This is a postcard of the first church on the Powlett Coal Field. The township at the centre of the coal fields was named Wonthaggi (1). The State Coal Mine on the Powlett Coal Field was established to supply coal to the Victorian Railways and put an end to the dependence of Victoria on New South Wales coal. The State Coal Mine was given Goverment approval on November 17, 1909 and within eight days the first coal was despatched to Melbourne, overlanded to Inverloch and then shipped to Melbourne (2). The railway line from Nyora to Wonthaggi was constructed in ten weeks by 700 men using 140 horses and 17 bullocks and was opened by February 22, 1910, allowing coal to be railed direct to Melbourne (3).
First Church on the Powlett coal field - this is the Baptist Church, relocated from Jumbunna.
State Library of Victoria Image H2002.135/27
By April 1910 there were 750 miners employed at the State Coal Mine. The miners initially lived in tents in a tent town, then the township site was survyed and houses and other community facilities were established and on September 14, 1910 the township of Wonthaggi was proclaimed (4). The township plan included allotments for Churches - the allotments being allocated by ballot (5).
The results of the ballot for Churches in Wonthaggi
The Leader, May 7, 1910 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/196493592#
Which was the first Church in Wonthaggi? It was the Baptist Church which had been shifted from Jumbunna. In the 1890s coal mines were established at Coal Creek at Korumburra, Jumbunna and Outtrim. In the case of Jumbunna and Outtrim a 17 month strike in 1903/04 saw many miners leave the town and businesses close so the Church was no longer required and was moved (6). The Baptist Church was on the coal field in February 1910. In the history of the Church of England in Gippsland, The Church of our Fathers by the Reverend Arthur E. Clark (7), the author writes that the Reverend C. W. T. Rogers volunteered for the appointment to the Powlett coalfields. He arrived on February 5, 1910 and was glad to accept the kind hospitality of the Baptist Missionary, Mr J.M. McCue, who offered him the shelter of the church in which to make his bed for the night (8) which obviously suggests the church building had been moved by then. It may have even been there at the end of 1909 as Arthur Clark says that the Methodists were on the coalfield from the beginning (more of which below) and the Baptists speedily followed with a building which they were able to bring from Jumbunna (9).
A report in The Age of May 26, 1910 said on the opening of the Powlett field the Jumbunna church had been moved to Powlett, and a good site for a church had been obtained at Wonthaggi. It was a
sign of the progress already made that 51 persons had been baptised at Wonthaggi (10). I am unsure if they moved the Jumbunna Church to the new site and also built a new Church because I came across the following, when I was researching the date the Congregational Church opened, which was in November 1910 (11). It closed in June 1913, due to low numbers (12). A report in a paper says that the Congregational property has been purchased by the Baptist Church authorities, who intend to remove their old building to the new site and use it as a school (13). This implies that there was a new Church as well as the Jumbunna Church. The Baptists have the distinction of having the first physical church building on the coal field, however it was the Methodists who had the first congregation on the coal field.
A Century of Victorian Methodism by Reverend C. Irving Benson (14) gives us this history of the early days of the Methodist congregation on the coal fields - Here we were the first Church on the coalfields. On the arrival of the first batch of miners, thirty five in all, they were met by the Reverend Courtenay Thomas, who sensing the possibilities of the place, promptly secured a tent, which would accomodate 200 men, and obtaining meanwhile a supply of red-gum planks for seats, was ready to begin operations. A Sunday School was opened under the guidance of Mrs Gardiner and before long its success bacame an embarrassment, the number of children in attendance passing the 400 mark. Later, Mr D. Cock provided an iron building, which was placed on the site for the Methodist Church, and after this had been in use for a while, in 1911 a wooden structure, 66 feet by 34 feet was built (15). It opened in August 1910.
The opening of the Methodist Church building in Wonthaggi
The Argus August 19, 1910 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10453986
The Anglicans held their first services in Mr P. Smith's billiard room then in a tent, until the Baptists offered the use of their building for morning services. The church, built on their alloated spot in the township of Wonthaggi, was opened on June 19, 1910. It was a wooden structure of a type familar to all Victorians, and capable of accomodating 100 people and was built by Percy Reynolds of Coburg (16). The Presbyterian Church was opened on January 8, 1911, by the Moderator General of the Presbyterian Church, Reverend William Stothert Rolland (17).
