My interest in this minor Methodist movement was enhanced by the rich primary source of reports printed in the Bible Christian Magazine as part of theEnglish Bible Christian Missionary Society.
Pioneer missionaries who came to the Colony mailed regular written progress reports of the day to day experiences they encountered in the colony. Every month they were published in a Magazine circulated by the church. Sadly very few complete copies of the magazine have survived in the world. A South Australian copy was lost in the Ash Wednesday fire of 1880 (at St Michael’s House, Mt Lofty) Over a long period and with the help of digital technology the pioneering story in South Australia is now published in biographical form. The church in South Australia published the South Australian Bible Christian Magazine in 1867.The Bible Christian Monthly was produced in March of 1892
Historical Time line—— Setting the stage
1738 John Wesley’s Conversion, Aldersgate St London.
1743 First of 32 visits to Cornwall. No roads,— it was a wild place.
Methodism grew rapidly. Over the next 50years it became a respectable institution in a period when generally the Church was for the rich. It became legalistic and authoritarian in its discipline
1797 Methodist New Connexion in Sheffield, Alexander Kilman (Similar to the Bible Christian and Primitive cause the place/ rights of the lay-person was central) 1812 Primitive Methodist in Staffordshire, Hugh Bourne.(for rural/industrial poor) 1815 Bible Christian in Nth Cornwall, William O’Bryan. (for rural/industrial poor) How were they different? They basically believed the same things—but varied in priorities and practise. They were cousins—of the same family!!!
1850 James Way, James Rowe to South Australia
The 1851 CENSUS shows that by that time 60% of the people of Cornwall were Methodist. It is no exaggeration to say Methodism was the unofficial religion of Cornwall. Approximately 25% of people were dissenters from the Established Church.
Two marked features of the Bible Christians:
(1) They had limited resources. They focused on the marginalised poor, illiterate, rural labourers/miners
Stated: Bible Christians depended on the Grace of God and the pence of the poor and they found them ever abundant for all their need.
In South Australia they preached in the open air, met in farmers barns. Their chapels were small and temporary and some times occupied before they were finished.(They would have an opening day and receive peoples generous gifts. Occupy the unplastered chapel and 12 months later plaster the inside—have a second re-opening service and receive a second round of gifts.)
(2) They were driven by a missionary passion. Although they were poor with few resources the movement spread to wherever Cornish miners emigrated. Across the UK, Canada, USA, New Zealand, even to China. South Australia became the Colonial base in Australia with outreaches to Queensland, the Victorian goldfields, Melbourne and Western Australia. Dr Philip Payton says, 70-80% of Bible Christians were Cornish. In South Australia Rev Dr Arnold Hunt’s estimated that over 30% of Bible Christians were of Cornish origin
William O’Bryan
William O’Bryan had been born in Cornwall to a devout mother who had been a Quakeress. At three years of age she took her child up the aisle of a church to receive the blessing of John Wesley, but what he received that day was “Apostolic Ordination”. Wesley, who first visited Cornwall in 1743, was an old man of 80 years. (his last visit 1789) Accoding to W T Shapley, Wesley laid his hands upon the boy’s head and prayed, “May he be a blessing to hundreds and thousands.”
O’Bryan grew to be a very single minded, compassionate person with exceptional preaching gifts. He was rejected from formally entering the Wesleyan Methodist ministry on two occasions. AD Hunt thought that on the first occasion his single state as a young man was a contributing factor. By the time of the second there were probably more compounding reasons. O’Bryan advocated radical voluntary giving to sustain ministry rather than a tithe imposed by the church. Preachers should be supported by voluntary giving not by set payments from the Society. He was expelled from his home church at Gunwwen 1810 although he donated the land and helped to build the chapel. (see p 70 The Bible Christians, Bourne.) He refused to ignore impoverished communities who had not heard the gospel for the sake of being confined to the Wesleyan Preaching Plan. Being on unauthorized preaching tours he had failed to meet the requirements of attendance at Class Meetings. His irregularities like those of Wesley were glorious irregularities.(p 28)
On the 1st October 1815 O’Bryan formed his own preaching circuit at Week St Mary and Hex Cornwall. On the 9th O’Bryan preached in the kitchen of the Thorne family, Shebbear, Devon. “An abundance of Divine influence (presence) was felt by many” and he was earnestly requested to form a Class of 22 people. “The Rock from Whence we were Hewn” John Thorne, Bible Christian Magazine 1897, p14.
After violence that took place against the movement at Holsworthy the first Local preachers meeting took place at Weak St Orchard in the Weak St Mary circuit. Young James Thorne agreed to meet the need for another itinerant preacher to help O’Bryan and he started on 15th March 1816. The first Lords Supper was celebrated that evening and “a most glorious influence was realized.” ( Jubilee 1864 account p34) (The village of Shebbear became the Mecca of the Bible Christians movement. (Mary O’Bryan, daughter of William, also called “maiden preacher,” married Samuel Thorne, brother of James.)
It has been suggested that Wesley himself was responsible for the breakaway Bible Christian cause because in his touring he neglected that South West part of England, the western boarder of Bodmin Moore, the Cornish-Devon boarder. As a local preacher O’ Bryan was part of the Wesleyan Stratton Mission near Newquay.
Shapley insisted that “in no sense was (the Bible Christian movement) a breakaway from the Mother Church of Methodism but— a distinct out-pouring of the Spirit of God”.(“Our Bible Christian Heritage,” SA Methodist Historical Society 1952.)
Galvanized with the belief that God had established the Empire, the Church was a natural part of its expansion. Lord Portman is attributed with saying that settlers were, “an appointed means of peopling what remains unpeopled in this earth.” Occupying and harnessing the land then was not just a matter of commercial greed, it was also a cultural belief that it was a gentleman’s role to take possession and to subdue the earth. The combined concepts of an expanding empire mixed with the Missionary movement of the period became the mandate to save souls and to passionately turn people to Christ.
The Bible Christian Missionary Society was formed in 1821 and was described as the “ brightest jewel of the denomination—tens of thousands of converts are its crown of glory.” In February 1820 there was a mission to County Kent and in 1831 John Eynon left to commence work in Canada. In 1829 William O’Bryan left the movement.
