First, they would catch the train to Cockle
Creek, then a steam tram to Speers Point. The event would have been an exciting
adventure for children whose families did not own cars, and who walked
everywhere within their suburb, Hamilton.
Picnic
at Speers Point (n.d.)
Photograph
by Ralph Snowball, from the Bert Lovett Collection,
part of the Norm Barney
Photographic Collection,
courtesy Cultural Collections, University of
Newcastle, Australia
The small rise crowned by Hamilton Public
School and St Peter’s Anglican Church has long been a place of learning for
children.
Imagine the noise and bustle of 500 children
gathering for Sunday School each week, taught by a small army of 40 teachers!
This was peak participation, sometime in the 1930s.
St Peter’s first Sunday School Hall was an
economical building - made of unpainted timber slabs recycled from the first
church.
Eventually considered ‘unsafe and unsightly,’ a
new hall replaced the old in 1897 - but only after much debate and dispute within
the church Council about the additional debt involved. In fact, two Council
members resigned.
Numbers were still on the rise when in 1921,
another new hall was built. All the land was mortgaged, except where the church
stood. In 1970, when the Sunday School and Church Hall was dramatically
modernized with optimism and at considerable cost, church decision makers were
not to know the future. Within a decade or two, Sunday schools, youth
fellowships and large church gatherings would become things of the past.
St
Peter’s Church and Rectory, Hamilton 2015
Photograph
by Craig Smith
The first and second church
buildings
The first Anglican church in Hamilton was of built
timber slabs between 1863 and 1864, at 148 Denison Street. Because a church
still stands on this site today, we can pinpoint almost exactly where the AA
Company’s D Pit once was – just opposite.
Opening on 3 July, 1864, the first church seated
80 - 100 people. No longer would parishioners have to catch the clanking dusty rail
trolley that the AA Company provided on Sundays, to worship at St John’s, Cook’s
Hill.
Twenty years later, in 1883, plans were underway
to have a new church built.
The influential church architect, expatriate
American John Horbury Hunt, was commissioned to design it. If Councillors
thought the next stage would be smooth sailing, how wrong they were. Horbury
Hunt was reportedly ‘a man of quick temperament’ who ‘often fell foul of
workmen and employers.’ At times he was at loggerheads with one or another Council
members, and once declared Council members ‘greengrocers and guttersnipes.’ [1]
Hamilton was a large and populous centre but it
was not prosperous. Still, by March 1884, £1200 had been raised by hard working
parishioners towards what would be the final cost of £1900. State aid for such
buildings had ended, and St Peter’s was built entirely from public subscription
– a great tribute to the efforts of ‘greengrocers and guttersnipes’.
Many of those early Council members have left
their names to be remembered on surrounding Hamilton streets and in Hamilton
Municipal Council records – men like James Ray, William H Milton, Thomas Tudor
and J Lord.
The new church, seating around 200 people, was
dedicated on 29 October, 1885. This simple brick building, in Gothic style,
would become historically and socially significant at a local level.
The
foundation stone for St Peter’s Church is dated 1896, 11 years after it was
opened
The church’s one design flourish would be an
unusually shaped bell turret, a brick cylinder ascending into a pyramidal
timber spine. [2] Its
height is between a bell tower and a spire. Today, this turret is a significant
landmark in Hamilton, and a means by which Hunt gave his buildings
individuality.[3] Originally,
the church was designed with a pyramid roofed lantern above the nave, a
counterpoint to the turret. Thought also to be for ventilation, it was removed
in 1911. Unusually, too, the church is side-on to the street, to overcome the
problem of a shallow plot of land and to provide interest.
St
Peter’s Anglican Church, 148 Denison Street, Hamilton NSW (n.d.)
In this
this photograph c. early 1900s, both the turret
and the lantern can be seen
Photograph
from Bert Lovett Collection, part of the Norm Barney Photographic Collection,
courtesy Cultural Collections, University of Newcastle, Australia
As I visit with Father David Smith to research
this post, he is concerned about the damage to the church roof caused by the
violent April storms of 2015.
This
unusual bell turret on St Peter’s Church remains
a significant Hamilton
landmark
The organ that was ‘a-bit-of-a-lemon’
Not much is known about the church’s first
organ, but in 1890 it was sold. A replacement was purchased from All Saints Anglican
Church, Singleton for £75. A Walcker, this organ dates from 1861 and is believed
to be the first Walcker organ built for W H Paling of Sydney. [4]
However, the organ proved to be ‘a-bit-of-a-lemon’, with major problems; even
‘entirely useless’, according to one expert, with repairs costing a further £70
over the purchase price needed to make it playable.
Much haggling ensued with Singleton, with the
St Peter’s Parish Council seeking to delay the final payment and requesting
compensation for repairs - without result.
In its lifetime, the Walcker was ‘rebuilt’
twice, in 1903 and 1924. It suffered water damage, and was attacked by borers.
