Portland Guardian (Vic. : 1876 - 1953), Monday 30 August 1943, page 4


A SHORT HISTORY OF ST STE-PHEN'S CHURCH FROM 1869 TO THE PRESENT DAY. Before entering into an account of the Guild's activities, the following short history of the building of the church may be of some interest to Portland residents:From the minute book of the committee appointed to take in hand the building of a church at Portland in 1854 the following history has been compiled. On October 6, 1854, a meeting of members of the church was held in the school house, the following being present: Rev. J. Y. Wilson, Messrs. S. G. Henty, Griffen, Must, Scott, M. Smith, Clarke, Coldham, Jones, F. Henty, Lapham, Somerville, Moon, Foggan, Alexander, H. Smith and many more. In connection with the proposal to erect a church, the Lord Bishop of Melbourne offered to obtain an iron church capable of containing 1,000 persons for the sum of £1,500 delivered at wharf, Melbourne. This did not commend itself to those present and it was decided to build a stone church. The treasurer (Mr. Griffen) stated he had a receipt for £1,000 placed to the credit of the committee in the Union Bank. Mr. S. G.Henty here offered that if £750 in addition to the sum first mentioned was collected, he would make up the amount to £1400, which he apparently did. After calling tenders for the vari-ous works the following were accep-ted:-. Masons' work, including supply of stone: John Jones, £2,400. Carpenters' work: R. Gow, £860. Plumbing and slating: Diwell and Dunbar, £322. No record appears showing cost of -painting, staining etc, nor for supply of seating, etc. The foundation stone was laid by Archdeacon Beamish on March 20th, 1855. The building was completed and opened in December, 1865. In the fol-lowing year Mr S. G. Henty presen-ted the church with a beautiful bell, which still summons the church peo-ple to worship. The incumbent, Rev. J. Y. Wilson, who was the first clergyman of the church, resigned about 1869, and the Rev. J. C. P. Allnutt (afterwards Archdeacon of the Loddon), was ap-pointed in his place. Mr. Allnutt appears to have lost no time in effecting improvements to the Sunday school accommodation, as in 1870 the building committee received a plan and specifications of a pro-posed addition to the schoolroom and, whilst offering no objection to the proposed work, the committee strongly