There is an irony here. After being expelled by the Wesleyans and giving birth to an egalitarian movement O’Bryan himself became so dominating and authoritarian that he was later expelled by his own Conference.
After the sad turn of events O’Bryan opened a circuit near New York after 1831. This was not a Bible Christian work and it was thought that he made no significant contribution to Methodism in the USA. However as a by product of Bible Christian work in Canada, two BC missionaries went to Ohio and Winconsin in USA in mid 1800’s.
Various Stats.
(1) Religious Census England 1851 revealed that over 60% of Cornish church gowers subscribed to Methodism and 27% were Anglican. The unofficial religion of Cornwall.A History of Cornwall, Ian Soulsby, Pub. Philllimore 1986, p 106.
(2) Philip Payton says, 60% of the population were Methodist by 1851.Cornwall
(Triology) p 213. In conversation Payton, from his UK perspective estimated that app.70% to 80% of the Bible Christian’s were Cornish.
(3) Dr A D Hunt Study.After a close study of Bible Christian obituaries in the BC Magazine Hunt estimated that at least 30% of members were Cornish. Growth was spectacular on the Gawler Plains under Samuel Keen. Many sought comfort of the familiar in a foreign land.
Hunt concluded that roughly two thirds of BC’s were converted in SA after their arrival. (His study obituaries BCM, 1870-90)
(4) Cornish Emigrants Between 1846 and 1850, 71% of all Cornish emigrants to Australian colonies arrive in South Australia. Some 7,000 on assisted passages so by 1850 Burra had expanded to 5,000.
(5) The 1851 Cesus of the Cornish population
United Kingdom Wells.(Web site) http://ukwells.org/location-biographies/revival- cornwall
(6) Wesleyan Meth. 20.5%, Bible Christian 6% with 21,661 people, Primitive 2%, Wesleyan Meth Ass. 3.1%, Wesleyan Ref. Union .2% .= Total 31.4%
(7) Growth of SA& BC. From 1851 to 1881, South Australia grew from 63,000 to 275,000.
Census 1891 showed Wesleyan 49,159, Bible Christian 15,762, Primitive 11,654. This meant 23% of population was Methodist. 1891 Census showed population 320,431.
Bible Christian figures compared with figures of the previous decade the Census showed a proportionate increase of 50.24%. The next highest were the Baptists with 25.52%
The Advertiser paper said, “So far as the growth is traceable to a human agency, it has been caused by the zeal, singleness of purpose and the self sacrifice of the great body of Bible Christian preachers and people.”
It has been said The Bible Christians were the Penticostal movement of 19th centuary South Australia.
Bible Christian Traits
Socially, politically it was a volatile period of unrest, revival and disruption.
Bible Christians were more “heart felt”, spirit aware, compassionate, flexible people rather than given to strict repetitive ritual typical of popish Catholicism. They were passionate people who were not contained by the clergy dominated Wesleyan Church that appeared to exercise a harsh authoritarian discipline.
It was an anti-hierarchy, anti institutional-clergy dominated movement. It was anti-Establishment (State owned) church. It was a guest for spirituality beyond the institutional form of religion. It saw itself as a radical rediscovery of the core elements of the faith. O’Bryan was particular in following the exact practise of the New Testament when it came to the Lord’s Supper. Hunt says that like other Methodists they thought they had the purest expression of the gospel. They cut through the formalities of the liturgical church to present an evangelical, biblical based message free from superstition and priest craft. It stressed a definite personal conversion and
Introduced people to a fellowship-community of friends to whom one was accountable. As a persecuted non-conformist movement the Bible Christians became a close filial, inter-connected community.
Early ministers were steeped in the Old Testament and saw emigration as a type of exodus from the slavery of the old church and country—a crossing of Jordan into the land of Canaan where they could establish their own civil government and free church. As the Israelite’s conquered and erected their alters so the pioneers erected their colonial chapels.
Other features included prevailing prayer. This way of ex-temporary praying has been lost today. People earnestly ‘called down’ God’s blessing seeking the intervention and out-pouring of the Holy Spirit in an intense, invocative way. They believed that prayer was powerful and effective. That ‘the prayers of the righteous availeth much.’ James 5.16, Col 4.12, Math 23.14. Prayer meetings were frequent and usually followed services of worship. Praying was fervent, heart felt, earnest, prevailing and noisy. They were the means of many conversions. They were a preaching church. When the ‘Word of Life’ was preached and there was a ‘spirit of hearing,’ they expected and sensed the attendance of the ‘Divine presence.’ The presence of the Holy Spirit was often described as a felt ‘good influence’ (could this heightened spiritual awareness be attributed to an early indigenous Celtic influence or was it the Moravian feature of Methodism?) Where there was a low rate of literacy and no visual film technology to aid communication the art of oral communication, speech making and the skill of conveying word pictures that appealed to people’s imagination was an important tool of trade when it came to preaching.
In contrast to the stoic Anglo-Victorian manner of suppression and self-control, Bible Christian Methodism was a felt emotional experience. Although James Way did not intentionally seek to encourage this way of responding, it was common and not really regarded as unusual. The Holy Spirit’s witness to the truth brought deep conviction a, repentance and remorse for self-centered independence. Although a degree of personal counselling took place, rather than people being assisted by a counselling method, people waited until assurance came by a witness of the Holy Spirit to their spirit that they were forgiven, reconciled and accepted as a child of God. This was experienced as a deep overflowing joy. They were ‘made happy.’ Although this was probably experienced at different levels of intensity by different people, for many it was an unforgettable conversion, a holistic, cathartic, life changing response.
There was no salvation by osmosis or fashionable Christians ‘cultured into the kingdom.’ Hunt describes Methodists as ‘twice born people’— ‘as people undergoing a dateable, describable, definite conversion’ (Methodism in the Adelaide Hills. A D Hunt, S A Historical Society.)
Love feasts, Experience meetings, and Class meetings were testimony times where people shared their story of encountering God and were willingly accountable to each other.
Similar to other strains of Methodism the Bible Christians were not only driven by a experiencing the grace of God in being forgiven. The reality of God’s grace generated a strong passion and missionary vision that was extra-ordinary and that never faded or diminished. Their passion was to save souls and to spread holiness, the benefits of right living values across the land for the common good.
