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Helensburgh Anglican Church
Rev. Reginald Peatt, 1921-1924
On the resignation of Rev. Smee in 1921, Rev. Charles Webb filled in for three months until the seventh minister arrived, Rev. Reginald Peatt. Rev. Peat was inducted to the Provisional District on September 1 by Rev. E.B. Boyce, Archdeacon of West Sydney. The new rector maintained the existing style of ministry, supplementing it with his own particular interests. he involved himself in a number of open air evangelistic services and began the long standing tradition of combined Protestant services that have existed to the present day. The first combined service was held in the Empire theatre on April 1923, with the Methodist minister as the preacher. Rev. Peatt also recommenced the Parish Paper the same year. In May of that year he joined with the Methodist Minister, Rev. Hickson, to hold a healing mission at the Sanatorium. This was certainly a brave step of faith considering the terrible state of the TB epidemic sweeping Australia. Services continues as usual, including a special service "The Festival of the Holy Redeemer."
Maintenance is always a problem for a church with limited funds. In 1921 The hall, church and rectory were repainted by Mr. Hollingdale for $100 (fifty pounds). Colors were cream with brown trim on the inside of the buildings, other than the pine ceilings which remained unpainted. Peeling was always a problem on the outside. The trouble lay in the original oil coatings that were applied to the weatherboards at the turn of the century. In fact it was whatever oil you could lay your hands on. In later years paints would bubble in hot weather. Scraping and painted was a constant focus of working bees.
Fences were also a constant drain on resources. In 1921 the church fences were renewed at a cost of $20 (ten pounds). Two fences later, thanks to the white ants, and Mr. Fairclough organized old rail lines and winding cables from the mine as a lifetime solution. Most of this fence still remains as it is just too permanent to remove. Rev. Bill Twine was later to have installed a cement post, pipe and wire fence at the front of the property. This was removed in 1978.
![[Mr. Osborne with the last pine in pieces]](images/osborne.gif) Mr. Osborne with the last pine tree in pieces
Mr. Warren had planted two pine trees at the front of the church. They soon grew into two beautiful trees, but as with pines, but by 1922 they had started to take over the site. That year they were lopped, but then they lost their shape. By 1940 one still stood growing bigger each year. Debate raged as to whether to remove it or just lop it. Finally in 1952 the committee decided for its removal. Mr. Osborne was hired for $40 to remove it.
At the end of Rev. Peatts ministry, 1923, Heathcote was removed from the Helensburgh Provisional District and joined to a redrawn Sutherland parish. Over the years the Helensburgh ministers had relied on Lay Readers to service the Heathcote church and this was not the best way to minister to the church. By this time services were no longer held at Cawley and Lilyvale as both villages had all but disappeared. Darkes Forest had never had a great population so from time to time services were held there, but with little regularity. Otford continued to hold services in Mr. Lucas' hall, made up of mixed denominations. Stanwell Park continued in much the same way, but a bit stronger.
Rev. David Creighton, 1924-1927
The eighth rector, Rev. David Creighton, was inducted to the parish in September 1924 by Archdeacon Boyce. With his wife Ruby they made quite an impact on the church. On November 18, 1924, the inaugural meeting of the Ladies Guild was held in the Rectory. The President was Mrs. Creighton, Vice Presidents Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Cox. Treasurer Mrs. Griffith and Secretary Mrs. Sutton, a position she held till she left the district in 1934. It was this group of ladies who organized social fund-raising activities for the years to come. The Ladies Guild replaced the smaller Ladies Parochial Committee which had the responsibility of running the annual Bazaar. The Bazaar or Sale of Work, were usually held in the Empire Theatre and were great events in the life of the town. Some of the earlier ones went over three days. In the later years they were reduced to one day affairs in the Parish Hall. In 1925 the Bazaar raised $282, in 1929 it raised $232 and in 1930 it raised $176 (eighty eight pounds).
Rev. Reginald Gee, 1927-1928
In 1927 Rev. Reginald Gee became the new Curate in Charge of the Helensburgh Provisional District - the ninth minister. Six weeks before, he and his wife Ruth had been married. it was quite a shock to arrive at the Rectory to find its total contents consisted of one cast iron fuel stove. Thankfully they were provided with a new enameled one priced at seven pounds, seventeen shillings and three pence. So out of their $500 a year stipend they had to raise a loan and buy some new furnishings from the local Co-Op store.