Finally, in 1967 it was sold for £700, and transferred piece by piece to the
home of its new owner in Campbelltown. Until then, the organ that was ‘a-bit-of-a-lemon’
had provided 77 years of service.
One of the longest serving organists was A F
(Bertie Nicholls) who played the organ at St Peter’s from 1920 – 1960. Apparently
he had some irritating habits – like bringing
onion sandwiches to church. If he didn’t like the hymn selected, he’d play
something else – his reason being that ‘the congregation didn’t know that one’.
Still, the number of weddings, services and funerals at which Bertie had played
the organ over those 40 years would be phenomenal.
Seeing the writing on the wall, the Council had
set up a fund in 1962 to finance a new organ. Organ manufacturers J W Walker
and Sons of London sent a recording of one of their organs to Hamilton. Once
heard, it was decided that ‘this was the one’. Despite the fact that only £1000
had been raised, and the new one would cost £12,000, the purchase went ahead,
in great faith. Finally, the new organ arrived in perfect condition – all parts
handmade, including 433 pipes. It was dedicated on 30 April, 1967.
This is the organ that stands in St Peter’s
today. Father David is acutely aware that now, after half a century of service,
even this great instrument needs repair.
Interior
of St Peter’s Church, Hamilton showing handsome eagle
and the present organ,
built by J W Walker & Sons, London, 1966
Photograph
by Craig Smith
‘Matters of nature’
In 1900, ‘matters of nature’ had to be
discussed at a vestry meeting, held
on 3 July. The Hamilton Council had written to
the Parish requesting that a ‘privy’ be built for the convenience of those
attending the church and Sunday School. The meeting considered this would be a
great nuisance, and a motion was passed to say the letter marked ‘to be
complied with’ be lost. Clearly a law unto itself - were they all men at the
vestry meeting?
In due course, a privy was erected, and it did
present a nuisance. One parishioner complained about a woman who ‘repeatedly
left the church at the same time each Sunday and the resulting noise disturbed
her in her worship. Maybe it was during the sermon?’ [5]
Rowdy youth
Again, around 1900, a problem that worried the
clergy was noise and disruption by youth at the back of the church during the
service. On one occasion Canon Ramm stopped his sermon short and issued an
ultimatum – either they cease their noise or he would call the police.
Church
group, St Peter’s Church, Hamilton NSW, 18 April 1896
Photograph
by Ralph Snowball, from the Bert Lovett Collection,
part of the Norm Barney
Photographic Collection,
courtesy Cultural Collections, University of
Newcastle, Australia
A Rectory at last
The lack of a permanent home for the Rector and
his family was finally addressed in 1905. After petitioning the AA Company’s
head office in London for a grant of land for the Rectory, and assisted by the
influence of Mr Jesse Gregson, then AA Company Superintendent and luckily, a
member of the church, the request was granted.
A fund was established and in 1906, Menkens and
Castleden were chosen as the architects. F W Menkens designed many impressive Newcastle
buildings, including the Masonic Hall and the Mechanics' Institute in Hamilton.
Finance always presented challenges for St
Peter’s. Reading between the lines of the historical account, it appears Mr
Menkens may have gotten a bit carried away with his plans for the Rectory.
After submitting three designs, the fourth was finally accepted. However, the
Council must have been uneasy about how they were going to pay for even that
modified design. When Menckens conveniently departed on an overseas trip, his
partner F G Castleden was asked to come up with something less elaborate.
On a block of land adjacent to the church, the
Rectory is a gracious brick bungalow with nine rooms, large halls and wide
verandahs. Ceilings are of Queensland pine, and fittings of maple. The
interiors have been updated over time.
Not far
to walk to work - the Rectory is built on land
adjoining St
Peter’s Church, Hamilton
Photograph
by Craig Smith
Continual improvements
In the 130 years since it was built, St Peter’s
has been subject to many alterations and improvements. From functional
improvements such as pathways and fences, a new western entrance, electric
lighting, carpets, ‘up-to-date’ pews, and replacing the original shingle roof,
to installing new stained glass windows and replacing others, parishioners
somehow found the necessary funds.
Creating
this new western entrance was considered a major, exciting
new project that
would significantly enhance St Peter’s Church
Photograph
by Craig Smith
Damp has been a continuing problem for St
Peter’s. In 1906 the interior was painted to brighten up the church. By 1916,
the damp was just as bad, so the mortar was scraped out from between the bricks
in the sanctuary, and walls covered with timber panelling. Because only one
quote for the work was obtained, Mr W Milton, one of the longer serving laymen
of the parish, resigned. One hundred years later, the damp continues and the
problem remains unsolved – a legacy, perhaps of inadequate foundations.
Ecclesiastical
architect John Horbury Hunt favoured timber,
as seenin this
interior view of St Peter’s Church
Timber
panels installed later in the sanctuary did not stop the rising damp
Photograph
by Craig Smith
Power play
In researching the early history of Hamilton,
I’ve often noticed how the names of some community leaders recur again and
again in businesses, churches and friendly societies, or the Hamilton Municipal
Council.