Piety and Holiness
Piety was not an exaggerated sentiment or religious devotion. Conversion was expected and understood as the work of the Holy Spirit. If a person manifested change in behaviour, it was seen as a fruit of the Holy Spirit.The Holy Spirit could transform people and pervade meetings. It was often said,“A most gracious influence was realised.”
Circuit reports expressed the high’s and low’s of ministry.“Unhappy circumstances”,
“nothing interesting”, “no prospects of raising a cause” Thses expressions are contrasted with “We need a more powerful baptism of the Holy Spirit”, “The arm of the Lord was made bare,”. “In the sanctruary we were often cheered by the Divine Presence,” “We have seen many yielding to the force of truth.”
The spirituality of the Bible Christians rather than being mystical was holistic in that it permeated every aspect of life. It was not a regressive piety. Settlers arrived with a ready made vision. They came believing that with hard work they could own their own property, make the land productive, feed their families and get ahead. They believed that prosperity and sound values flowed from acknowledging and worshiping Almighty God, a Sovereign and just authority beyond themselves. They believed that future generations would prosper if they honoured God, knew his anointing and had access to education. This was the vision they invested in. They were ready to contend for chapels, schools ministers and leaders. They were ready to invite, request, donate and give of themselves to move their dream from an aspiration to a reality. Bible Christian ministers were ready to encounter hardship to help people find peace with God. For members of the church their ministers like Way and Rowe were instruments of God’s choosing who would bring the glories of the new world to come to pass.
Evidence of a persons spiritual conversion was confirmed by it being seen in its fruit. The Holy Spirit enlightened both the heart, mind and lifestyle practise. While it was based on a holiness of practise that today may leave us feeling uncomfortable, it was also driven by a desire for education, self-improvement and equality.( Smoking and dancing were not encouraged but neither was abstinence a condition of membership) Wesley had been a-political and not into full political role. Gov. Robe had offered Colony State aid in 1846 and was supported by Draper. George William Cole was agitator against this and said Draper acted as an autocratic pope.
The spirituality of the movement penetrated every day life and was flexible and creative in discerning and moving with the positive aspects of cultural change. The Bible Christians developed an effective printing facility that served the movement, recognised women as preachers and socially opposed the damaging liquor, gambling, racing industries.
Education
The spiritual battle for a person’s soul while of ultimate importance was only half the battle—there was also a battle against ignorance. If the young went to school they left early .While many were intelligent, they had no real schooling. Bible Christians trained farm hands and labourers to fill their pulpits and believed that God could call any person to preach. It was said, “A converted ploughboy was more useful in missionary work than a sceptical Bishop or a proud ecclesiastic
Mary Thorne (nee O’Bryan, as a teenager known as the maiden preacher) said, “Mr O’Bryan’s preaching and the formation of the denomination led to the awakening of the mind, hence a thirst for knowledge.” It was expected and it generally happened the servants employed in the home would be converted. When uneducated servants and farmers were converted they were also recruited—taught to read and write. Many became powerful preachers.
The movement was creative and flexible and Samuel and Mary Thorne set up a Connexional Board school in Shebbear . A practical and mentoring method was used extensively to improve the lot of farm labourers. Sabbath Schools were the nurturing nurseries of the church. From the outset James Way was concerned that his children should be well educated. Way College in South Australia became another expression of this characteristic.
Funding and Building
Chapel building usually followed a pattern. Establish contact and begin home preaching. With community interest aroused, donation of land or money followed. Way often referred to the “ark of the covenant” as needing a resting place and to the chapel at Bowden as the “Temple.” Amid a transient community this was an appeal for perminence. A permanent community needed a permanent “Word of Life. People needed access to the means of grace and to build early was to stake a spiritual claim to the “promised land.”
Typical of a church focused on the rural poor and unlike the wealthy Wesleyan’s, chapels and buildings were of inferior quality and often temporary, subject to quick deterioration and needing constant repair. The urgency of getting people to invest in a visible presence was almost given priority over the appearance or grandeur of the building. Opening sometimes took place before the plastering or ceiling was installed. The re-opening of chapels in Yankalilla circuit, Mc Laren Vale, Eyre’s Flat, Watervale, Upper Wakefield, Springfield(Kapunda), Chapel and Mission house Willunga were examples that provided another occasion to appeal for donations. Build small with cheap material then build and enlarge. Burra, Bowden 1857/8, Auburn doubled its size in 1861/2 and after revival Kapunda chapel was rebuilt..
Samuel Keen as a young minister in England, before coming to Australia was known as a good money raiser – chapel builder. Keen commenced a remarkable ministry in South Australia on the Gawler Plains, Angle Vale. (known as the bread-basket of the nation at that time) He started with 4 members and increased that number to 319 over 5 years. A D Hunt described him as a man of frenetic energy who rode his horse from farm to farm, preaching under gum trees or in the homes of early settlers, always aiming for a verdict. Keen built 12 chapels and formed 15 Congregations over 7 years. He died at the age of 54 years virtually after burning himself out.
John Dingle worked with Keen in the Gawler mission for a period from whom he learnt the art of funding and building chapels. Over 44 years Dingle laid claim to launching 26 new chapels, 3 enlargements,3 parsonages. (Australian Christian Commonwealth Jan 12, 19–)
Money Management
The rural church was vulnerable to world markets, seasons and mining deposits.
Both Way and Rowe were effective preachers and good managers. Reports on income seemed to be as important as reports on conversions. While the building of chapels seemed erratic, lacking any overall plan, James Way needed the evidence of strong local support and a reasonable amount of money on hand before a chapel was built. An early realease from debt and payments of interest was encouraged. There were times when Way appealed to the UK for loans at a low interest rate. Money raising events. Bazzaar’s. Personal subscriptions sought, Missionary meetings for local and overseas work, Opening and Re-opening of chapels after repairs, Anniversary public meetings, Donations of land, Grain schemes, Pew rents, Donations of labour or materials, Tea Treat meetings, Lectures, Outings and Picnics. In other words almost every occasion was used to boost income.
The South Australian story begins
George Fife Angus believed God had a special purpose in the Christian settlement of South Australia. (Civil and religious liberty) Angus, Edward Stevens, Samuel Stevens, Captain Bagot and others were determined that South Australia would be the first state in the British Empire to separate Church and State. The story is well told by Douglas Pike. (Paradise of Dissent) (Early History of Kapunda, W S Kelly, S A Historical Society.
