The Church Act
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The Church Act: The expansion of Christianity or the imposition of moral enlightenment? David Stoneman A Thesis submitted as fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of New England, Australia, 2011. Abstract The Church Act (1836) redefined and reinvigorated the religious environment in the emerging British colony of New South Wales, which profoundly impacted on its social and political development in a period of rapid population growth. It was a popular measure that has seen Governor Richard Bourke, its principal architect, be remembered as a provider of religious freedom. The simple motivation of the Act to expand Christianity and therefore morality has been complicated by the assertion that it assisted the expansion of a ‘new faith’ called moral enlightenment. This changes the implication of the Act and redefines the motives of the people responsible for its introduction, especially Bourke, by assuming that secular Enlightenment principles overrode Christian objectives. This has provided an ideological superstructure that has been used by some nationalist historians to present a picture of New South Wales colonial life that was fundamentally irreligious verging on atheistic. This has served to diminish the importance of religious thought and belief in the early development of Australia. This thesis argues that the Church Act was conceived to counter various forms of alternative belief and synchronised Christianity, ranging from plebeian ‘folk religion’ to heterodoxical, intellectual Protestantism. It encouraged orthodox Christianity by financially supporting the denominations that had cultural as well as spiritual connections to the majority of the population. The thesis concludes that the Church Act should be categorised as being a product of the ‘Age of Atonement’ not the imposition of moral enlightenment. i Disclaimer I ce11ify that the substance of this thesis has not already been submitted for any degree and is not being cu1Tently submitted for any other degrees. I certify that to the best of knowledge, any help received in preparing this thesis, and all the sources used, have been acknowledged in the thesis. David Stoneman April 2011 II Contents Abstract i Disclaimer ii Abbreviations iv Acknowledgements v Introduction 1 Chapter 1: The Church Act as part of the British religious reform process 37 of the 1820s and 1830s Chapter 2: Richard Bourke: for the honour of God and the good of man 59 Chapter 3: William Broughton and Anglican Ascendency 98 Chapter 4: The rise of Catholicism in colonial New South Wales 133 Chapter 5: J. D. Lang and rights of Scottish Presbyterians 166 Chapter 6: The Colonial Office and the approval of the Church Act 187 Chapter 7: The case against moral enlightenment 217 Chapter 8: The moral question: convicts, emigrants and perceptions of 261 respectability Chapter 9: Morality as a product of Christian society 291 Conclusion 336 Bibliography 326 iii Abbreviations BPP British Parliamentary Papers. HRA Historical Records of Australia. CO Colonial Office documents. M.L. Mitchell Library. M.C. Moore College Library. S.G. Sydney Gazette. S.H. Sydney Herald. V&P Votes and Proceedings of the Legislative Council of NSW. In the course of the thesis the Anglican Church is often capitalised as the Church, while the Catholic Church and Church of Scotland are always specified. Dissenters and Nonconformists are interchangeable terms used to signify non-established Protestant churches. The word Evangelical is used to broadly represent both the Evangelical faction of the Anglican Church and that section of belief found in Dissent and the Church of Scotland. In some cases the word will be used in lower case to describe those who focused on evangelism in their Christianity. iv Acknowledgements I would like to thank the University of New England for their confidence in awarding me an Australian Postgraduate Award. The long-standing commitment of the University’s School of Humanities to Australian colonial and British history has been significant for a generation of young and not so young historians. The fruit of this commitment is still maturing. Dr David Andrew Roberts has supervised and provided a scholarly critique for both my honours thesis and this Ph.D. Both works have benefited from his encyclopaedic knowledge of Australian colonial history and his ability to keep me on track. Dr Richard Scully has also given an intellectual assessment of the areas of British and European history that I have dared to explore. Dr Erin Ihde and Associate Professor Jennifer Clark have generously dedicated time to the development of my ideas. Their enthusiastic endorsement and on-going encouragement was greatly appreciated. I also thank the staff of the State Library of New South Wales, Moore College Library, Fryer Library and the Dixon Library for their help in accessing their collections. Professors Alan Atkinson and David Kent inspired many of the ideas explored in this thesis in my undergraduate years. Dr Rob Knowles was also a mentor at this time and encouraged me to pursue my academic dreams. v On the statue of Richard Bourke outside the Mitchell Library in Sydney are the words, ‘he established religious equality on a just and firm basis’. The statue was paid for out of a public subscription of £2500 mostly donated in the first week after Bourke’s departure in December 1837. The donations came from a wide section of society including hundreds of poorer people.1 It is the only statue of a colonial governor built from donations. Bourke’s supporters undoubtedly considered religious equality as a significant and valuable reform. 