EARLY AUCKLAND' MINISTER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18519, 2 October 1923, Page 9

EARLY AUCKLAND' MINISTER

ST. PAUL'S FIRST VICAR. BEGINNINGS OF AUCKLAND. An announcement in yesterday's Herald—that of the death of Mrs. Mary Dorothy Eyre, which ocurred at Invercarawakens in the minds of old colonists recollections of the very beginnings of Auckland. Mrs. Eyre was the youngest daughter of the Rev. J. F. Churton, who was the first incumbent of St. Paul's, the first' Anglican . church ', in the city. St. Paul's at that time stood iit\the loot of Princes Street, at the butt of Britomart Point, and was one of the earliest brick buildings in the city. Eventually, in the march of improvement, ■ the whole point had to be cut away, and with it went the site of St. Paul's, the new parish place of worship being afterwards erected in its present position, at the junction of Symonds Street and Wellesley Street East. ~. ;., '.?'■; .;■.; - ;

When Mr. Churton died, he was buried with military honours just inside the lower entrance to the Symonds Street Cemetery. What was considered to be a signal mark of respect was paid to his remains, in that: his funeral procession was allowed' to pass through the ' Albert Barracks, then on the present site ot Albert Park, and occupied by the strong force of British soldiers, that had been sent out to fight in the Waikato war. No, other funeral . was : ever allowed the right of passage through the barracks,' but as Mr. Churlbn had been a military chaplain, an exception was made in re-, gard to his obsequies.•'■"■.'-.'•"-*; i ' ' Afterwards an obelisk was erected to his memory by the public of Auckland, in Princes Street, opposite the' old church, and to its cost, so early citizens relate, people of all denominations contributed, Protestant and Catholic alike. As the site of the moment had to go,along.with the rest of Lower Princes Street, the obelisk the excavation works, and re-erected in the public reserve which now marks the end of the street —practically 'on its old site, but at.,a lower level. ' The lady who has passed away married the late Captain R. Annesley Eyre, of H.M. 53rd Regiment. Another of Mr. Churton's daughters was "married to the late Archdeacon Dudley, another highly-respected early Auckland clergyman. ' ,