James Blatchford. the story of a lay-man
James’s mother died when he was 13 years of age and he went to live in a public house. As a single man he became caught up in the typical drinking culture of that time and he led a wild life of wrestling and partying. Dr Arnold Hunt recalled his early life:
He never had a day’s schooling in his life. He went to work in the mines at the age of seven and later taught himself to read and write. In 1834 during a revival in a Bible Christian chapel (at Tinhay) in the Launceston circuit, (East Cornwall) he was soundly converted and at the age of 26 he found a faith by which he believed and in which he died.
Twelve months later he became a Bible Christian local preacher and class leader. His wife, Eliza Skinner died in 1838 and having two little boys, a four and two year old he soon remarried a Bible Christian girl, Charity Jury. James went on to estasblish a chapel at Tinhay that would seat 200 people and it quickly became the centre of his life, ( “like a little heaven below”) “Then one day he was talking to James Torr(a cousin) about this foreign (Australia) of which they had already heard much.” There and then they agreed to toss a coin and to allow its fall to finally decide wheather they shoul go or not. At that point both families were committed to go to Australia.
James Torr and his family (children, James, John, William, Thomas, Sophie, Jane and Elsia) preceeded the Blatchford family on the ship Hooghly. He later joined the work force at Burra as a miner. James Blatchford, with his boys and second wife emigrated from Launceston, Cornwall on the Avoca in May 1847. During the long voyage from England we are told that blatchford gave himself to “exhorting the captain and diligent preaching”, (even convincing the Captain not to kill chikens on the Sabbath)
The family arrived at Port Adelaide in the September of 1847. Arriving earlier, James Torr had arranged a home for his friends, the Blatchfords. It was a ball-room and was 40 ft long by 20 ft wide. Torr and his wife slept in one corner, Blatchford and his family in another corner while three young men occupied the other end of the room. About a dozen people ate and slept in the room with their beds on the floor. Three months later, at Christmas time, on a Monday evening James and Charity, with others who came out on the same ship set off with their belongings on a bullock dray for Burra. It was a slow journey that took six days but they arrived the following Saturday evening. For three months the Blatchfords lived in another large room that was a “horrid den” with quarreling, singing, crying all mingling together while James dug out a few rooms in the creek bank on the north side of Welsh Creek near the Smelting Works. By 1848 some 400 to 500 people were living in an area that stretched for three miles along the river waterway.
By 1849 James Blatchford had met up with John Stephens another Bible Christian member from Cornwall and with others they could wait no longer. As unauthorized lay-people they were intent on luring a minister from the home country and so banding together they persuaded the South Australian Mining Association to donate land for a chapel and they raised £50 towards a chapel to hold 200. Then they informed England all that was needed was a minister.
Back in England the Bible Christian Missionary Society was broke but it was reported:
“To JAMES WAY the eyes of all turned as the most suitable person to lead this new enterprise.”
James Way was born in 1804 in a small village in Devon. He was orphaned as a child and deprived of an education. He was converted at the age of 18 and became a Local preacher before entering the ministry. He walked 50 miles to his first church carrying his bible, a dictionary and a hymn book.( Way was described as having a transparent sincerity)
Many years later in 1847 he was made President of the Bible Christian Conference. As a senior statesman in the church of 24 years experience James was a reluctant starter to the idea of pulling up roots and going to Australia. He had an aging mother and he wanted to provide his children with an education he had missed out on.
The secretary of the Mission Society wrote to Way describing the whole venture in the terms of an Old Testament metaphor. The voyage to Australia was likened to Israel crossing the Red-sea to the land of promise—there was a new frontier to be conquered. The Secretary quoted the words of Pharaoh to Joseph, “Regard not your stuff: for the good of the land of Egypt is yours.”
James Rowe was the younger, junior member of the team. A young Cornishman from Penzance of 5 years experience. He had only been married to Elizabeth, an energetic vivacious women for a few months.
Arriving in Bowden
The missionaries Way and Rowe reached Port Adelaide in November 1850. Walking up to Adelaide from the Port and reaching Bowden they saw two Cornish men, Samuel Coombe and Peter Dungey digging a well at Bowden. We know Coombe had found employment at Bowden and Way had a letter of introduction addressed to Cornishman John Robins Rundle who lived there. Rundle (born Lanlivery Cornwall 1816, wife Mary from Altarnun, Cornwall) Cornish people often stuck together often stuck together so probably there was a small enclave working in the brick yards at Bowden. It was a natural place to start a Bible Christian Church among working class Cornish. Shapley writes of the diggers Coombe and Dungey, “Said one to the other, ‘They look like Bryanite preachers.’ How were Way and Rowe identified in this Way? Were the diggers expecting or looking out for them? It is thought that early Bryanite preachers adopted a pushed back hair style. They would “plaster their hair flat” Lady Fortescue told Samuel Keen to comb his hair in the natural manner. (From grandchild article “Sally Ingerson (b 1821-d 1906)” Was this a feature that distinguished the two preachers or was it their form of dress? Both men became Bowden Church trustees. This must have been a very exciting providential, affirming sign for Way and Rowe. They spontaneously asked two strangers if any Bible Christians people lived in the area only to be confronted with two unknown loyal supporters.
Early Church co-operation
Divisions were more pronounced in UK than Australia. There was amazing co-operation between different churches. Many said to Way, “What took you so long to get here.” At the following openings good will was obvious. At Bowden they retired to Wesleyan church for Tea party. At Kapunda an Independent preached at afternoon service and another also made a speech at Prayer meeting. At Burra there was similar co-operation. Often Anniversary services we taken by ministers from other churches.
Ethnicity Enclave.
Hunt says, “The Bible Christians expanded much more rapidly than the other minor Methodist bodies because it gathered in many who had been members in Cornwall and Devon.
We know of early Cornish miners working the mines at Glen Osmond and at Bowden the clay brick works seemed to attract the Cornish not to mention Kapunda. At Burra James Blatchford associated with other Methodists but he wanted a chapel “to be with his own people”.
