Chaplains in early colonial Australia

The first chaplains to the British penal colony in New South Wales had been appointed by commission from the monarch and initially were under the immediate control of the governor. As the colony developed, more chaplains were sent out who, on their arrival, received their nominations to various chaplaincies from the governor. After 1819, a statute was in force providing for the ordination of clergy for the colonial service.

Even before he left England in 1824, the recently appointed Archdeacon of New South Wales, the Rev. Thomas Hobbes Scott, recommended an increase in the number of chaplains for the colony. He was to reiterate this plea regularly during his time in Australia. By March 1828, some fourteen Church of England chaplains and four catechists were working in New South Wales (HRA, Ser. 1: 14, p. 78).   While the newly created rural centres were in desperate need of ministers, the penal settlements had their own specific requirements if any positive encouragement was to be given to the much-touted rehabilitation of inmates.

For their part, the convicts welcomed the clerics in their midst, even though most of them had rarely attended Sunday services in the slums of London, Liverpool, or Leeds, and most did not revere those responsible for spreading God’s word.  Nevertheless, from the time of their arrest convicts found church representatives contributed considerably to their new circumstances.  Petitions for mercy, or submissions for commutation of sentences, needed the support, and most importantly the signature, of a priest as did several other privileges.  Pleas for family reunification, pardons and any request requiring a character reference were dependent on a spiritual guide’s knowledge of the candidate. Further, while serving their sentences, mandatory attendance at church parades and school sessions provided welcome relief to manual labour and tedious routine (Grocott, 1980: pp. 127–31; 222–3).

Religious provision at Moreton Bay

By Vincent’s tenure over 1000 convicts, four army detachments and a few civilians had been stationed at Moreton Bay since September 1824, firstly at Redcliffe and then, from May 1825, at Brisbane Town (Steele, 1975: pp. 1–29; Harrison, 2023). As the settlement grew, the necessity for providing religious guidance for these recidivists became ever more critical. Archdeacon Scott was the first cleric to venture to the northern outpost in June 1827. As a result of this visit, Sydney’s decision-makers, both government and ecclesiastical, were alerted to the imperative need for a chaplain.

On 3 January 1828, the Church Corporation requested the Governor to provide a residence at Brisbane where church services could be held as they intended to move a catechist, John Layton, from Sutton Forest to Moreton Bay. But despite the best plans and intentions Layton never set out for the northern settlement and it remained without a resident clergyman (NSWSA 1828a).

Three female servants were allocated to help the ever-expanding family. Twenty-seven year old Catherine Flynn had accompanied the Vincent family on the voyage from Ireland. She was assisted by Honora Crotty, an 18-year old nursemaid taken from the Parramatta Factory, and Louisa Cook, a 27-year old laundry maid also recently assigned from the Factory. Louisa thought so little of leaving Sydney that she fled before the Isabella sailed. She later was apprehended and sentenced to the third class at the Female Factory for three months for absconding from service (NSWSA 1829b). Her eventual replacement as laundry maid, Ann Goodlake, did not arrive in Moreton Bay until September 1829 when she, in turn, caused severe ructions for her employer during her short residency.

A month after his arrival, settled into the parsonage with its view across the river, Vincent sent his first report from Moreton Bay to church authorities. It contained seemingly extraordinary requests for his establishment. He urged the immediate erection of the promised building for services, which the parson considered ‘should be capable of containing about 1000 persons’ with galleries for extra people. Considering that nearly half of the convicts were Roman Catholics and not obliged to attend services, Vincent obviously banked on enormous growth for the settlement. Next, he wanted a sexton, a bell ringer, a clerk, and a grave digger, appointed and rationed by the government. He suggested they could act as his servants when not needed for other duties. He also requested better clothing for the clerk who would also assist with Divine Service. While he approved of the teaching available through the 57th Regiment personnel, Vincent wanted a larger schoolhouse built in a more ‘eligible situation’, and also he wanted another site for the burial ground.

He added an extra note remonstrating that his rations were too expensive but was assured that his purchase price was just above cost, in accordance with regulations (cited in Steele, 1975: 105–6).  In July the Church Corporation became concerned when once again he applied for his wages more than a quarter in advance, despite already having them provided six months ahead of time before he left Sydney (SLQ Reel A2.3, pp. 619–21)

Despite all the uncomfortable issues which irritated the clergyman in Brisbane Town, his grumbling letters to his superior also carefully described the routine followed each Sunday.

