Saint George's Anglican Church Malvern

A drawing published by the
Building Committee of the Vestry in July 1884

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SAINT GEORGE'S

In 1854 Mr Colin Campbell began a Sunday School in his house 'Haverbrack'- now remembered by Haverbrack Avenue-and in 1855 services were taken there by the Reverend (afterwards Canon) Henry Handfield of Saint Peter's, Eastern Hill.

In 1856 local church people bought a house in Malvern Road, near Spring Road, for a day school under the Denominational Schools Board, and for Church services conducted by Mr Campbell or by the Reverend John Gregory of Saint Matthew's, Prahran.

In 1857 the local committee representing the Church of England acquired an acre of land in Glenferrie Road (the northern half of this site is occupied by the parish hall), and built a school room, which in 1858 was licensed for Church services. The priest in charge (our first incumbent) was the Reverend Henry Liddiard, who also had charge of the district of Oakleigh. The first recorded meeting of the Malvern Church Committee is dated 10 July 1861. Because the land to the south of the school block had been reserved for a police barracks, the Committee in 1865 bought a piece of land to the north-about one and a half acres-for £67.13s.

In the same year the Reverend Thomas Cole was appointed to the district of Oakleigh and Malvern, and Mr Samuel Merrett was engaged as the architect for the proposed church. Mr Merrett had worked for the government of the Colony, and with his brother Thomas he was joint architect of Melbourne's first Exhibition Building, opened in 1854 on the site now occupied by the former Royal Mint in William Street.

The foundation stone of the church was laid on 30 November 1865 by Sir William Stawell, Chief Justice of the Colony. The building proceeded slowly, as money was short, but on 19 September 1869 the nave was opened by the Reverend Dr John Bromby, foundation headmaster of Melbourne Grammar School, and by that time the ground floor of the vicarage had been built. The nave was not clear of debt until 1875, when it was consecrated by the Right Reverend Samuel Thornton, Bishop of Ballarat. The parish at that time extended to Gardiner's Creek to the north, Dandenong Road to the south, Darling Road to the east, and Orrong Road to the west. In 1878 the name of the shire was changed from Gardiner to Malvern.

The Reverend Thomas Cole died in office in 1879, being succeeded in 1880 by the Reverend Charles (later Canon) Godby. The building program began again with Mr Dalton as architect for the addition of the transepts and a temporary wooden chancel and sanctuary. There appears to have been more money available at this stage: the exterior courses of stonework are more finely laid than they are in the nave; there is a good deal of carved stonework in the interior; and the program was completed in two years: that is, by 1885.

In 1887 a narrow strip of land was bought along the north boundary of the churchyard, and Mr Urban Billings was engaged as architect to complete the chancel and sanctuary. In 1888 the new work-transepts, chancel, sanctuary, organ chamber and vestry-was consecrated by the Bishop of Melbourne, the Right Reverend Field Flowers Goe. In 1891 the foundation stone for the parish hall was laid by Sir William Clarke, pastoralist, and the front (western) half of the hall was begun. In 1897 the second storey of the vicarage was added.

In 1910 Canon Godby resigned because of ill-health (he was later appointed as Dean of Melbourne). He was succeeded by the Reverend Charles Dalton, who returned to England in 1916, when the Reverend Josiah Tyssen was appointed. His incumbency of thirty-three years, rivalled only by the thirty-year incumbency of Canon Godby, saw the growth of Saint George's long association with the Church in Papua New Guinea.

Saint George's was the parish church for the state governors, who lived at 'Stonnington' in Glenferrie Road from 1901 until 1932, when the governors-general vacated State Government House. In 1921 Lord Stradbroke, Governor of Victoria, laid the foundation stone of Saint Martin's Chapel, designed by Mr Rodney Alsop to commemorate the parishioners who served in the Great War. Although the church is the work of four architects, it largely conforms to the original design of Samuel Merrett.

Father Tyssen retired in 1949: he was succeeded by the Reverend Francis Townsend, during whose incumbency the vicarage was restored, the churchyard was landscaped, the Garden of Memory and the Book of Remembrance were instituted, and the parish began its first program of continuing planned giving, conducted by the Wells Organization.

The window to Saint George
in Saint Martin's Chapel, 1924

Father Townsend died in office in 1956: he was succeeded by the Venerable Robert Dann, afterwards Archbishop of Melbourne, during whose incumbency the parish hall was extensively altered to make it more adaptable for parish use.

The Reverend (now the Venerable) Stanley Moss was incumbent from 1961 to 1970: in that time part of the land behind the vicarage became the site of the four cottages forming the then Saint George's Close.

The Venerable George Lucas OAM was incumbent from 1970 to 1985: in that time a medical centre (including free accommodation for a Citizens' Advice Bureau) was built to the south of the parish hall. Archdeacon Lucas was succeeded by the Reverend Alan Baxter, incumbent from 1985 to 1988, and now sadly deceased.

In 1989 the Reverend Andrew Curnow was appointed as incumbent. He implemented and completed an ambitious program to renovate the church-reordering the interior for modern liturgical use-and to renovate the vicarage ground floor. He was consecrated Bishop to serve in the northern suburbs of Melbourne in June 1994, and he was elected as Bishop of Bendigo in 2003.

The Reverend Barry Smith (now the Reverend Canon Emeritus Barry Smith OAM) was appointed in 1994. His ministry saw an expansion of pastoral care, the development of lay chaplains, the consolidation of material resources, and the establishment of a comprehensive vision for the future of the parish. He retired in 2006.

The present incumbent is the Reverend Canon Dr Colleen O'Reilly, instituted on 17 July 2007.

Brian Corless
Honorary Secretary and Archivist