In a country churchyard

Press, 7 March 1987, Page 22

In a country churchyard

The Church of St Mary the Virgin, Addington, has special links with some of New Zealand’s early leading politicians. The country’s first Prime Minister and first Member of Parliament for Christchurch, Henry Sewell, gave an acre of land for a church, £lOO towards its construction, and four acres for a vicarage and glebe in the “new suburb of Addington.” He pegged out the site for the church in a proposed church square, to become one of only two such squares in Canterbury; Cathedral Square was the other. One of the longest serving vicars at Addington, the Rev. Walter Bean, married the eldest daughter of Richard Seddon, the Member of .Parliament for Westland and Prime Minister for 13 years. Seddon visited Addington several times and on one of his last visits left money to buy “some bells worth ringing” for the church. The Beans used the money for bells and a jarrah belfry designed by Augustus Schwartz with some ornamental alterations by J. C. Maddison. More funds for this project came from a concert given in Seddon’s memory at v

the request of his wife. In 1907, Bishop Churchill Julius dedicated a peal of eight bells imported from England, and Sir Joseph Ward, then Prime Minister, unveiled the tablet for the belfry. The first building that the Anglican diocese of Christchurch constructed on the Addington land given by Sewell was an orphanage to accommodate 60 children. It was closed in 1870 for lack of funds to support it Anglican church life at Addington dates back to 1864 when the Rev. Edward Lingard was appointed assistant curate. He held his first service in the schoolroom of the orphanage and remained there until his posting to Governors Bay in 1866. The Rev. Henry Torlesse conducted the Sunday services for a brief period, helped by a lay reader, Mr T. L. Stanley. A history of the Church of St Mary the Virgin traces a series of additions to the original building over about 50 years. The parishioners originally planned to build a church room which would become a schoolroom when the church was bui£ However, the circum-

stances of the time dictated that they settle for this room as the nucleus of the church. There were no foundation stone laying, dedication, or consecration ceremonies, but a “tea meeting” was held in the building when it was opened in 1867, most likely by Mr Torlesse. Designed by the Christchurch Cathedral executive architects, Messrs Speechly and Crisp, the room was built by a Mr Stewart for £279. The inside walls were unlined and the furniture comprised a few chairs with tin lamps for lighting. Mr W. Brown gave the lectern and an anonymous donor provided the prayer desk. About 1868, the church room was closed, for two years due to lack of attendance at the weekly services. Twelve benches were built for it in 1871 and a harmonium was installed. The Domain Board provided the trees that were planted in the landscaped grounds around the church room. By 1874, several more chattels were given or bought and two Sunday services were regularly held. An important boost to the Addington economy in the same year was jpe opening of the

sale yards for stock. Much of the revitalised church life during the 1870 s can be attributed to the energetic young curate, the Rev. Frederick Brittan. He arrived at Lyttelton as a child aboard the Sir George Seymour and was the last surviving Canterbury settler among those brought out by the Canterbury Association on its first four ships. After acting as curate at Addington for eight months, the Rev. John Raven returned to England and, on the parishioners’ instructions, bought the stained glass windows for the east end of the church room. When the first resident curate, the Rev. H. E. East, was appointed, a vicarage was provided for him in the orphanage before a new vicarage was built in 1876. In 1879, the ' Addington and Halswell districts were united. Addington became a separate parish in . 1895. Benjamin Mountfort, who gave the altar cross, drew up plans for an extension of the nave, a new vestry, and an organ chamber out of the old vestry, which doubled the size of the lBBO. These

improvements were carried out by the Scott brothers for £241. By 1885, gas lighting had replaced the kerosene lamps In the nearly complete church, which was consecrated by Bishop Julius in 1892. The railway workshops were established in 1889, providing another vital injection to local business. Mr J. Harrison added on a south aisle to the church in 1893 for £157, and in 1900 Mr Schwartz drew up plans for a north aisle built by Mr B. Bull for £227. Mr J. M. L’Anson gave the oak frame in 1901 for a large brass tablet that commemorates the deaths of New Zealand soldiers who fought in the Boer War. A memorial window to Mr L’Anson’s wife was unveiled In 1905. Her family had been involved with church life for many years. In 1916, a brass memorial tablet was unveiled in memory of Mr Schwartz. He had had a 40-year association with the ecclesiastical history of the Church of St Mary the Virgin. By TESSA WARD J-.