I first learned about Mr FW Lean and Mr K A
Mathieson when writing the story of the Greater Building Society. Together, in 1924, Lean and Mathieson created the Newcastle and Hunter River
Star-Bowkett Building Cooperative Society, the forerunner of the Greater as we
know it today. As influential Anglicans, deeply involved in St Peter’s Church,
both men believed strongly that innovative ways should be found to enable ordinary
people to own their own home.
Ken Matheison held many leadership positions
within the church. As superintendent of the Sunday School, he declared that ‘part of the aim (of Sunday School) was to
make the children fit citizens of the community.’ [6]
He was at various times, Captain of the Tennis Club; co-founder of the Anglican
Temperance Society; Secretary of the Anglican Men’s Society; and leader of the
Young Churchman’s Union.
Tennis
players from St Peter’s Tennis Club, Hamilton
The Club
raised substantial funds for the church over many years
Photograph
courtesy of Hunter Photo Bank
Fred Lean’s commitment to the church was over
50 years, when he held various committee offices.
A prominent local businessman who contributed
much to St Peter’s was Mr Fred Hely. Hely Brothers Pty Ltd was a large
Hamilton business, manufacturing tool handles, shovels, spades and wheel
components. ‘Fred’, as he was known, was Chairman of Hely Brothers and had a
long and almost unbroken association with St Peter’s since before the first
World War. Fred’s father, his brother and Fred himself served on the Parish
Council, Fred for a time as Secretary, and advisor to the Parish Paper. For his
wisdom and experience, he became known as the Elder Statesman. [7]
A flourishing of groups
I often wonder what it was that impelled our
forebears to make personal sacrifices to create inspiring built structures, spaces
within which a community of people with shared values could flourish.
For its first hundred years or so, the
community of St Peter’s was almost a world unto itself. It was not just a place
for worship, learning and spiritual solace. It was a highly connected,
interwoven network of groups in which friendships were sustained, social lives
conducted, and new skills developed. It was a place for volunteering, and for
service.
As well as the groups mentioned earlier, women’s
groups such as Young Women’s Club, the Women’s Guild, and the Mother’s Union
provided a friendship and support network for women, forged in practical and
spiritual activities. Some parishioners today still remember the heady days of
the tennis club, although the tennis court gave way to a parking space in the 1980s.
The colourful history of the choir is a story
in its own right – members stood their ground on issues of principle, like whether
they should be expected to contribute to the collection plate when they had to
buy their own music scores and books. But they also went on picnics, social
outings, and holidays together.
And since 1882, fourteen rectors have given leadership and service
to the parishioners of St Peter’s, Hamilton. They have helped create the rich
social capital to be found in our suburb today.
These days, our networks are in cyberspace. I
remember the English philosopher and writer Alain de Botton [8]
lamenting that secular society does not nourish our souls and imaginations in
the way that religion has done. He asks - where do we go for the meaning and
wisdom we need to make it through the day?
We might learn something from the churches of
old, suggests de Botton – how to build a sense of community, inspire the desire
for service, practice life-affirming rituals, and even… how to create
opportunities for strangers to sing together.
A marble
baptismal font honours the dedicated service given to
the
community of St Peter’s Church by Mrs Ramm,
wife of the much loved and
respected
Canon Ramm
Canon Ramm
Acknowlegements
The information for this story was gleaned largely
from the historical and heritage references cited. My thanks also to Father
David Smith (since retired) for his contribution and for welcoming photographer Craig Smith and
me to the St Peter’s Church and site.
Unattributed photographs are by Ruth
Cotton.
[1] A History of St Peter’s Church, Hamilton,
Newcastle New South Wales to mark the Centenary Year 1885-1985. Researched and
compiled by Billie Coleman. Newcastle, 1985, p. 3
[2] Turrets
are generally round or polygonal, whereas St Peter’s turret ascends from
circular to pyramidical. Heritage note, NSW Office of Environment and Heritage,
refer
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=2170048
[3] NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, refer
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=2170048
[5] A History of St Peter’s Church, Hamilton,
Newcastle New South Wales to mark the Centenary Year 1885-1985. Researched and
compiled by Billie Coleman. Newcastle, 1985, p. 8
[6] A History of St Peter’s Church, Hamilton,
Newcastle New South Wales to mark the Centenary Year 1885-1985. Researched and
compiled by Billie Coleman. Newcastle, 1985, p. 19
[7] A History of St Peter’s Church, Hamilton,
Newcastle New South Wales to mark the Centenary Year 1885-1985. Researched and
compiled by Billie Coleman. Newcastle, 1985, p. 16
[8] Alain de Botton, 2012, Religion
for Atheists: A Non-believer’s Guide to the Uses of Religion, Hamish Hamilton
Ltd, London
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