A Mr. John Findlay Duff, who had been the harbormaster at Glenelg for a number of years, donated the land on which the church and cemetery stand.  It was about 1½ acres in area.

The Foundation stone was laid in January 1847 by Mrs. Frederick Bayne. Frederick was an Adelaide solicitor.

The money to fund the building came entirely from private subscriptions and construction took place over the following 12 months.  The façade is considered an interesting example of Kentish masonry work with the stones gathered from the creek running through nearby Stradbroke Park.  This creek is probably the one we now call Fourth Creek Morialta Parri.

On the 30th January 1848, the church was consecrated by Bishop Short.  He had been appointed the colony’s first Anglican Bishop of Adelaide and had only recently arrived in the colony and so St. George’s was the first church in the colony of South Australia consecrated by him.

In 1855, a very neat and handsome Harmonium made by the celebrated Alexandre of Paris was added.  It was proclaimed the finest in the colony in regard to power and completeness.

A new chancel with a fine stained glass window was added in 1884 and two marble tablets engraved with the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed were placed in the chancel.

In 1898, to commemorate the 50th Jubilee of the church, three stained glass windows were placed in the northern wall of the church.

The Lych Gate on to St. Bernards Road is a comparatively recent addition.  It was donated by the Penfold family as a general memorial to members of the family, but in particular Dr. Christopher Rawson Penfold who was one of the first trustees of the church and began the now famous winery which bears his name.  It was dedicated in 1952.  The lych gate is modelled on one at Steyning, Sussex, where Dr. Penfold’s father had been Vicar for many years.

The Cemetery

A Self-Guided Interpretive Tour is available and some well-known names from South Australia’s early days are buried in the church cemetery but it is worth mentioning that Bishop Short had another first associated with St. George’s.
In February 1848, just two weeks after the church consecration, the first burial took place and it was the infant daughter of Bishop Short.  Just seven weeks after their arrival in the colony, Bishop Short wrote,

“The intense heat at the period of our landing the thermometer in our bedrooms at Government House at night being 95°F (35°C) seems to have overpowered her and she gradually grew worse and worse, till it pleased God to take her from us.  She has fallen martyr to the cause in which we embarked.”

In all, two infant daughters, the eldest son and wife of Bishop Short are buried here but Bishop Short himself died on a return trip to England in 1883 and is buried at Warblington Churchyard in Devon.

One other tragic story is that of Dr. David Wark.  He arrived in South Australia in 1839 with his son, after the death of his first wife.  He remarried and had more children but on one terrible night in 1859, he lost his second wife and two of their children to diphtheria.  Dr. Wark died in 1862 aged 59.  All are buried in the St. George’s cemetery

This article has been researched and compiled by Geoff Burton, a volunteer with the Campbelltown Library “Digital Diggers” group.

If you have any comments or questions regarding the information in this local history article, please contact the Local History officer on 8366 9357 or hthiselton@campbelltown.sa.gov.au

References

Information re St. Georges Church was gleaned from the following newspaper articles.

1. Observer (Adelaide SA 1905-1931) Sat 2 Feb 1918 p33.
2. South Australian Register (Adelaide SA 1839-1900) Wed 20 Jan 1847 p2.
3. South Australian Register (Adelaide SA 1839-1900) Fri 18 May 1855 p3.
4. The Register Adelaide SA (1901-1929) Sat 19 Jan 1924 p10.
5. The Advertiser (Adelaide SA 1931-1954) Wed 6 Dec 1950 p4.
6. The Advertiser (Adelaide SA 1931-1954) Wed 2 Apr 1952 p5.

Information re the cemetery was found in

1. The Register (Adelaide 1901-1929) Thurs 31 Jan 1918 p4.
2. The Mail (Adelaide SA 1912-1954) Sat 9 Sep 1922 p2.
3. The pamphlet: Self-Guided Interpretive Cemetery Tour 1848 to Today.  Available at the Church/Cemetery.