mpressed upon Mr. Allnutt that it could not undertake the "slightest re-sponsibillty for the payment of any portion of the expense incurred." The Archdeacon and Mrs. Allnutt were not dismayed at the situation and at once made an earnest appeal to the parents and also to the scholars to make every effort to secure the neces-sary funds for the proposed work. A fancy dress fair was suggested and taken up with enthusiasm. Miss A. Levett, who remembers the incident, states that "the children on a special evening brought their gifts which were held afolt by Mrs. Allnutt for all to see and a great deal of clapping went on. One gift brought by one little girl was a white tulle bonnet with green ribbons for strings, such as was worn by young women in those days." The fair was held in the assembly room of the Club Hotel, which was packed. The result of the fair and other efforts were so successful that the necessary funds were raised and the stone addition in which the Ladies Guild now meets, was completed. From this time onward, whilst the Archdeacon held office, a number of the ladies of the congregation; under the name of St. Stephen's Work Party, continued to raise funds by holding tea meetings, fetes, etc. Among the first members of the Work Party were: Mesdames L. Clarke, T. Must, Geo. Day, Findlay, W. Os-bourne, senr. the Misses McLeod and Mrs. Oswell. Later: Miss A. Levett, Mrs. S. Drew, Mrs. T. E. C. Henry, Mrs. Lowe, Mrs. Lyne, Mrs. A. Os-bourne, Mrs. R. Osbourne, Mrs. W. Osbourne, Mrs. J. H. Row, Misses Smith, and Miss S. J. Wadmore. As years rolled by, newcomers to the town joined in the efforts of the Work Party, and thus the combination proved of the utmost value to the church generally. The entertainments were carried at at first in the schoolroom and in the church grounds--later in the Free Li-brary hall and afterwards a monster fete was held annually in Henty Park, where the Borough Council had cre-ated permanent stalls etc. Other de-nominations held like gatherings, the whole forming a distinct feature in the town's church life. The Archdeacon, having a natural bent for architectural work, made good use of the funds supplied by the Work Party and his efforts have improved the church and grounds in many ways. A great deal of carved work was car-ried out by Mr. Pinner, an artist in this class of work. The choir stalls were originally near the south entrance of the church and were divided from the congregation by a baise screen. Later, upon the erec-tion of a gallery at the eastern end of the church (built to accommodate increased congregations) the choir was housed beside a small pipe organ placed in front of the gallery. Upon the purchase of the present large pipe organ, the organ chamber was erected by Mrs. Edward Henty in memory of her husband, and the present choir stalls were placed very much as they are now. The first organist appointed was a Mrs. Gover, who was followed by Mr. McBurnie and others including Miss Walker, Miss M. Day, Mrs. H. Gold-smith, Miss Allnutt, Miss Jarrett, Miss McKee and Miss Sharpe, who still holds the position. An important addition to the church was the Baptistry erected by Mrs. R. Vine to the memory of her husband. The brass Lectern (eagle) was the gift of Mr. Francis Henty in memory of his wife. The electroller and fittings were the gift of the Osbourne Bros. in memory of William Osbourne senr., and his sons, Alfred and William. The church is indeed rich in its possessions of many mementos of past generations. A large triple light stained window is a memorial of Stephen George Henty. A similar window adorns the south Wall of the church in memory of Ed-ward Henty and is a beautiful speci-men of artistic work. Other stained windows in comme-moration of past parishioners include those of Rev. J. Y. Wilson, Phillip Scott, T. Must and his wife, W. Jones, G. Day, wife and sons, W. Corney, F. E. Levett and wife. The reredos and railing were erec-ted in memory of Archdeacon Alluntt, and the screen of the organ in memory of Henry Day. Many tablets adorn the walls of the sacred building, the whole con-tributing to mark St. Stephen's Church as one of the prettiest churches in Victoria. About 1897 it was decided to have a surpliced choir and a very strong one, consisting of five gentlemen and fifteen ladies and ten small boys, was the result. An enlarged photo of the combination is on view in the hall now. Mrs. T. E. C. Henry (one of the choir) was honored with the first choral wedding service. During all these years the Work Party carried out its self-appointed work and upon the retirement of Archdeacon Allnutt after a pastorate of 37 Years, Canon Carmichael took office and held it for twelve years. Shortly after the Canon's appoint-ment, the vestry decided that the funds collected by the Work Party should be paid into the general church account, and although the change was not acceptable to the whole of the members, it was duly carried out and £100 was handed over to the vestry to be expended upon the purchase and erection of the present ornamental church gates-- £75 being spent upon that object. Canon Carmichael having resigned in 1918, was followed by Rev. Still-

well, and during his ministry the Work Party was renamed St. Ste-phen's Ladies' Guild and carried on as before under its new title. Mr. Stillwell, who marked his con-nection with Portland by becoming a member of the Borough Council, re-mained the vicar of St. Stephen's until 1923, when he left for West Aus-tralia, where he lived for some years. Our present vicar-Rev. Canon F. W. Coupe - followed Mr. Stillwell in September, 1923. During Canon Coupe's occupation of the church, the ornamental stone and railing wails on the Percy and Julia streets frontages were erected and added much to the church's sur-roundings. This somewhat disjointed history. would not be complete without men-tioning the names of the present mem-bers of the Guild that has so long carried out a self-imposed and self-denying task and thereby earned the gratitude of the parishioners of St. Stephen's Church. The following ladies are active members of the Guild at the present time: President, Mrs. T. Day; vicepresident, Mrs. H. Day; secretary, Mrs. W. T. Bennett; treasurer, Mrs. Gebbie. Members: Mesdames Andrews, Baldwin, Beglen, Brown, Carthew, S. B. Clarke, Coupe, Harcoan, Howell, Longthorn, Millard, Neale, A. E. Os-bourne, W. Osbourne, Pitman, Red-fern, Row, R. Salmon, Segal, Wright, Whitburn. Misses Henry, L. French and A. Levett.