The two first Sundays I performed Divine Service at 8 o’clock in the forenoon in front of the Superintendents house, the military and prisoners who attended amounting to about 700. Great inconvenience was experienced by everyone from the intense heat and the sun, in consequence of which on Good Friday the Commandant ordered Divine Service to be performed at 10 in the forenoon, in a large room of the prisoners Barracks and part of the floor of the upper room was removed to enable others to attend where I still continue to officiate. This not being a suitable place for the officers families I offered to officiate at the Parsonage House in the afternoon for them, and such of the military who should wish to attend, under the sanction of the Commandant. I deliver a sermon regularly every Sunday after this Service as well as the morning.

The Parsonage House affords very indifferent accommodation as the service is numerously attended, the Hall of the house being literally crowded. From this statement you will see the urgent necessity of building a Church capable of containing about 1000 persons and should it be the intention of Government hereafter, to send female prisoners to this settlement, allow me to remark, it would be advisable so to construct the Church that Galleries could be erected when required (NSWSA 1829a).

Then the parson wanted glebe land dedicated to his use, a usual allocation in urban parishes but almost impossible to arrange and protect at a penal settlement. Vincent also requested the services of ‘appropriate men for the purposes of a clerk, sexton and bellringer’ who would also act as his servants and gardeners (NSWSA 1829c). When soon afterwards a gripe followed about the charge the family was levied for provisions, he was notified that the price to him was the normal rate for civilians, being one-tenth above the cost, not market, price.

From this point onwards it became clear that the needs of his flock, including the few women prisoners, were not Vincent’s paramount concern. Early in June the minister complained to Archdeacon Scott in Sydney that the burial ground was too remote and very inconvenient. In reply he was told to select twenty acres and inform the authorities of its siting. Then when the clergyman and commandant disagreed about the burial of prisoner Daniel Brown, Vincent once more appealed to Scott for an ‘impartial investigation’ (NSWSA 1829a).

In August 1829 new penal settlement regulations were put into effect. Clause 25 specified the necessity to perform Divine Service twice every Sunday when all officers, troops and convicts were required to attend. But by this time Vincent’s relationships within the settlement were proving as galling as already experienced by church and government authorities in Sydney. Within a period of only four days in September, sixteen letters criss-crossed the fifty or so metres between the minister’s house and Commandant Logan’s office.

Vincent … insisted on precise paperwork before burying a prisoner; he ignored the military second-in-command; upbraided     the medical officer …

Despite the temporary absence of the commanding officer, Vincent insisted on precise paperwork before burying a prisoner; he ignored the military second-in-command; upbraided the medical officer; and then contrarily sent marriage banns concerning a convict to Sydney without either advising the commandant or awaiting his imminent return to Brisbane Town. Although Vincent was convinced he was acting according to instructions of both the governor and the archdeacon with regard to the marriage notification, he seemingly was unaware of specific conditions applying to penal settlements (SLQ 1829 Reel A2.4, pp. 216–39).

Contested marriage banns

Among all these complex issues, the episode of the marriage banns repays closer consideration. It relates to Ann Goodlake, a woman aged 27 who had arrived on the Waterloo on 2 September 1829 to replace Vincent’s washerwoman. But within a couple of days, she began an association which further imperilled the tense and tenuous relationship between Rev. Vincent and settlement’s strong-willed commandant, Patrick Logan.

It transpired that while Logan was absent from the settlement at the bay supervising the unloading of the Waterloo, Vincent published banns for the marriage of Goodlake to Thomas Cribb, a 27-year old who came to Port Jackson on the 1820 voyage of the Agamemnon. Cribb had served his seven years and as a free man was now part of the boat crew working at the settlement. On Vincent’s application for the governor’s approval for the publication of banns, he wrote: ‘Tho[ma]s Cribb, as far as I can learn, is a steady young man and had been acquainted with Ann Goodlake some years previous to his present application, [and] he has sufficient means to support her.’ (SLQ 1829 A2.4, pp. 224–31) His note beside Goodlake’s name indicated that she had entered his service the day after her arrival (namely, on 3 September), and had conducted herself with propriety and given satisfaction. As the application was dated a mere five days later, her employer obviously considered she had proven her reliability very promptly.

Before giving assent, Bourke wanted to know Commandant Logan’s opinion as senior officer, which customarily should have been obtained and attached. During his time at Parramatta, Vincent must have been aware of procedures involved for gaining permission for convicts to wed, both serving and free. Although Goodlake had applied for a ticket-of-leave in May 1829, she had not appeared at the office to secure it. Her original sentence was for 14 years but the prospective bridegroom held a ticket-of-leave and with his regular wage could support a wife. Approval probably would have been granted if the correct local authorisations had been obtained (SLQ 1829 Reel A2.4, pp. 224–31).

