MODEST BEGINNING

Taranaki Daily News, 2 December 1933, Page 5 (Supplement)

MODEST BEGINNING

MEETING IN RAUPO WHARE VISIT FROM BISHOP SELWYN. APPOINTMENT OF REV. BOLLAND. Ninety years ago to-morrow a large proportion of the population of New Plymouth foregathered within a few yards of the machine room in which the Taranaki Daily News is printed. There, in Currie Lane, stood in 1843 a large raupo building in which the Anglican congregation of the settlement met for Divine services. Powderham Street was then no level roadway from .Brougham Street to Currie Street. On the contrary it straggled down nearly to the level of the Huatoki River, which was crossed by a narrow bridge. Between Currie Lane and Powderham Street -'Stood a cottage that was removed only >ka few years ago when extension of the Daily News premises became necessary, and its garden extended to the riverbank.

The cause of the large gathering was two-fold. To begin with two-thirds of the population of New Plymouth claimed membership with the Anglican Church, They were ■ aware that Bishop Selwyn was visiting New Plymouth and that he would be introducing the first vicar, the Rev. W. Bolland, to his new parish. His Lordship had visited New Plymouth 13 months earlier, when he had walked from Wellington in 18 days, looking into church and missionary efforts, present and future, and invigorating or disturbing, according to the point of view, the efforts being made to establish a new Britain in New Zealand. On that first visit to Taranaki Bishop Selwyn had chosen the site. for the parish church in Nevz Plymouth. . - U He chose, as Mr. W? H. ’Skinner has

recorded, a,, site that was partly occuby an old Maori garden, “the re- ■® mainder being . covered . with a charming growth.of native shrubs and trees.” The site is now.occupied,by St. Mary’s Church and vicarage, and there will be few who will not pay tribute to the foresight of the bishop who chose that site for the centre of his church’s activities in a new settlement. For it must be remembered that a large majority of the original New Plymouth settlers were village folk. They had been used all their lives to the dominating influence of the squire and the church. /That influence was for good or, ill as it was interpreted by the individuals who . held the power. The life of the rural clergy, especially in ihe-West of England whence so many of the Taranaki settlers had come, -was one of intimacy and respect. The clergy knew their parishioners, thenfamilies, their, weaknesses and their loyalty. The elect of them knew, too, just how far supervision was wise, and what measure of. reticence in regard to personal affairs must be left’ to even a plodding agricultural labourer. The emigrants had left home chiefly because they desired to own their own farms, or that their children might have such an opportunity, but the old instincts were there. It is fairly certain they came to Currie Lane 90 years ago more interested in seeing and appraising the new parson who was to live and work among them than in any exhortation that his Lordship the Bishop might have to offer.

In the second place they were, anxious to know what were the Bishop’s plans for the parish. The raupo building was all very well, bu. was obviously only a makeshift. Indeed, in the very next winter it was blown down by <a gale. The previous year the Bishop had preached in the “Company’s” storeroom, a building situated in a lane further down Currie Street, not very far from Messrs. Webster Bros.’ present auction rooms. The parishioners were soon enlightened. His Lordship was prepared to help, but they must do their share. How magnificently they responded may

be seen by all who visit the beautiful church of St. Mary’s. For in that raupo hut the parish was inaugurated. From the induction service held there by the Bishop regular services have been held and the work of the church in Taranaki has steadily increased. Its commencement was auspicious. The spirit of optimism was abroad. The first days of bewilderment were over. The later difficulties in regard to land titles had not been created. The productivity of the soil and the geniality of the climate to those accustomed to the rigours of an English winter had given new heart to the settlers. Local administration had been put in order. If the “Company’s” rules and policy I were not always approved, at least there was a Resident Agent to whom the disappointed or the downcast might appeal. Communication with the Homeland was more frequent, and, best of all, the settlement was beginning to feel less dependent upon outside supplies of food. It is true that when St. Mary’s parish had been functioning a little more than a year there was again a temporary shortage of food supplies. But corn crops were ripening and so there was no need for panic. The robustness of parish life was to be tested very soon. Commissioner Spain’s ruling in regard to land titles was upset by Governor Fitzroy, and the year 1844 was a gloomy one in New Plymouth. Nevertheless, the preparations for the erection of a parish church went steadily ahead, and by January, 1845, most of the material was at the foot of Marsland Hill. Those who could give nothing else gave their labour, and the first stone was laid on March 25, 1845. The building, dedicated to St. Mary, was opened without ceremony on September 29, 1846. It was a very different structure from the present dignified edifice. St. Mary’s at the opening day was a plain building 50ft. by 30ft., and its cost was £1095. It was due to the vicar’s insistence that stone was used instead of the more easily obtainable timber, and it speaks well for the hold he had so soon obtained on his parishioners that he swayed them to his. view.-/Only a clergyman who had earned affection as well as respect could have evoked the wonderful generosity displayed by the first parishioners of St. Mary’s. Of the £1095 required, says Seffem’s “History of Taranaki,” the Bishop provided £250; £72 was given by friends in England, and £773 was subscribed locally, in cash, material and labour, which included architect’s plans as well as chipping stones. Truly the Bishop’s exhortation for the practice of self-help had been obeyed. For it must be remembered the gifts were made when land-owners were uncertain whether the titles to their lands would be valid or riot, and when wages had been cut to as low as three shillings a week and keep for farm labourers, and to two shillings a day for five days a week for labourers and artisans in the town. Bishop Selwyn’s judgment appears to have -been as wise in his choice of the first vicar of St. Mary’s as in his choice of a site for the church buildings. Older residents in Taranaki will speak to-day of the -fragrance of the vicar’s memory to their parents. The Rev. William Holland died less than a year after the opening, of the parish church for which he had laboured so hard, but his influ- , ence, his enthusiasm and his devotion . to duty set a standard for the parish. His successor, ■ the late Archdeacon Govett, a personal friend of Mr. Bolland, carried on the great tradition of the parish as the centre of all that is best in community life which the Church brought with it from the Homeland. . Archdeacon Govett lived long enough to see Taranaki develop from a hamlet to a rich and thriving province. The importance of the work of the churches in that development is generally recognised, though this is not the opportunity for. its discussion. At its lowest estimate St. Mary’s Church is a visible sign of public spirit and community service. It is one of the most beautiful expressions of those virtues that the Dominion possesses. Times have changed, but the opportunity for their exercise still remains. It is good to bp able to record that the desire to serve is as persistent to-day as it was 90 years ago.