St John's Church, Adelaide


St. John's is an Anglican Church at the south-east corner of the City of Adelaide dating from 1841. The first building was demolished in 1886 and its replacement opened in 1887.

History

In 1840 the first Anglican church building, Trinity Church, was erected on North Terrace, Adelaide, but soon demands arose for a second place of worship to cater for members in and around Unley and the foothills, and to that end
Osmond Gilles donated to the Church Building Society of South Australia half an acre of his section 581 on Halifax Street near the corner of East Terrace and South Terrace.
The location could not have been much further within the city from Trinity Church, and the land between the two was little more than rough scrub and tracks that became a quagmire in winter. For many years after its establishment it was known colloquially as "St. John's in the Wilderness".
On 18 October 1839 the foundation stone was laid by Governor Gawler
The foundations had been laid using ₤540 that had been collected in Adelaide, then for over a year little progress was made due to a shortage of funds. Generous friends in England raised some more and church, which seated around 300, was erected for around ₤2,100. and the first service was held on 24 October 1841, conducted by the Rev'd James Farrell and the Colonial Chaplain C. B. Howard.
The parsonage was a "Manning" prefabricated cottage brought out by Gilles as his first residence, dubbed "Hexagon Cottage", and sported a brass door-knocker."
Farrell inherited the title of Colonial Chaplain, meaning he had to take over Trinity Church and close the doors of St John's until a replacement could be found.
That replacement was the Rev. W. J. Woodcock, who came out on the barque Emu with the Rev. James Pollitt, and took his first service at St. John's on 17 May 1846.
In 1848 an organ, built by Samuel Marshall, was installed.
In May 1849 Woodcock transferred to the newly completed Christ Church, North Adelaide and Matthew B. Hale, Archdeacon of Adelaide, took over St. Johns.
The church was lit by gas in 1869.
The Rev'd F. Slaney Poole was elected in June 1874 and inducted on 4 September. During his regime the parish hall was built in 1880 and the parsonage in 1884. He was responsible for replacing the original church building, which had been declared unsafe. The adjoining block 582 was purchased and the old building demolished in November 1886. The foundation stone of the new building was laid by Bishop Kennion on 14 May 1887 and the structure erected by Walter Rogers at a cost of £3,000. Kennion consecrated the completed church on 6 October 1887 and the first services were held on 9 October 1887.
A mission church, St. Mary Magdalene's, was built on nearby Moore Street from material recovered from the old building and opened in 1887.
Canon Poole resigned in 1895, and Canon Hopcraft, from Port Augusta, was appointed in his place. He found the church's finances in a precarious state, with an annual income barely £500, and the church debt of nearly £2,000. During his thirteen years of rectorship he managed to double the church's income and reduce the church debt by nearly £1,000, while spending nearly £2,000 on improvements, notably an organ, which cost £800.

Ministers