SIXTY YEARS OLD

Waikato Independent, Volume XLI, Issue 3892, 15 August 1941, Page 5

SIXTY YEARS OLD

ST. ANDREW’S CHURCH

HISTORY OF THE PARISH

At the end of this month a week of special celebrations will commence, to mark the Diamond Jubilee of St. Andrew’s Parish Church. It was on August 31, 1881, that the present church was consecrated by Bishop Cowic.

Eight years before that the first church, the present old parish hall, was built on the site of the present church. Cambridge was then part of the Te Awamutu district under the Rev. ]£ C. Brady. That original church cost £3OO, and was adorned with a belfry and steeple. It was used on alternate Sundays by the Presbyterians until,'lß77. • The Vicarage was built in 1877, f it then being of five rooms. With a number of additions, it is still in ft) use today. Realising that it is 64 f years old, the appeal being made at " present for funds for a new Vicarage can be readily understood.

In 1881 the tender of £1590 by Mr W. G. Connolly was accepted for the erection of the present church, and

the foundation stone was laid by Sir Arthur Gordon, Governor of the Colony, on January 21. The entire cost, including furniture, land, fencing, etc., was £2205. The church was consecrated on August 31 of that year. .

The building is 68ft., long, the chancel 27f}. wide, and the transepts 54ft. across. The spire is 107 ft. in height, standing on a tower 14ft. square. The residents : of Cambridge of that day fully realised the import: ance of the consecration as shown by the fact that' the occasion was made a public holiday. Thu bells were made by Messrs Vickers and Con, Sheffield, and were dedicated by Bishop Cowie on Sunday, August 13, 1882. There are six bells, weighing 30 cwt. The largest weights 8 cwt., with a diameter of 37 inches. These bells cost £360, of which £2OO was given by Mr E. Hewitt. In 1899, the two-manual pipe organ was erected in the church by Mr George Croft, of Auckland, at a cost of £250. In 1931, the, anniversary of the church was fittingly celebrated, the most important event being the opening of the new Parish Hall. Vicars of St. Andrew’s The first Vicar of St. Andrew’s was the Rev. William Newcombe de> Laval Willis. He was born on February 14, 1846, and died on February 10,1916. He was Vicar of Cambridge from January 2, 1878, to 31st March, 1912, when he resigned. He was Archdeacon of the Waikato from 1882 until 1913. His son, the Rev. Frank de Laval Willis, M.A., will be the preacher at St. Andrew’s on the evening of August 31 next. Another son is Mr A. N. de L. Willis, of Cambridge. The Rev. C. Mortimer-Jones, now Canon Mortimer-Jones, of Hastings, was the second Vicar of Cambridge. He took office in April, 1912, but o"was absent on service during the < Great War. He. yviil take part in (< the celebrations next month. The Rev. E. Lionel Harvie was is inducted as Vicar in May, 1927, but his stay was not of long duration and he was farewelled on November 24, 1929, pripp .to his departure for Adelaide, where he had accepted an important appointment. His death occurred at Adelaide, in 1936. The Rev. G. Gordon Bell, of Holy Sepulchre, Auckland, was appointed to fill the vacancy, and until his arrival in 1930, the Rev. C. W. Clark, who died this year, acted as Vicar. In February, 1935, the Rev. C. W. Chandler y became Vicar of Cambridge, and has now held that office fer more than six. years. Memorials to Parishioners Faithful service, has been given to St. Andrew’s by many parishioners in the past 60 years, and of those who have passed on, a number have lasting memorials in the church. The stone font was erected in 1878 in memory of Mr Richard Parker, a Roto-o-rangi pioneer, and a heavy font cover, in memory of Private Christie Boyce, the first Cambridge boy who died at Gallipoli. His death occurred in May, 1915. There are also the lectern, given by the late Major Wilson, in memory of his wife, 1879; the reading desk, in memory of Charles Evans, 1907; east window erected in October, 1919, at a cost of £250, in memcry of the late Archdeacon and Mrs Willis. The pulpit was erected in memory of Mr E. Hewitt, 1901; two hatchments, painted by the* late Archdeacon Walsh and unveiled by General Sir lan Hamilton, in memory