colony and he became the first Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Western Australia. In 1854, when Commander-in-Chief, East Indies and China Station, Stirling on his own initiative signed Britain's first Anglo-Japanese Friendship Treaty. Throughout his career Stirling showed considerable diplomatic skill and was selected for a number of sensitive missions. Paradoxically, this was not reflected in his personal dealings with officialdom and his hopes for preferment received many rebuffs. Stirling also personally led the attack in Western Australia on a group of approximately seventy Bindjareb men, women and children now known as the Pinjarra massacre.

The Swan Valley is a region in the upper reaches of the Swan River between Guildford and Bells Rapids, Western Australia. It is bordered to the east by the Darling Scarp. Both Ellenbrook and Jane Brook lie within the region and discharge into the Swan River. There are seven suburbs within the region: Baskerville, Belhus, Caversham, Henley Brook, Herne Hill, Millendon and West Swan. It is part of the City of Swan local government area.

Wembley is a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the Town of Cambridge. Its postcode is 6014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canning River</span> River in Perth, Western Australia

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point Belches</span> Point into Swan River, Western Australia

Point Belches is a small point on the south side of Swan River, Western Australia, about 250 metres (820 ft) east of The Narrows within the area known as Perth Water. The land is part of the South Perth Esplanade, and the water off the point is used as a commercial water skiing area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henley Brook, Western Australia</span> Suburb of Perth, Western Australia

Henley Brook is an outer rural suburb of Perth, Western Australia, part of the Swan Valley wine region. The Ellen brook and Swan River meet in the northeastern corner of the suburb. This is also the farthest upstream Captain Stirling's 1827 exploration reached before deciding on the settlement site of the new colony in 1829. The All Saints Church, the oldest church in Western Australia, is also at this site.

Perth is the capital city of Western Australia. It was established by Britain as the Swan River Colony in 1829. The area had been explored by Europeans as early as 1697, and occupied by the Indigenous Whadjuk Noongar people for millennia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Mitchell (missionary)</span>

William Mitchell was a Church of England priest who was the second ordained person, after Louis Giustiniani, to provide religious services in the Swan Valley area of the Swan River Colony. He worked in the Swan Parish for over 20 years before moving to Perth to take up a position working with convicts and prisoners in the Perth Gaol in Beaufort Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Mackie</span> Australian politician (1799–1860)

William Henry Mackie was an early settler of the Swan River Colony holding a number of public positions including that of the first Judge of the colony. Mackie was born at Cochin, India and as a child returned to live in Derry before attending school in Twickenham, Middlesex. He later entered Trinity College, Cambridge and became a member of the Inner Temple in November 1822.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinjarra massacre</span> 1834 killing of Binjareb Noonga people by colonists in Pinjarra, Western Australia

The Pinjarra massacre, also known as the Battle of Pinjarra, occurred on 28 October 1834 in Pinjarra, Western Australia when a group of Binjareb Noongar people were attacked by a detachment of 25 soldiers, police, and settlers led by Governor James Stirling. According to Stirling, "about 60 or 70" of the Binjareb people were present at the camp and John Roe, who also participated, estimated about 70–80. This roughly agrees with an estimate of 70 by an unidentified eyewitness. The attack at Pinjarra was in response to sustained aggression by the Binjarebs, including robberies and murder of settlers and members of other Nyungar tribes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mosman Park, Western Australia</span> Suburb of Perth, Western Australia

Mosman Park is a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia on the north bank of the Swan River in the local government area of the Town of Mosman Park. It was historically known as Buckland Hill (1889–1909), then Cottesloe Beach (1909–1930) and again Buckland Hill (1930–1937). From 1937 it was named Mosman Park, derived from Mosman in Sydney, the birthplace of Richard Yeldon, a member of the Buckland Hill Road Board. Mosman Park is now considered an affluent suburb, but prior to the 1970s was one of Perth's major industrial centres.

HMS <i>Success</i> (1825)

HMS Success was an Atholl-class 28-gun sixth-rate wooden sailing ship notable for exploring Western Australia and the Swan River in 1827 as well as being one of the first ships to arrive at the fledgling Swan River Colony two years later, at which time she ran aground off Carnac Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point Heathcote</span> Feature on Swan River, in Western Australia,

Point Heathcote is a geographic feature located on the south east part of Melville Water on Swan River. It is located in Applecross, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Perth Cemeteries</span> Cemetery in East Perth, Western Australia

East Perth Cemeteries was the first cemetery established for the Swan River Colony in 1829 in East Perth, Western Australia. It is estimated that as many as 10,000 people were buried there between 1829 and 1919 in seven independently administered denominations or sections which is why the place is known as 'East Perth Cemeteries'. Only around 800 gravesites have been identified. A large section of the original site has since been built over, leaving about 5 hectares remaining.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Wollaston (priest)</span> Western Australian Anglican clergyman

John Ramsden Wollaston was an Anglican priest who was instrumental in the establishment of the Church of England in Western Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Trigg</span> English-born public servant in colonial Western Australia (1791–1882)

Henry Trigg (1791–1882) was the Superintendent of Public Works in Western Australia from 1839 to 1851 and founder of the Congregational Church in Perth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Matthew's Church, Guildford</span> Church in Western Australia, Australia

St Matthew's Church is a heritage-listed Anglican church in Stirling Square, Guildford, Western Australia. The church is part of the Anglican Diocese of Perth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Mary's Church, Middle Swan</span> Church in Perth, Western Australia

St. Mary's Church is an Anglican church on Yule Avenue in the suburb of Middle Swan, Western Australia. St. Mary's was built in 1868 on the site of an earlier church which had been built there in 1838. The church is part of the Anglican Diocese of Perth. The church and graveyard overlook the Swan River in the Swan Valley district.

Charles Harper was Toodyay's first Anglican minister, and the first ordinand from Western Australia. While being a minister of the church was probably far from his intentions when he set sail for the Swan River Colony in 1837, his family's clerical background and his own disposition suited him well for this vocation. Harper served the Toodyay district for over 30 years, first as registrar of births, deaths and marriages, then from 1849 as an ordained minister.

References

Notes

  1. "City of Swan Municipal Register". Archived from the original on 17 July 2005. Retrieved 3 June 2006.
  2. Explorers' Diaries of Western Australia [ permanent dead link ]
  3. Register of Heritage Places - Assessment Documentation
  4. 1 2 3 Heritage Council of WA Assessment
  5. "Anglican Parish of Swan". swan.perth.anglican.org. Archived from the original on 4 February 2010. Retrieved 11 January 2022.

Bibliography