The Catholic Church and Convent was officially opened on Sunday, March 24, 1912 by the Archbishop Thomas Carr. This was a much grander building than the other churches - The building is on a magnificent site, is flanked by the convent, and is a very solid and durable structure. Its red tile roof and its spire, the cross on the summit of which is decked with electric lights and gives a beautiful effect at night, are the most conspicuous objects in the town from every side at a distance. Within, the building is lofty and roomy, capable of seating 800 persons quite comfortably. It is splendidly lighted day and night, and beautifully finished off (18).
The Catholic Church, Wonthaggi, 1913. Photographer: John Henry Harvey
State Library of Victoria Image H90.161/301
The Catholic Church was also used as a school, which at the time of its opening had an enrolment of 210 students (19). The Wonthaggi State School had been established November 22, 1909 and a variety of buildings in town were used including both the Baptist and Methodist Churches, a dismanted hay and corn store and a tent (20). The permanent school, a brick building of four rooms, in Billson Street opened March 27, 1911, which was still inadequate and the 'overflow' students had their lessons in the public hall. By the end of 1911 another building of five rooms was completed, however these nine rooms were designed to accomodate 450 students and 660 children were enrolled (21).
One of the benefits of weatherboard Church buildings or as the Reverend Clark called them a wooden structure of a type familar to all Victorians (22),was the ease with which they could be transported from one town to another where there was a greater need. Two Churches in Koo Wee Rup are examples of this practical activity. The Presbyterian Church building was originally the Wesleyan Church in Cranbourne and when it was no longer required, it was purchased by the Koo Wee Rup Presbyterians for 70 pounds. This church, designed by Architect Alfred Dunn, had been erected in 1888 and it was transported to Koo Wee Rup on a large trolley drawn by 13 horses and placed on land donated by Christopher Moody. The first service in this building was on March 20, 1896 (23). The Methodist Church (now Uniting) was moved from Yallock to Rossiter Road in 1932. In 1978 this building was moved to a camp in Grantville and a wooden church, the Narre Warren East Uniting Church, was relocated to the site, it was given a brick veneer and a new hall added and opened on February, 3 1980 (24). The first Church on the Powlett Coal Fields, the Baptist Church, is also a perfect example of this sustainable practice.
Footnotes
(1) The Age, September 22, 1909, see here.
(2) Fahey, Charles Wonthaggi State Coal Mine: a short history of the State Coal Mine and its miners (Conservation Forest and Lands & Wonthaggi Coal Mine Committee, 1987). p. 11.
(3) Fahey, op. cit., pp 11-13.
(4) Fahey, op. cit., pp. 13-14.
(6) White, Joseph The History of the Shire of Korumburra (Shire of Korumburra, 1988) Mr White has a chapter on the various coal mines in the Korumburra region, pp. 119-135.
(7) Clark, Albert E The Church of our Fathers being the history of the Church of England in Gippsland, 1847-1947 (Diocese of Gippsland, 1947)
(8) Clark, op.cit., pp. 259-260.
(9) Clark, op.cit., p. 261.
(11) It was opened by the Minister for Customs, Frank Tudor (1866-1922), who was also a Deacon of the Congregational Church. You can read his Australian Dictionary of Biography entry, here. The report of the opening of the Church was in The Herald, November 5, 1910, see here.
(12) The Argus, June 20, 1913, see here.
(13) The Argus, June 20, 1913, see here
(14) Benson, C. Irving A Century of Victorian Methodism (Spectator Publishing, 1935)
(15) Benson, op. cit., pp. 476-477.
(16) Clark, op. cit., pp. 260-262.
(17) The Age, January 10, 1911, see here. Read William Stothert Rolland (1846-1920) on the Geelong College website, here.
(18) The Advocate, March 30, 1912, see here.
(19) The Advocate, March 30, 1912, see here.
(20) Reports of the accomodation issues for the school can be found in The Argus, January 24, 1911, see here and The Age, January 28, 1911, see here and in Blake, L. J (editor) Vision and Realisation: a centenary history of State Education in Victoria, (Education Department of Victoria, 1973), vol. 3. pp. 1302-1303.
(21) Blake, op. cit., pp. 1302-1303.
(22) Clark, op. cit., p. 262.
(23) Gunson, Niel The Good Country: Cranbourne Shire (F. W. Cheshire, 1968). p.166 and The Mornington Standard, February 20, 1896, see here.
(24) I have written about this and there is also a photo of the Yallock Church being moved, on my Koo Wee Rup Swamp History blog, see here.