Logan was not inclined to provide any such authorisation. The commandant confirmed that on his arrival at Dunwich to discharge the Waterloo, both the master and the officer commanding the guard had reported that ‘the female prisoners had behaved extremely ill, and that Goodlake was the worst of the party’. Logan further verified that the minister had forwarded the paperwork without any reference to himself and that, despite the woman being a total stranger to her employer, no steps were taken to ascertain whether she was married or not. To prevent any further association, Cribb was despatched to Sydney on 27 October 1829 (SLQ 1829 Reel A2.4, p. 330–33). When the Sydney authorities checked their passenger list for the Morley they failed to locate Ann Goodlake. Subsequently she was found to be convict Ann Hall, who had married James Goodlake in Sydney in May 1822 (Reg. Gen. NSW, 1822, Vol. 147, No. 1094). Ann spent time with her husband at Port Macquarie but she was widowed by 26 June 1826, when sentenced to six months in the Parramatta Factory for her connection with a robbery of Mrs Catherine Clarkson.

When notified that the commanding officer apparently had not been consulted, Bourke took immediate action. Logan’s action in instigating a settlement order prohibiting the reading of banns earned him a reproof for potentially lowering Vincent’s estimation in the eyes of the convicts. (NSWSA 1829e). For his part, the commandant sent off an exasperated request to the governor asking him to comply with the minister’s desire for recall, insisting that ‘the whole tenure of his conduct since his arrival at this station has been calculated to excite discontent and insubordination’ (NSWSA 1829d). The recently arrived Archdeacon William Broughton, who had replaced Scott, was reluctant to withdraw the only available candidate to provide religious support to the penal station but, after consultation with him, Governor Ralph Darling finally ordered that Vincent should be relieved on 7 October 1829 after a bare six months’ residence (NSWSA 1829d).

A passage on the Mary Elizabeth could not be arranged until 17 December. The family reached Sydney six days later, accompanied by none other than Ann Goodlake. Within nine weeks of returning to Sydney, her desire for a legal connection with a free person was fulfilled when on 8 March 1830 she married a 19-year-old bricklayer, Richard Martin, who had come to Australia as a free migrant. Apparently Vincent remained convinced she was a suitable hireling because, still as her employer, he gave his consent and performed the ceremony (Reg. Gen. NSW 1830, vol. 3, No. 4815).

Both Governor Ralph Darling and his successor, Sir Richard Bourke, wanted to ensure that a clergyman was included at each penal establishment but after Vincent’s tenure, one did not return to Moreton Bay until 1837 when a Church Missionary Society man, trained in Lutheran rites, took on the role.

Remembering John Vincent

Vincent’s time in Brisbane Town had been an abject failure. As Governor Darling reported to London in January 1831, ‘it became necessary to remove him [from Moreton Bay] in consequence of the misunderstandings which took place between him and the Commandant.’ (HRA, Ser. 1: 16, p. 29).

Nevertheless, the unhappy cleric received an unexpected accolade when testimony in his favour was recorded by a prisoner in a book published in London in 1836.  William Ross, a convict twice sentenced to transportation to Australia who detested Patrick Logan, appeared delighted with the tension between these two men for whom he, on at least one occasion, acted as an intermediary. He wrote:

The appearance of this Revd. Gentleman on the Settlement of Moreton Bay, was in fact, an eye-sore to Logan, for he considered, that his wicked and diabolical acts, might be strictly and carefully watched …. In fact, on every opportunity he shewed a disposition to insult this Revd. Gentleman …. Hostilities became violent between Logan and Vincent, a paper war took place between the parties, the highest authorities were made acquainted with it, the result of which, was, that Mr. Vincent was withdrawn from the settlement, and not Logan.

Why? Because the latter was a favourite of Governor Darling, although Mr. Vincent, was one of the heads of the Church, and that Mr. Vincent for exercising his functions, which he received from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the next individual in rank to His Majesty the King of England, should be withdrawn from his situation, which gave the public an opportunity of judging him in fault, and a marching captain of a Foot Regiment was allowed to remain in his situation without any public enquiry taking place, because he was a favourite of Governor Darling. — Would this have been permitted to take place in England? I say no! (Ross, 2003 [1836]: p. 45, 47)      

Another observer in Brisbane Town who later recalled John Vincent was George McCauley. A young boy at the time he knew the minister, McCauley offered retrospective words of commendation about both Mr and Mrs Vincent.

