EARLY CHAPTER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26540, 15 August 1947, Page 9

EARLY CHAPTER

CHURCH Vc PORT CHALMERS IMPORTANT PERSONALITIES “The first thought of the Rev. Thomas Burns when he arrived in the Philip Laing in 1848 was to found a church in Dunedin, and the first public worship was held on Sunday, April 16, 1848. Some of his congregation settled in Port Chalmers, however, and they were included in his first pastoral visitation of his charge," said the Rev. H. O. Bowman in a broadcast address last night on “ The Church at Port Chalmers.” The first service held ashore at Port Chalmers had been on October 15 in a room in the ■ Port Chalmers Hotel. “ The first service ashore at Port Chalmers marked an epoch in the development of the ministry of Dr Burns, for it was the beginning of church extension from Dunedin,” said Mr Bowman Building of Church The need for church building was early apparent, and in 1852, with the generous help of members of First Church congregation and settlers of various denominations in the port, a fine wooden church was built* on sections which had been reserved in the settlement, Mr Bowman said. This was the second church in Otago, and the third in the South Island. Shipmasters and their crews played an important part in the church life of early Port Chalmers, and some of them became important in the congregation. One of the outstanding figures was Captain William Thomson, master of the brig Thomas and Henry. Captain Thomson afterwards settled in Port Chalmers as the first harbour master for the Port of-Otago, and became elder, precentor, and Sunday school superintendent. “In 1857 the port was created a separate station under Dr Burns as moderator,” Mr Bowman continued, “and in the following year the Rev. William Johnstone was settled. He visited all parts of a scattered area.* In 1863 a Seamen’s Bethel Mission was created in the port which was the forerunner 'of the present Sailor’s Rest. Services then, however, were held on board ship.” The speaker said that in 1872 a second church was erected in the port. The original building was still to be seen attached to the larger church, which came in the eighties. Interest in Education "Both minister* and session were deeply interested in education,” Mr Bowman said, “and the Rev. Mr Johnstone was a member of the Otago Education Board, while his wife was among those who helped Miss Dalrymple to found the Otago Girls’ High School.” Speaking of personalities in the life of the Port Chalmers Church, Mr Bowman said that the late Mr John Watson joined the choir in Mr Johnstone’s time, and remained in it for 75 years—a wonderful record.