Pics from the past | Early Shepparton churches

By Geoff Allemand

Mar 15, 2024

Standing tall: St Augustine’s Church of England, pictured on a Shepparton Rose postcard c1920-54. Photo by Imaging Studio

Early Shepparton churches part two

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W.S. James’ book The History of Shepparton 1838-1938 provides an extensive history of Shepparton’s early churches and its people of faith. Here are some excerpts up to the early 1900s.

Church of England

The Church of England held its first service in Shepparton in 1875 in the sitting room of the first public house, which was then part of Mr A. F. Rowe’s private house at the corner of Welsford and High Sts, now the corner site of the old brewery.

The officiating Minister was the Rev, now Venerable Archdeacon, Tucker.

Through the generosity of another denomination, sometime later, services were conducted every alternate Sunday in the United Free Methodist Church, which now stands at the rear of the flour mill. Still later on, services were held in the Shire Hall, and there, the first confirmation service was held on March 28, 1881. The bishop administering the rites was Bishop Moorhouse, the resident vicar at the time being, the Rev John Dawborn, and his curate, one named Hill.

In 1882, a brick church designed by Mr A. F. Rowe and Mr John Wicking was then built on Maude St opposite the Lyric Theatre, on the site now occupied by Fairley Bros buildings. This church had seating accommodation for 150 people and was named the Shepparton Church of England, St Augustine’s. Messrs J. F. and A. W. Fairley purchased the old church and adjacent land and demolished the old historic building.

In June 1922, a purchase of 17 acres for £2000 from Mr John Sutherland was effected. Thus, a progressive move was made by the Anglicans of Shepparton, with the objective of building a new church in a more central part of the town. The new church was erected further north in Maude St (current site) on November 11, 1925, the Minister at the time being the Rev Archdeacon G. Carter, who succeeded the Rev Edwards.

Disciples of Christ

Early in the 1870s, a denomination named ‘Disciples of Christ’ was established in Shepparton and subsequently erected a wooden meeting place facing Edward St where the present Baptist Church Manse stands. This building was sold to the Baptist authorities in August 1892 and has since been demolished. This faith was established in the early part of the 19th century, and while it resembled in part much of the doctrine of the Presbyterian, Baptist and Methodist churches, it developed its belief or was formed as off-shoots from these denominations mentioned.

In Australia, it made little, if any, headway, and an effort was made to establish it in Shepparton. They similarly taught the doctrine of baptism to the Baptist Faith, the Revival Spirit of Methodist Churches, and Election as the Calvinistic Presbyterian faith. Unfortunately, as the three named denominations became established in Shepparton, little interest was taken in this religious organisation, and it died out.

However, it had, at one time, services that many of the pioneers attended, and it did much for the community in regard to religious and spiritual development because of the sincerity of its members. The advent of stronger and better-organised churches naturally drew their respective adherents to their own particular faith, where regular pastors officiated. The work of holding the Disciples of Christ together devolved upon Mr James Fairley, one of the early store-keepers, who conducted services at the Edward St building.

Roman Catholic Church

Owing to a disastrous fire in which most of the records of the Roman Catholic Church were burned, it is difficult to give dates in full of the church’s history from its inception. Shepparton had the first religious service in connection with this denomination in 1873 in the Kialla district.

Shepparton, prior to this date, was not clearly defined as part of any particular parish; Wangaratta, being the centre of activity, had Shepparton given over as part of the parish of Wangaratta in 1873. Father Egan, an assistant priest at Wangaratta, was sent to Shepparton to establish religious ministration, and to him may be attributed the first priest to conduct service in the Shepparton district. He visited the Shepparton district twice a year but was not able to hold service on Sundays owing to his extensive travels through a vast territory.

Consequently, services were held on weekdays. He held his first service at Mr Timothy O’Brien’s home at Kialla, and the same week, he moved on to Mr Patrick Bourke’s home at Pine Lodge and conducted service there — this place being the first Roman Catholic service held in the vicinity of Shepparton. He frequently held services at Mr O’Brien’s home, and coming nearer to Shepparton, he established services at Mr Alf Day’s home, which was in close proximity to Shepparton.

Indeed, the high-school farm is part of Mr Day’s old selection, and it is not far from where Mr Day lived. This was practically the first Roman Catholic service in which mass was celebrated in the Shepparton district.

Members of the church up to this time had to travel a considerable distance to attend mass, and Mr Day’s home was historical to the pioneer settlers for this boon to the faith. It may be mentioned that Mr Day was the son of a Shepparton businessman named Mitchell Day, who owned the Royal Hotel and store in the seventies.

The first services in the town were held in the brick building adjoining the punt house on Welsford St, which is used today as a lodge room [now Forester’s Hall/Museum]. The church being now established, it needed only a resident priest, and Father Kennedy was appointed from Benalla as parish priest. He arrived in Shepparton and took up residence in Nixon St. Succeeding Father Kennedy was the Rev Michael O’Connor, who instigated the first church, which was built in 1879 and was named St Patrick’s Church.

The vicinity of the newly proposed church was then known as Kangaroo Scrub, and it was in this scrub area that the dedication and laying of the foundation stone of St Patrick’s Church was to take place with a special celebration fitting to the occasion. It was a brick edifice on a part of the site where the Sacred Heart College now stands. This building was gutted by fire, and among the severe losses was that the records of the early history of the church activities were destroyed.

The present church, named St Brendan’s, with the exception of additions, was erected, and the laying of the foundation stone took place on July 1, 1900, when the Most Reverend S. Reville, Bishop of Sandhurst, performed the ceremony.