Moruya Uniting Church’s Ross Hosking, one of the parishioners hard at work organising the church’s 150th anniversary this Sunday, has compiled some of its history, and that of the Moruya itself.
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By ROSS HOSKING
AFTER 1842, convicts were no longer sent to Australia, and NSW Governor George Gipp’s Imperial Wastelands Act of that year restricted squatters to a square mile of land surrounding their homestead and the rest could go to public auction at the Government's discretion. Prospective settlers were looking at the land across the river southwards and gold diggers and emancipated convicts swelled their numbers. Surveyor Parkinson laid out a new town in 1851 and land sales commenced in 1852.
The Wesleyan Methodists had been active in the Sydney area since 1815 and the Reverend James Somerville "voluntarily came to us" (W T Collett April 1853).
Somerville was stationed at Braidwood where he served the diggers at the Araluen goldfields. He rode to Ulladulla, Broulee and Kiora, preaching, baptising, marrying, burying and initiating the building of small chapels. He was called "The Apostle of the South Coast.
Reverend Somerville became the first minister of the Moruya Methodists in 1854. He sowed the seeds for today's blue granite church, built in 1864. He was the second minister in that church.
On Sunday, September 14, 62 ministers and 150 years further on, the congregations of the Moruya and Batemans Bay Uniting Church are poised to celebrate the history and achievements.
There will be artefacts on display, including a 150-year-old Bible and a photo album with photos ranging from 150 to 100 years old. These have been scanned and put on CDs which can be bought with a gold coin. A commemorative service will run from 11am to noon. There are a limited number of history booklets available for $10. All are welcome.