In a paper by a great grandchild of Sally Keen we are reminded that Samuel Keen was sent to South Australia via the generosity of George Fife Angus. Angus had a special interest in the Cornish-Devonshire farmers who were settling on the Gawler Plains. (He donated towards the Elim chapel) Perhaps this was because he was advertising the SA Colonization Scheme.
This is of interest because again we have a specific Cornish geographical location. Len Roberts informs us of the Cornish who settled around Carclew on the Gawler River and then there were the slate mines at Willunga. In “The Cornish Overseas,” Philip Payton, p74-75, points out that Donald Meek has argued that the Bible Christians, –“when confronted with the phenomenon of emigration, deployed a sophisticated sense of kinship in moulding their responses.
This kinship was “spiritual” thus when offered the chance to emigrate the maintenance of such kinship overseas was foremost in their consideration. This might well have promoted the emigration of other families in distant lands. This may help explain the extensive emigration from North Cornwall band the enthusiasm with which the Bible Christian Missionary Society recruited trained preachers for its work abroad.”
Preacher Demand
The early loss of letters from Way was intensely frustrating and the English Missionary Committee had clearly underestimated the immediate hunger of pioneers to connect with a familiar UK chapel in the colony. Within months of arrival Way surprised UK by having 99 members and a Sabbath School of 70 at Bowden. The early poor health of Way and Rowe had not helped. Way could not respond to flattering offers of land and openings because of lack of preachers. Almost every report from Rowe and Way became a desperate cry. By 1856 the intensity of this appeal had abated but it remained throughout. In some cases missionaries underestimated the Australian conditions and distances between preaching places so that circuits overextended themselves before p[astoral care could be provided. During 1854/5 Kapunda planted 4 preaching places, opened 4 new chapels and had another 2 in course of construction. The 1860’s opened with a continuing desperate need for more preachers in order to establish the Bible Christian cause.
Requests for help
1851 July. After 6 months Way made his first appeal for more minister/missionaries.
August. Please send 3 Missionaries.
October. Need for another minister at Kapunda.
1852 January. Send 2 more
March. Send 3 more, cant keep up.
May. Send 3 more, two for SA, Melb. Sydney.
1853 Early,Rowe tour Auburn.
June. Send 3 Way, Keen send more Gawler Plains.
August. Send 3 more, Pt Phillip.
October. Bowden 2nd Anniversary enlarge chapel.
November. Send 4 more immediately.
1854 September. Way begs for more/ Victoria.
Culture Shock
The two brave pioneers had started well but the toll of culture shock and adjusting to a strange new world can not be underestimated. While James Rowe was based at Burra, the mine at Kapunda had opened earlier in 1844 and Rowe was responsible for a small Congregation that had been established there.
It was common practice in Cornwall for preachers to walk between chapels on the Sabbath and after only 8 weeks in the Colony James Rowe, underestimating the distance and the intense summer heat decided to walk the 82 klm’s from Adelaide to Kapunda. As a result Rowe became seriously ill— in fact both WAY and ROWE would face death within 18 months of their arrival in Australia.
Apart from harsh weather conditions, unbeknown to them their arrival in Australia had coincided with two other critical events that would that threaten their health and very survival. Way and Rowe had walked into a hot socio-political debate that divided the colony and the churches. THE FIRST CRISIS concerned the issue of State-aid (funding) to Churches
State Aid Issue
Gawler in 1841, or was it- Gov. Robe supported by Draper ? offered State Aid, This placed religious equality under threat. Edward Stevens, (a family friend of Angus), formed/chaired, meeting of Society for Preservation of Religious Freedom .
Although under pressure James Way took a strong stand against State funding for churches.Wesleyan support angered some Wesleyans. To some degree BC benefited from this fall-out, disharmony. Two local preachers expelled from Burra Wesleyan Church. Mr George W Cole was expelled. Cole said Draper was acting as a autocratic pope and that this was a Wesleyan way!!! His father George Cole followed his son and then aliened fully at with Bible Christian’s. Mr Norsworthy and others from Yankalilla decided to support James Way and launch a BC cause in that district. Marsden Waterhouse, born Penzance brought this to head , 30 August 1851. First Legislative Council shelved the bill. (See This Side of Heaven p51, Douglas Pike p11, 15,,17, also Thomas Reynolds.) . (Gov Bourke, NSW Church Act 1836 funded Churches and Church schools. 1852 SA was different and removed State aid to churches. See book “ Losing my Religion Unbelief in Australia” Tom Frame UNSW, p55.
Gold Fever
The total population at Burra had reached 5,000 and things were booming. The 1851 Census listed 1,763 men in Burra. About 500 were working underground by candlelight while 700 supporters were working the surface “at grass”. Across the creek an army of woodcutters kept the smelts furnaces alight. The Chapel was always full and a Sabbath School began on the first Sabbath of 1851.
Back at Bowden,—just a week after the Chapel was opened the SECOND MAJOR CRISIS hit the Colony and enveloped the two brave pioneers. On December 24, 1851 the Adelaide paper announced that 109 miners from Burra had arrived in town heading for the goldfields at Mt Alexander. Victoria. This was the beginning of a mass exodus from South Australia that led to half of the male population leaving for the diggings. Both Way and Rowe were left with empty chapels. James Way was carrying the debt of his new chapel. He sought,–local financial help-but was refused …he was broke.
James Rowe had been in the colony for just 12 months. James had worked very hard and had seen some fruit for his labor but now every Sunday he watched on and experienced the helplessness and pain of seeing both congregations at Burra and Kapunda gradually melt away. By mid-1852 the workforce of hundreds at the Burra Burra mine was reduced to just 20 men working underground. The pump engines stopped and the fires at the smelts were damped down.
The social and economic impact was nothing less than shattering and the new stresses took their toll on James Rowe and his wife both financially and emotionally. In later years Rowe himself recalled:
For some time our salary was but thirty pounds a year, and with flour ten pounds a bag, small cabbages one shilling each, and clothing at a similar rate, it was hard to live. I suggested adding secular work to the ministry to keep going, but my wife would not hear of it, and nobly employed her needle to help in providing for us. At one time, just as I was leaving home for a month’s missionary work, she fell dangerously ill, and I had no money to pay the doctor. In my distress a friend lent me five pounds, certainly never expecting to get it again; but I paid him later.