I do not think it was the Minister’s fault as at this distant date I can recall his benevolent features and his kindly word of greeting that gained the hearts of all children for whom he seemed to delight. He must have been a goodly man but the same feeling that prompted him to love children caused him to have pity on the unfortunate outcasts, to try to stop some of the cruelties practiced on them. Hence his unpopularity, as it was considered effecious [sic] and they could brook interference.

His wife also deemed a most suitable ally in all his endeavours to do good. She was always getting up some amusement for children. When she had some young daughters of her own and [?] assembly they were simply idolized by all the youngsters of the time (McCauley, 1902: n.p.).

Logan’s fractious relationship with Vincent appears to have stemmed more from a thorough dislike of the man, rather than objections to the intrusion of religion. The commandant always precisely followed regulations for the reading of services and the availability of psalms and tracts for those in his charge. He did not attempt to curtail attendance at services and was present on all occasions except when was working or exploring.

Rather surprisingly, at an enquiry conducted in Sydney in October 1830 when Logan was seeking to sue Edward Hall, editor of the Monitor, who was defending his printed criticism of the commandant for uncontrolled flogging, Vincent testified on Logan’s behalf, along with Assistant-Surgeon Henry Cowper, who also disliked the commandant. Perhaps this was a case of authority being challenged by enemies of perceived excessive punishment campaigns, but both men could easily have declined to offer favourable testimony — although they were well aware of dangers prevailing at a remote depot with twice-convicted criminals outnumbering soldiers by ten to one far from ready assistance.

‘Not likely … to conciliate general esteem’

Back in Sydney, and despite his service, Vincent’s importunate personality very quickly exhausted his bishop’s patience. When the Rev. Frederick Wilkinson was removed from Newcastle, Broughton wrote a confidential report to Governor Darling explaining why the former Moreton Bay minister was not the man to fill the vacancy. Broughton considered that Vincent was ‘not likely to command attention nor to conciliate general esteem.’ ‘Indeed’, he wrote, ‘I am under a full persuasion that, if he were to be stationed at New Castle, not many Months would elapse before a fresh arrangement would become necessary.’ (HRA, Ser. 1: 16, p. 30) Eventually a niche was found for the unpopular cleric late in mid-1833. Although Vincent remained disgruntled and unhappy, the thoroughly irritated bishop tersely reminded him that ‘the chief thing wanting to make it commodious is a willing and content disposition’ (Shaw, 1978: p. 52).

Vincent served this part of his ministry at Sutton Forest, a parish he took over from the Rev. Thomas Hassall who gradually was being relieved of some of the more scattered posts within his enormous district. During his time here the benighted cleric fell on hard times. In the 1830s his family continued to increase when a second son, Alfred Richard, was born in February 1832, and further daughters, Emma in June 1833, Medora Ada in August 1835 and Clara Victoria in November 1839 (Reg. Gen. NSW, various dates).

He then boarded but to maintain both this expense and that incurred by his distant household, he exceeded his income by an additional £200. Vincent was at pains to point out that his family deprived themselves of ‘almost actual necessaries and observed the most rigid economy’.  Another £150 was spent in bringing them back to Sutton Forest which did not include the extra furniture and goods needed to replace those sold earlier. By now the minister’s debts exceeded £600 (NSWSA 1838). Bailiffs were at his premises and an auction was ordered if discharge was not effected immediately. Others were threatening similar action. Vincent wrote that had hoped to induce them to wait about two years.  He also assured the bishop that far from being remiss in allowing this crisis to occur, he ‘had calculated on some little degree of Christian feeling’ being shown him. That person also was aware of the ‘alarming and dangerous illness’ suffered by the bed-bound Mrs Vincent for the past five months (see Figure 6, below). All these exigencies had reduced the poor man to a very weakly state.

Vincent was next nominated to the Emu Plains and Castlereagh districts in late in 1840. Over the years he remained financially embarrassed and in poor health while he carried out the duties of a parish priest, attending to baptisms, burial services, and marriages in addition to administering to the increasing local population. Aged sixty-four, he died in January 1854 at Penrith and was buried at Parramatta (Sydney Morning Herald, 5 January 1854).

