Early Anglican Ministry in Ipswich
The area around Ipswich, originally known as Limestone in the Moreton Bay District, was opened to free settlement in May 1842.
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Services were held by visiting priests from the early 1840’s. In those days it was not unusual for services to be held in hotels, Court Houses, on verandahs or wherever a convenient room could be found.
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The first recorded St Paul’s church service was conducted by Rev John Gregor on 20 August 1843, in the evening at the residence of Mr Thorne – eighteen persons were present. The first recorded Church of England Baptism in Ipswich (then a part of the Parish of Brisbane), was Catherine Patrick who was christened by the Rev John Gregor on 24 June 1844.
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Early services of the first Church of England in Ipswich were held from 16 April 1848, (the Rev Benjamin Glennie’s first visit & service) to when the new temporary brick church was built in 1850/51, in the original wooden Ipswich Court House, built in 1848 [where the historic old General Post Office and Town Hall buildings now stand in Brisbane St.] The first confirmation in Ipswich was held in June 1848 by Bishop Tyrrell of Newcastle while visiting Ipswich with Rev Glennie.
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A Land Grant was obtained from the New South Wales Government to the Church of England in 1848 covering 2 acres [separated by the then new Nicholas St extension, now D’Arcy Doyle Place]
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In 1850 the Rev John Wallace (first rector of St Paul’s) was placed in entire charge of St Pauls’ Church, thus giving it “a name and a local habitation.”
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Rev Wallace’s initial services were conducted in the original Ipswich Court House in Brisbane Street and in a temporary wooden building in Lower Ellenborough St Woodend near the Commercial Hotel, and the railway goods sheds. He solemnized his first baptism in the Parish of Ipswich on 20 September 1850, the infant being Eliza Jane, daughter of Thomas and Mary Ellen Bradford.
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Lower Ellenborough St Woodend in the 1850’s was a residential area. The houses were demolished to make way for one of the first railway stations in Ipswich.
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The “Temporary” Church
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A temporary small brick Church was built in 1850-51, on the opposite corner to the current church, at 116 Brisbane St Ipswich, on the site where the Indian Mehdi Restaurant is located. The original brick building was demolished in 1877/78 to enable the Bank of Australasia to erect a new building and who eventually bought the land from St Paul’s church. This property was later bought by the Ipswich City Council.
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The only known remnant of the “Temporary” Church is the bell is located inside the current church above the Gallery railings
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St Paul's Church
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The current St Paul’s Church was built on what was at that time a small hill. When building commenced on St Pauls’ in 1855, this area was still a part of NSW, in the Diocese of Newcastle. Queensland did not become a state until 10th December 1859.
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The first services were held on Whitsunday, 12th June 1859 [Pentecost]. The initial services were conducted by the Revd. John Mosely in the morning and by Mr. Lacy Rumsey at night.
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The first recorded child to be christened in St Pauls’ new church was William Frederick Young on 12 June 1859.
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With all debts having been cleared, the Bishop of Brisbane, the Right Reverend Dr Matthew Hale, consecrated St Pauls’ on St Mark’s Day, 25 April 1880