WT Shapely writes of Mrs Rowe: Mrs Rowe was known to work 12 hours a day to earn money enough to keep the family. Hardships were certainly common and took their toll on the missionary ministers and their families but, while painful, they were endued with patience and God’s grace. Not one man remained in Rowe’s congregation at Burra and faced with a loss of so many members it would be understandable for Rowe to experience some consternation. The question put simply was: In light of the circumstances should he pack up and follow the crowds and most of his flock? What would the Mission Committee in England think? What was best for the missionary cause?
A friend offered to take Rowe to the diggings. He replied, “I did not come to Australia to get gold but to preach the gospel and I shall stay at my post until compelled to leave.”
James Way wanted to send preachers to the goldfields and besides maintaining Bowden and Adelaide he undertook extensive tours through the Colony. (from the Adelaide Hills to Clarendon, the Cornish mines at Glen Osmond, diggings at Echunga, farms at Gawler Plains and as far south as Yankalilla.) By early 1852 he appealed to England for for 6 more missionaries. The demands were great. Way’s health broke down and he became seriously ill. Years later Shapley said,
The wives of these pioneer missionaries were noble heroines of the faith, and they worked hard and suffered silently. Mrs Way thought her heart strings would snap when her husband was seriously ill; they had no money as all the men-folk had gone to the gold diggings, an expected re remittance from England had not arrived. The doctor advised her to ask the chemist for credit but this was refused. She sat down and wept bitterly, having a dying husband on her hands and not knowing where to find the money to buy a coffin. [ii]
Samuel Keen
Samuel Keen was a welcomed early arrival. The first to follow Way and Rowe. Samuel had been born in South Devon and when he was 5 years old his father had been lost at sea. Samuel was working for the Countess of Fortescue when he met a maid who had also come from a poor home background, Sally Ingerson. Samuel became an effective Bible Christian local preacher and in 1848 he entered the ministry. While at Shebbear College Keen had studied homeopathic medicine so he could administer it to his parishioners.The farewell service took place at Ebenezer chapel Shebbear and his passage was funded by George Fife Angus. Samuel and Sally were married just two months before sailing for Australia on 2 November 1852 with 186 other passengers on the Lord Delaval. Keen was still coming to terms with the deep feeling of grief attached to the departure so he decided to write a special farewell letter to his brothers and sisters across the Connexion.
Ere you read this, the anchor of the ship Lord Delaval will be weighed and your missionaries will be borne on the bosom of the deep towards the land where, as agents and servants of God and followers of the cross, they are to devote their time, talents and lives in publishing the name of him who emphatically is the friend of sinners.—
Pray for us that God will enable us to do the work of Evangelists. My dear brethren it is hard to write the word and yet we must.— Farewell, farewell, land of my fathers! Farewell, land of my second, my spiritual birth! Farewell, friends with whom I have loved and do love on earth! Few of you and perhaps none, shall I see more on earth; if you are faithful, I will meet you in heaven. May God grant it? Amen. I love the doctrine, of our common faith, I love its simplicity, I love its discipline, I love its economy; and I now promise you that all my time, talents and energies, shall be consecrated to promoting the one, enforcing the other. Farewell! May God bless you all, prays your brother in Christ. S Keen.
Samuel Keen had a remarkable ministry on the Gawler Plains that at that time was described as the Bread Basket/belt of the nation. He started with 4 members which he increased to 319 over 5 years. Dr Hunt wrote of Samuel Keen:
“ His letters to the committee in England reveal a man of frenetic energy riding his horse from farm to farm, preaching under gum trees or in the rude homes of early settlers, aiming always for a verdict.”
Keen formed 15 Congregations and built 12 chapels over 7 years. After 19 years service he died at the age of 54 years in 1872 having virtually burnt himself out.
Samuel Keen died at Chillwell Farm near Middleton on June 21 1871.
Goldfield demand and Women Preachers
On top of Way’s illness demand and opportunities just outstripped human resources and supply. During his first twelve months in Australia, by early 1852, James Way appealed no less than six times to England to send more minister-missionaries immediately. Some letters between Way and the Home Church were lost on the high seas. Sadly the response was painfully slow and it took over two years before Samuel Keen arrived.
By the end of 1852 Way was receiving requests from Melbourne and Sydney. In addition to this a local preacher from Burra who had gone to the Victorian goldfields, (John Halse) was building with the help of aboriginal friends built a strip bark chapel at Creswick Creek (Clunes) and the work spread to Bendigo, Ballarat, Forest Creek and Castlemaine.
One of the distinct reforms of the Bible Christians came with their stress on egalitarianism, the rightful place of the laity alongside of ministers. This included the early recognition of the gifts and ministry of women. .John Wesley was open to the gifts of women, probably due to his mother Susanna. He turned a blind eye to 25 women preachers in Wesleyanism by the time of his death. Wesleyans reverted back to male dominance. It was the minor groups that re-invented Women’s ministry. The early Bible Christian movement would not have survived without women preachers. (See Travis Mc Harg’s book)
Many women were effective as bold mission evangelists. The plain statement of the 1819 Conference that listed 14 “female itinerants” read:
We believe God can enable a women as well as a man to speak to edification and exhortation and comfort.
By the time of the 3rd English Conference in 1821 at Lake Chapel, of 45 itinerant preachers, 27 were men, 18 were women.
In the early years in England Catherine Reed and Ann Cory were two women who had assisted with the mission in Kent. On that occasion it was said that Ann had preached like John the Baptist to a crowd of 1000 people. ( See The Golden Chain, R Pyke, Heroines and Pioneers p 44 ). Serena Lake ( nee Thorne) and Mrs Ann Roberts (wife of Rev James Roberts) were significant preachers in South Australia..
Tea Meetings.
The tea meeting was an occasion that socially drew and bonded people together around food and tea to celebrate an important occasion. Tea meetings usually followed the opening of a chapel or an anniversary and preceded a public meeting where reports were presented and people listened to a number of crafted speeches by eloquent or boring speakers, intended to inspire or to help decide on issues of importance. Tea meetings were often associated with Sabbath School anniversaries and the work involved was considerable. The routine typical of the hard work behind most early tea meetings was similar in all the churches and it certainly involved much more than a casual cup of tea. Early in the day friends would usually gather to chop wood in order to boil water and set up tables.