As Chaplain of the Waterfall Consumptive Hospital the local minister received an extra $100. From this extra income Rev. Gee was able to buy a car, a second hand Citroen. The Parish provided thirty pounds extra for petrol. At one shilling and eight pence you could travel a long way on thirty pounds. The main mechanical repairs of the day were new springs regularly broken travelling the highway.
The Gees soon made a home for themselves in Helensburgh. Over the years ministers found that it was a friendly village as long as you didn't put on airs. The only unfriendly element in the town was the small communist group who openly opposed any Christian activity.
Services continued at Waterfall 3pm, Darkes Forest and Otford 7pm week nights, Stanwell Park 3pm, and Helensburgh 8am, 11am, 7.15pm, with a children's service once a month. Services were well attended. There was a choir with a number of Welsh singers in it. In 1927 there were 9 Confirmations. The Church Warden's were Mr. Sutton, Mr. Stevenson, and Mr. Edmondson, who was also the Sunday School Superintendent. Other personalities in the church at the time were Dr. cox and his wife, Mr. Pell a local miner and Mrs. Pell, Mr. and Mrs. Barrett, Mr. and Mrs. Hartley who owned one of the local dairy farms at Blue Gum, Mr. and Mrs. King, Mrs. Gray, Mr. Griffith a local miner and always recognizable in his bowler hat, Mrs. Griffith, the Prossers who owned the shop opposite the hardware shop and who always supplied the ham for the Sunday School Picnic, Mrs. Mills, Loomes, Mitchinson, Mr. Green a miner, and Mrs. Green, Mrs. Kinnell the organist, Mrs. Gwen Rae who as Miss. Gwen Griffith had played the organ for many years up till 1927, Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson, Mrs. Stevenson ran the Girl's Club, Alan, Bill and Ella Sutton, Mrs. Sutton was the Guild secretary until the family moved to Bathurst, Mr. Burnett, Mr. Errington who gave many an hour scything the church grounds, Mr. and Mrs. Powell, Miss Short who was the central organizer of the many children's concerts during the depression, Mr. and Mrs. Senior and Mr. and Mrs Wilkinson of Stanwell Park. Other families who attended church were the Fairbrothers, Alstons, Finneys, Illingsworth, Oldfields, Dentons, Thickets and Pasfield. When the East family moved into the district and began attending, they took up a whole pew.
The Guild and Girls Club continued to thrive as before. The Parish Paper now had a circulation of over 300 copies per month. Rev. Gee involved himself in Cubs, Scouts and the local cricket team. He was a wicket keeper for the Helensburgh team as was able to install a sense of decorum on those occasion when the team was defeated. Visiting sporting teams were warned to get out of town quickly if the won the match as local team loyalty ran deep. As with ministers before, he was very friendly with the Roman Catholic Priest, Presbyterian minister and the Methodist circuit rider.
The hall was now used for the Guild, Girls Club, Cubs, Scouts, Sunday School, The Rifle Club, and St. John's Ambulance. Given its heavy use, plans were drawn up for a stage and kitchen extension and the replacement of the timber stumps with brick piers. The work was completed in 1928. It was the last major work for some time with the offertories cut in half by the depression. General maintenance continued. Also in 1928 new combination large print hymn and prayer books were purchased for those struggling to read the small print under the acetylene lamps. The unsettling affects of the depression in 1928 brought some new faces to town and so a social was run in the Church Hall to welcome the newcomers.
Up till 1928 The Stanwell Park Primary School had functioned in the front half of the church building, but now with the completion of the new Public School next door, church furniture was purchased as well as a new peddle organ from Mr. Bilby of Burwood for twenty five pounds. The actual building costs for the Stanwell Park Mission Church had never been fully met and so in lieu of payment the back section was rented out. Even after the debt was cleared the rear flat (later the church hall) was used as a source of revenue. Naturally there was the usual friction between the landlord and the tenant. On Good Friday 1928, the tenant decided to paint out the flat while the service was still underway. Of course, there was a scene. A new Australian family later moved into the flat, but the husband enjoyed a drink and after his Saturday evening drinking bouts there was the inevitable family brawl on Sunday morning. The tenant problem came to a head in 1934 when they refused to pay rent and were evicted. The room partitions were removed and the back section oped up to become the hall.