Conclusion

While it is very easy to concentrate on perceived personality deficiencies, some responsibility must be apportioned elsewhere for Vincent’s unhappiness. One seeming lapse occurred with the selection of candidates for the Australian colonies. With such a desperate need and so few prepared to take families to the outposts of empire, those charged with recruitment happily accepted any who were willing and whose health appeared sufficiently strong. But even these criteria were not maintained when faced with the crisis of filling needs. In 1838, while still awaiting the arrival of several of the nine priests requested the previous year, Bishop Broughton made an urgent submission for a further eighteen chaplains for specific areas which had fulfilled the obligatory financial outlays to subsidise a minister. These, he very precisely indicated, were in addition to all previous allocations (HRA, Ser. 1: 19, pp. 244–5)

The surviving records impute that Vincent was a misfit in the society of early New South Wales.  He appeared a man who insisted on deference and respect for his station yet colonial life brought him little joy. He was subjected to many trials and tribulations facing impoverished parishes, each with varying degrees of penal rules with which he would not comply or simply did not seek to understand.

Additionally in his personal life he faced ill-health, poverty, and overpowering debt, plus an ailing wife who had produced eleven children. Despite his hopes of living the life of a genteel country parson, this aim did not translate readily to climatic or geographical conditions in New South Wales. Vincent experienced a difficult journey to New South Wales, a nightmare existence for eight months at Moreton Bay, and throughout his career he quarrelled often and vehemently with fellow churchmen, civilian, and military authorities. He did not hesitate to complain at length whenever he felt hardly done by and this meant that this grumbling correspondence became his legacy. He was a dispirited, dejected man for most of his ministry and was buried in an unmarked grave barely noticed by the community.

Note

Parts of this entry have previously appeared in Marcus Harmes, Lindsay Henderson and Gillian Colclough (eds), From Augustine to Anglicanism: The Anglican Church in Australia and Beyond (Proceedings of the Conference held at St Francis Theological College, Milton, February 12–14, 2010), and are used here with permission.

Sources and further reading

Grocott, Allan M. 1980. Convicts, Clergymen and Churches: Attitudes of convicts and ex-convicts towards the churches and clergy in New South Wales from 1788 to 1851. Sydney: Sydney University Press.

Harrison, Jennifer. 2023. Fettered Frontier: Founding the Moreton Bay Settlement, The First Four Years 1822–1826. Brisbane: Brisbane History Group and Boolarong Publications.

McCauley, George. 1902. [Reminiscences of the founding of Brisbane and the early years of the settlement]. National Library of Australia: MS 3476.

National Archives Ireland. 1828. ‘Chief Secretary’s Official Registered Papers’, Whitehall 25, advice to Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the Rt. Hon. Lord Francis Leveson-Gower, from S.M. Phillips, 19 November.

National Archives [UK]. [Various dates.] Correspondence and papers concerning the complaint of Rev. John Vincent: HO7/2 [AJCP Reel 1541].

New South Wales State Records and Archives [NSWSA], Colonial Secretary’s Correspondence (note: this series is cited as 4/file number, followed by letter number, and then date):

NSWSA, Col. Sec. 1828a. Item 4/1963, 28/570; correspondence of 3 January.

NSWSA, Col. Sec. 1828b. Item 4/6981: ‘Minutes of evidence and papers re charges brought by Revd John Vincent against the surgeon and master of the female convict ship “Elizabeth.”’

NSWSA, Col. Sec. 1829a. Item 4/2005: 29/4839 and 29/4199 filed with 28/10347, 2 May.

NSWSA, Col. Sec. 1829b. Item 4/3794: 29/24, R749, correspondence re. Louise Cook, 23 June.

NSWSA, Col. Sec. 1829c. Item 4/3794: 29/21 and 29/22, R749, correspondence of 6 June.

NSWSA, Col. Sec. 1829d. Item 4/2047: 29/7896 and 29/7494, with correspondence of 14 September.

NSWSA, Col. Sec. 1829e. Item 4/3794, 29/33, R749, correspondence of 28 November.

NSWSA, Col. Sec. 1838. Item 4/4564, 38/4239 filed with 44/6304, correspondence from Vincent to Broughton, 27 March.

Parliament of Australia. [Various dates.] Historical Records of Australia, Series 1 (Governors’ despatches to and from England), various volumes. Sydney: Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament.

Registrar General, New South Wales, various dates and volumes.

Ross, William. 2003 [1836]. The Fell Tyrant or the Suffering Convict. Edited and annotated by Jennifer Harrison and J.G. Steele. Brisbane: Royal Historical Society of Queensland.

Shaw, G.P. 1978. Patriarch and Patriot: William Grant Broughton 1788-1853: Colonial Statesman and Ecclesiastic. Carlton: Melbourne University Press.

State Library of Queensland. [Various dates.] ‘New South Wales – Colonial Secretary: Letters Relating to Moreton Bay and Queensland Received 1822–1860’ (Microfilm Reel A.2, various items).

Steele, J.G. 1975. Brisbane Town in Convict Days 1824–1842. St Lucia: University of Queensland Press.