After breakfast all the home crockery was packed in a tub and carried by a brother and sister three miles to the chapel. After lunch, using tin plates and pannikins, they changed into their best clothes and started off with another load. Mother had spent many hours cooking, and when all was ready and the cart loaded with food and kitchen chairs and their only table. After the tea held in the chapel… as they had no hall… everything was cleared up and loaded on the carts in readiness for the evening meeting. What a day! But to hear people exclaim during prayer, ‘Praise the Lord’, ‘Amen’, and ‘Thank God’, all appearance and weariness seemed to vanish, for their hearts were full of happiness and heavenly zeal. (SA Bible Christian Magazine 1891, ‘Testimonial.’ Bible Christian Magazine May 1855.
Horse Talk Story
Urgent requests to England for more ministers were constant. By mid 1853 James Way listed his overall needs. 2 for Adelaide, 2 for Burra and 1 in each for the following. Clarendon, Kapunda, Yankallila, Mt Torrens and also Gawler Plains. He faced a compounding problem. While a new arrival would fill a gap they also generated more openings and work. By January 1855 Way desperately needed more missionary/ministers. Local preachers were stretched to their limit having to preach three times a Sunday. Way wrote to the English Mission Committee:
“I must beg with tears. Do call the Committee together immediately and use your influence with them to send 3 more within a month of receiving this letter.”
When an itinerant preacher from NSW, William Fursman arrived in Adelaide, Way quickly put him to work. After experiencing the demands of travelling long distances and probably realizing the Ways requests for help were yielding little fruit, Fursman used his imagination by letting his horse “Patter”do the talking. Perhaps the English Committee would listen to a Bible Christian missionaries horse.
“It is nothing but onward, onward, onward, trot, canter and gallop or the preacher cannot get to his appointments in time. I have no doubt of the kindness of my rider but he has more mercy for the people to whom he preaches than for me. He tells me that he must preach at three places today which are at a great distance from each other and that I must carry him to these places without having either much time to feed or allowing any grass to grow under my feet by the way. This is the way I am constantly treated. More than a quarter I have carried him from 500 to 600 miles (964 km) so now the Mission is divided (made into separate circuits). I have to carry some of the preachers 30 miles (48 km) almost every Sabbath except when it is convenient for him to go part of the way on the preceding Saturday. I hope you will, in mercy to your poor old horse, send out more preachers that there may be more of my race to share with me the arduous duty of a missionary’s horse. Then I shall have a chance at least sometimes, of being permitted to walk.” [iii]
The impact of this appeal is hard to gauge but since the arrival of Way and Rowe in 1850 seven ministers had been sent but the urgent demand for more help would only increase.
James and Elizabeth Rowe took up residence in one of the red-clay creek dug-outs.—it had 4 rooms, each 10ft square. Rowe called it his “sub-terranean house.” Years later Rowe spoke of his first impressions: “The banks of Burra Creek swarmed with people, like rabbits in a warren” They extended for 3 miles and far from being uncomfortable the creek bank dug-outs were fitted out well, they were cool during the hot summer and they were rent free.
Revival
According to W F James in the Centenary Souveir booklet there were 4 Great Revivals in South Australia.Burra 1859, Kapunda1860, Auburn, Moonta 1875.
During the period 1850 to 60 there were at least twelve occasions when smaller revivals took place. The church was quickened and multiple conversions were recorded. F W Bourne said the Gawler Plains was a story of continuious Revival. (Elim 1858)
It was regarded as an essential expansion, renewal component. F W Bourne said that the best Stations at home and abroad were cradled in revivals. Some said it was the depressions of 1856, 1870’s and 1880’s that that contributed to rise in membership not revival. There was a weird, mystical element. On USA front shakes, jerks, fits, and this drew people.
Member Fluctuations and Mobility.
Although it is thought Bible Christians were less inclined to keep good rolls or registers of Membership, Baptisms etc, as Methodists they were methodical when it came to annual returns and the measuring of results in terms of numbers. Beyond normal deaths ans loss of attendance/faith direction(back-sliding) there was an instability,— constant removals. This “back door” stood in contrast to constant conversion-growth from Revivals. Departures for the gold fields were constantly disrupting and were still effecting Kooringa and Findon in 1857/8. The failure of crops 1855/6 and the drought of 1860/1 affected farmers on the Gawler Plains and these seasonal conditions left the rural church vulnerable.
Early Time Line
1837 Cherry Gardens. Some Bible Christian families that finally settled at Cherry Gardens and Clarendon had arrived together in 1837. The Bible Christians had worshiped with the Wesleyans from that time so at Cherry Gardens they continued to meet together. The Wesleyans built there in 1849. ( See book, “ “Sacred Trust,” Rosemary Mitchell )
1840, George Cole, January 1st formed the SA Total Absinan Society. Cole writes a number of times during this decade requesting Bible Christian minister to be sent.
1850 Depart /Arrival Way and Rowe left 12 August 1850, arrive Port Adelaide 14 November.
1850 Visit Burra Burra. Left Adelaide 5 Dec 1850, arrived 6 Dec, Worship at ‘Bethel’ chapel 8th Dec . Way noted the offering amount. It is said that half the population of Burra were living in the Creek and 150 babies died in the year 1851.
!850’s Lofty Ranges. Mt lofty and East Stirling were early outposts. SA Chronicle 17 Dec. 1927 suggests people at Bridgewater provided one reason for Samuel Keens coming.
1850 Bowden/Findon. Way said, in the year of his arrival Findon first appeared on the books., Mrs Stacker Rinseley. Foundation stone and open first chapel in 1856.
1851 Kapunda 2 Jan. Rowe preaches open air. Rowe walks from Adelaide, fell seriously ill over 8 weeks, near death, and he said it took two years to fully recover. Three Wesleyans were expelled Burra over Gov grants to churches also Cole father and son leave.
1851 Way’s first Tour. Way said Clarendon was his first tour after Burra. There were 5 families there and he met with Burgess. By 1853 Clarendon sent £17.12.6 to the UK Mission Committee. With Way’s illness Clarendon was neglected until March 1853 when the foundation stone of the chapel was laid and Fursman was sent to begin his ministry there.