1 Max Waugh, Forgotten Hero: Richard Bourke, Irish Governor of New South Wales, 1831- 1837, Melbourne, 2005, pp. xvi, 165. vi Introduction In July 1836 Governor Richard Bourke laid before the New South Wales Legislative Council ‘An act to promote the Building of Churches and Chapels and to provide for the maintenance of Ministers of Religion in New South Wales’, commonly referred to as the Church Act.1 Bourke informed the Colonial Office that ‘It met with no opposition in the Council’ and that ‘the measure meets with the sincere and grateful acquiescence of all classes of the Community’.2 The Church Act committed the colony to fund from general revenue the expansion of religion. A £1000 grant for the erection of churches and dwellings for the clergy was provided if a subscription of £300 could be raised. The government also committed to pay the minister a yearly stipend of £100 for a congregation of 100 people, £150 for 200, and £200 for over 500 people. Applications for funding required a list of people declaring their intention to attend the church. It was an initiative that redefined the relationship of the churches to the state by initially expanding aid to the Church of England, Church of Scotland and Roman Catholics, and later to the Wesleyan Methodists.3 Australian settlement possessed an intrinsic religious aspect. Britain was not a secular state at the time. The monarch was head of both the established Church and state, and Parliament was responsible for the superintendence of both. The penal colony was established and governed in the context of this fusion of Church and state. Therefore, because the settlement of Australia did not recognise any other existing forms of government, kingdom or religion in the new land, it could be argued that the Church of England was by its position established in the British settlement. J. S. Gregory believed there was no official statement to this effect because it was too 1 7 William IV, No. 3. There were two accompanying acts that dealt with the Anglicans and Presbyterians organisationally, which will be evaluated in later chapters. 2 Bourke to Glenelg, 14 September 1836, HRA, 1, XVIII, p. 535. 3 To provide some context to these figures, the minimum stipend of £100 was more than the wages of the most elite workers, such as blacksmiths, carpenters and stonemasons, and three times the wages of some labourers. As well, ministers would expect additional income from clerical fees, pew rents, donations and education work. The grant of £1000 could easily provide a reasonable church building. This demonstrates the generosity of the provisions, and the unbiased fashion in which it was allocated began a new era in New South Wales Christianity. 1 obvious to require it.4 The Colonial Acts, 24 Geo. III c.56 (1784) and 27 Geo. III c.2 (1785) provided the basis for a military penal settlement with the governor given the authority of a military command. In this period the Church was considered an official chaplaincy to the settlement, and Richard Johnson was given the commission as the ‘Chaplain of the Territory of New South Wales’. All state-funded chaplains worked under the same commission until 1823 when an Archdeacon was appointed.5 There was also a lay ministry, as well as independent missionary activities arising from the colony’s interaction with the work of the London Missionary Society in the South Pacific.6 In the 1820s, a Legislative Council was instituted in New South Wales to assist the governor in administering the colony. Francis Forbes arrived as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and Thomas Hobbes Scott was appointed to the ecclesiastical position of Archdeacon. The Colonial Office expanded the chaplaincy to provide stipends to the Church of Scotland and the Catholic Church, and other independent Dissenting groups arrived, including Methodist missionaries. By 1824 the colonial chaplaincy included a Presbyterian minister on a stipend of £300, two Catholic priests receiving £100 each, while the Anglicans received £2032 for churches and schools.7 The new Archdeacon was provided with a commission that began a new phase in Australian Christianity. He obtained a senior position in the Legislative and Executive Councils, as well as oversight of the Church and Schools Corporation.