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Helensburgh Anglican Church

Rev. William Price, 1911-1914

[Parish Paper] Rev. & Mrs. Price made quite an impact on the Parish during their short stay. Since Rev. Wilson's missionary period, there had been a decline in numbers and the buildings were falling into disrepair. Mrs. Price set about mobilizing the ladies of the parish for a Bazaar (or "sale of work") to raise funds. The tradition established in her day has continued till today, although not on the same lavish scale. In later years the Helensburgh brass band would play at the yearly Bazaar. She organized a boys choir and a full sung service was performed at 11am and 7pm. Harvest festivals boomed during this period and continued up to the 50's. Produce was collected by a horse dray from local farms and backyard gardens. These where loaded into the church until it was literally overflowing. Sheaves of corn decorated every pew. During the following week the foodstuffs were auctioned off. Rev. Price set about on a systematic visitation of the town, he organized a Bible Study, a youth group, and men's meetings. To fix up the buildings he would invite miners on the way home from work to give him a hand. The men of the town thought a lot of the vicar who could roll up his sleeves.

One of the major events of the time was a Parish Mission held in November 1913 by Everard Diggler Touche. It was timed to coincide with the arrival of railway gangers at Bakers Camp which was close to where the Helensburgh tip is today. The meetings were held over the whole week with the final service on Sunday attended by 130 people. Diggler Touche was a powerful speaker and left quite an impression upon the congregation. He was soon to give his life for his country at Gallipoli.

Another outreach by the Helensburgh church was the building of the Stanwell Park Mission Church. The Stanwell Park community was now a thriving village, mainly catering for holiday makers and retired people who had bought up land in the 1908 Stanwell Estate Subdivision auction. An allotment was obtained in 1913 next to the school site and close to the shopping center, and was fully paid off in 1915. The foundation stone was laid by Rev. New Newmarch, 20th December 1913 and the building work completed in 1914 with the first service held on Sunday February 14. The first sermon was preached by Rev. Begbie, rector of All Souls Leighardt who was a well known local resident during his annual holidays. His text for the day was "Till He Come." The youth of All Souls Leichhardt later cut out the text of the sermon in plywood and attached it to a board which still hands above the communion table today. The building itself remains much the same as it was in 1914, except that the internal dividing wall was moved into the church proper to widen the hall during the war years. The inside of the church was also lined some years after construction, and in 1934 Mrs. Surtees paid to have the electric light connected in memory of her late husband. The building later became the church hall with the construction of a new chapel at the rear of the block in the mid 1980's. Strangely, it was not till some years later that the Stanwell Park Mission Church was given the name St. George's. From 1914 a Sunday School was held in the church, the first teachers being Mrs. Anger and Mrs. Alice Morrison.

Prior to the building of the church in 1914, services were held in private homes. Many such services were held on the front verandah of Rev. and Mrs. Begbie's home "Mahanaim" (God's second resting place). The home was later partly destroyed by fire.

In the early years of Stanwell Park, a number of clergy built holiday retreats. Along with Rev. Begbie there was Canon and Mrs. Arrowsmith, Rev and Mrs. Crawford, Rev. and Mrs. Connoly, Rev. and Mrs, Short, Rev. and Mrs. Theo Hayman and Rev. and Mrs. Oliver. The Olivers had purchased a beautiful home from the Gartrell White family.

Rev. Reginald Smee, 1914-1921

Rev. Price was succeeded in 1914 by Rev. Harris Walker who served till the sixth minister Rev. Reginald Smee. Rev. and Mrs. Smee and family worked to build up the congregation, spiritually and materially. To this day Mrs. Smee's bible class can be remembered, even chapters from the Bible were committed to memory. One such chapter being John 14. The Bazaar and socials continued as before, to held raise finances. Rev. Smee founded the Helensburgh Scout Troop which met in the church hall through till 1938. The ministers that followed Rev. Smee, namely, Peat, Creighton, Gee and Kennedy were all active Scout masters, and consolidated the Rev. Smees initial efforts. From this time on there are quite a few glass bills for the hall. As with the other ministers, he taught scripture in the Public School and continued the practice of taking his classes to a special Ash Wednesday Service in the church.

Services at Helensburgh were now 8am, 11am, and 7.15pm, with a mid-week service. The total congregation on Sundays averaged around 130. The Mission centers continued as before with some services held in the demountable church at Bakers Camp.

[Bakers Camp Union Church] The war years were difficult ones for Rev. Smee and the congregation. The loss of life, industrial disputes and then later the influenza epidemic, made them difficult times. Smee himself was hospitalized in July 1919 with the flue.

As life returned to normal the congregation started to concern itself with the wider mission of the church. The Church Missionary Society and the British and Foreign Bible Society were faithfully supported from this time on. The congregation was still not self supporting. The Church Society (later known as The Home Missionary Society) supported the annual stipend of 200 pounds to the tune of 150 pounds. Helensburgh was a poor community. None-the-less the congregation worked to stand by itself. The core group was now strong enough to form a Parish Council. The church was no longer just one man. Between 1914 and 1923 some of the Wardens were as follows: Dr. Cox, Mr. Wheeler, Mr. Knight, Mr. Denning, Mr. Edmonson, Mr Bert Smith, Mr. Ivor Morgan, Mr. Doyle, Mr. Sutton and Mr. Stevenson. Some of the Committee members were: Mrs. Lomkins, Mrs. Cox, Mrs, Wheeler, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Pell, Miss Kelly, Mr. Knight, Mr. Wheeter, Mr. Reins, Mr. Stanley and Mr. Cambridge.

Helensburgh & District Historical Society
P.O. Box 150 Helensburgh N.S.W. Australia - Email: info@historichelensburgh.org.au