1851 Willunga. Soon after Way’s arrival an enquiry was made in 1851. Usually linked with Clarendon. Report in b1853 said after one years labour, fairly successful. Hocken in Aug 1854, then Roberts started there Feb,1855. Mt Lofty was another early contact.
1851Yankalilla. Mr Nicholls and Nosworthy enquired of Way as a result of State Aid issue. They had been linked to Wesleyans so Bible Christian work there was born in controversy. Yankalilla mentioned early 1852—emphasis on unity. Way preach Bald Hils 1853. Dairy Flat, Culver crisis. Quarterly meeting, Culver continue June 1853. Yankalilla, Nosworthy ill
1851 July Way’s first appeal for assistance for ministers from UK.
1851 Bowden 4 Aug. Foundation stone Bowden with 160 people . Way under pressure. Cong minister supports Way in speech re Voluntary principle.
1851 Bowden 30 Nov.Chapel opening. Stone from North Adelaide. Ironically same day as anniversary of English BC Missionary Society. Two week later Gold fever hits the Bowden/Burra congregations. Way preaching Nth Adelaide in pm.Way financially broke and becomes very ill.
1853 March Missioning tour with Samuel Keen. GawlerPlains, Barossa, Lyndoch, Mt Torrens.Services Happy Valley 1853.
1853 Adelaide, Aug, Way should go Vic. Adelaide appeal chapel. Need 6 more ministers. Met 6 people delegation from Willunga.
1853 Clarendon Foundation stone Oct..
1854 Fursman from Sydney April, Worked first with Way in Adelaide Clarendon, then Kapunda. Culver resigns. The unquenchable appetite for chapels and Shepard’s for the flock reached a climax in September just prior to Ways visit to the Goldfields when he pleaded with the UK to “send us a supply of the bread of life.”
1854 Dairy Flat May. Chapel opens.
1854 Clarendon. July Chapel opens This was soon after death of George Cole.
1854 Victoria Gold field Tour, 2 Oct to 20 Nov. Way visits Creswick creek (Clunes) Ballarat , Forest Creek etc.
1854 Latter part Missioning Rowe, Ridcliff to Saddleworth, Watervale, Auburn, Wakefield Plains.
1854 Departure Oct. Thomas Keen and James and Ann Roberts. 1855 Feb 14 Roberts then station Willunga.
1855 Victoria. February. William Hocken born Bostcastle 1809 first sent to Melbourne, Starts with 25 at Collingwood., Brighton, c 20 Geelong.
1855 Willunga, April 29 Chapel open.
1856 Ministers. By this time 14 ministers had arrived
1857 Adelaide. Foundation stone Young Street. Angus affirming address.
1859 Burra Revival. 250 adults, 70 children converted in fortnight.
1860’s Moonta. Yorke Peninsular. Copper mines attract many. By 1880’s 20,000 people, largest Cornish community outside of Cornwall.
1861 Auburn Revival. During Thomas Hillman’s ministry it was said BC numbers increased by 5 times. Hillman said,it touched young people “old sinners stood aloof”.
1861 September Way rides horse back to open Wallaroo Chapel to find it not completed.
1866 Growth. Chapels 66, Ministers21, Members 1,313. Sabbath School 3,200.
1866 Pt Augusta. John Thorne Samuel Keen plant church. W. Richards follows.Tiny chapels ( some weatherboard) dotted across remote north in place forgotten today
1867 Tresise to Mt Gambier.
1870 Arrival.4 January. Thomas Piper, Octavious (weaver of words ) Lake.
1870 Serena Thorne, 22 May (“Angel of Shebbear” and daughter of Samuel and Mary, grandchild of William O’Bryan)) Preached first time in colony SA, Adelaide Town Hall, 2000 present. She recorded that she had “a pretty good time speaking from Hosea 6.3.” She had worked tirelessly as evangelist since 18 years old. Married Octavious Lake (the weaver of words) in 1871.
1873 John Thorne arrived. A son of the James Thorne family. In July he undertook a trip into the expanding northern region.
1875 Moonta Revival . Total of all conversions 1,250 mentioned in BCM.
1875 Chapel openings were happening at such a rate that 3 opened on the same day. Boucant Plains, Crystal Brook, Condowie all opened on 21 November 1875.
1880 Union proposed between Bible Christian and Primitive. Not get required number and said Wesleyans need be involved. J B Stevenson said minor groups were influenced by liberalism and “If they were self respecting Wesleyans they would not want to be absorbed.”
1881 The first initiative for union in SA came with a resolution from the Bible Christians to unite with the Methodist New Connexion. This union took place in 1888.
1884 Rev WF James migrated. He became a hero of church union as did Sir Samuel Way.
1891 William Torr. Returned home from Oxford with 32 letters after his name to headup Way College. William was a grandchild of James Torr who, with the toss of a coin agreed to come to the colony with the James Blatchford family.
1893 Missionary E J Piper sent to Yunnan Province China.
1895 Bycicle Bush Mission launched to minister to remote Station people north east of Broken hill. The Missionary imagination and impulse was retained, it never faided
1900 Church union. 1st January. The tricky ride to union lasted 30 years. In the final vote only 15% of Bible Christians opposed the Union of Weslyan’s, Bible Christian’s and Primitive’s.
1915 Centenary Year.President of Methodist Conference Rev Octavious Lake presided over a prayer meeting on 9th October at Central Methodist mission Adelaide (Maughm Church Franklin St) The number present was exactly that of the first Society at Shebbear , 22 persons.
Church Union
All Conferences need approve union and this took time…so not major factor. Arrival of F W James moved union along. He wrote of union in Canada and its success. Samuel Way gave advise on legal matters. Polity and Finance were the main difficulties. Debt of minor churches. John Thorne not a supporter nor was Thomas Piper or William torr. James Rowe, Samuel Way, W F James were strong advocates.
[i] SA Bible Christian Magazine 1891, ‘Testimonial.’ Bible Christian Magazine May 1855. WT Shapley, Our Bible Christian Heritage, SA Meth. Hist. Society. Shapley says the death was while Rowe was away at Kapunda.
[ii] WT Shapley, Our Bible Christian Heritage. SA Methodist Historical Society, 1961.
[iii] Bible Christian Magazine, Jan. 1856. Letter 3rd June 1855, John Rough to John Moyle held by Kapunda Hist. Society.
The Living Past 
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