In the middle of 1928, Rev Gee was invited to the Parish of Nowra. it was a difficult time, Ruth had given birth to their first child, a boy, but she remained in hospital for four months after the birth. The rector had to pack and move without direction - furniture, cat and canary. The farewell party was a warm affair.
Rev. Walter Kennedy, 1928-1933
August 1928 Rev. Walter Kennedy was instituted to the Helensburgh Provision District by the then Rural Dean of Wollongong, Rev. Edward Walker. He was the tenth minister to serve the Parish. Rev. Kennedy was married without children. Within a few weeks of their moving in, the Rectory sported a strange antenna. The Rector was a Radio Ham, or as we would say today, a CB Freak. He was soon in contact with the towns other enthusiasts Sam Morgan and Bill Potter.
The church now had to survive through the difficult years of the depression. In 1929 the Sale of Work brought in one hundred and sixteen pounds, but in 1930 only eighty eight pounds. Even so, a new harmonium was purchased in 1929 for seventy pounds. The money was raised by church members putting aside one shilling a week toward the new organ. In 1930 the buildings were again painted and the pews varnished. Actually this turned into a disaster because they were still sticky on Sunday. Increasingly church members undertook any needed work around the property. Mr. Stevenson built the Church porch and the Rector's garage during the mine's slack periods. In 1931 a new side fence was installed using second hand railway sleepers at one shilling each. In 1932 new windows and sashes were installed in the church and Mr Smith undertook the repair of the Stanwell Park church roof. To cut down on costs, the paid church cleaner was laid off, the parish paper discontinued and there was event he suggestion of holding the evening service at 4pm to cut back on lighting costs.
Parish finances were greatly aided by the ladies in the Disctrict Visitors team. Mrs. Pell, Stevenson, Smith, Sutton and McKillop spent many an hour collecting pennies toward running costs. The ladies also arranged concerts, cantatas, community singing, stalls and special appeals. Two well remembered appeals were the 120 sixpences and the 500 shillings. There were, of course, the everyday traumas. The Scouts continued to break windows and even on one occasion got into the piano. This instrument had quite a history. It was the original school piano and had been bought by the church in 1914. it continues its service in the hall until it was replaced by a Pianola in the 1970's.
In 1929 white ants made their first appearance in the Stanwell Park Church. This was to be the beginning of a long battle that would see the end of the church buildings at Helensburgh and Waterfall. In 1935 the wooden piers under the Helensburgh church were replaced with brick piers to combat the threat. The major problem was that the porch built in 1930 had been constructed over the stump of one of the pine trees. It became the nest and entry point for later white ant attacks. In 1947 white ants were discovered in the Waterfall church and quite a few studs replaced. Then in 1949 the floor was replaced. The same year ants were discovered in the West wall of the Helensburgh church. In 1952 the pest exterminators, Powell & Co., were called in, but they were unable to find the source of the problem at that time. In 1959 the East wall was replaced. Meanwhile, the Waterfall church was again under attack, but on inspection it was found that the building was now little more than a shell. The building was demolished in 1957 by the residents of Waterfall. They were invited to a church bonfire and Bar-B-Q to say farewell. All that remained were the pews, stored under the Bushfire Brigade station, and the church bell. The congregation continued to meet in private homes through to the 1980's.
Back at Helensburgh things were not much better. Mrs. Hammonds fell through the floor while cleaning the church, and one windy Sunday evening the service was transferred to the hall due to the precarious swaying of the building. On the 27th May 1962 Rev. Butler led the last service held in the original church building. The original Rectory, next to the church, was to face a similar end, being demolished later that same year. During the building of the new church (hall), Ken Hammonds was painting the joists and bearers with a mixture of arsenic and creosote and was heard to say "go on, have a go at this lot."
Rev Kennedy, as with the ministers before him, used lay readers in the outlying centers. Messes Kemp, Kennard, Edward and Grenville all gave a hand. Unlike the earlier years when lay readers from Sydney were employed, the church was now strong enough to use members of the congregation in this ministry.
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