Category Stawell

Nov 16 2012

02-12-1871: Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Stawell, Victoria.

A two light Ferguson & Urie stained glass window exists in the nave of Holy Trinity Anglican Church at Stawell in western Victoria. The window depicts St Peter & St. Paul and is dedicated to the memory of William Henry Pettett (1814-1871), M.L.C, J.P. The memorial text on the window reads:

“THY ETERNAL GOD IS THY REFUGE AND UNDERNEATH ARE THE EVERLASTING ARMS Deut’n 33d: 27th” (Deutronomy, Ch-33, Verse-27)

“IN MEMORY OF THE HON W. H. PETTETT MLC WHO ARRIVED IN THIS COLONY IN 1837 AND DIED 3rd DECEMBER 1871 AGED 56 YEARS”.

Photos taken: 12th June 2011.

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William Henry Pettett, M.L.C, J.P, was born in Greenwich, London, 4th September 1814. He arrived in Van Diemens Land in 1832 and in 1837 moved to Victoria where he managed property for W. J. T. Clarke[1] at Dowling Forrest, between 1838-1842, and then the James Hodgkinson run known as “Maiden Hills” in 1848[2].

In June 1847, he had a minor altercation in relation to a breach of the customs act regarding the stated value of thirteen horses he was to pay duties on and was subsequently fined £10. [3]

His first wife Caroline (nee Taylor) died at their residence in Lonsdale street on the 11th of October 1854[4] aged 27, (three children), he then married Emily Ruddle in St Mark’s Church, Collingwood, on the 28th of June 1855[5] (ten children).

In 1863 he was elected Mayor [6] of Hawthorn for a twelve month period and in October 1864, he soundly defeated Thomas Herbert Power M.L.C  for the seat of the Southern Province[7] by a completely unpredicted margin of 615 to Power’s 388 votes[8].

By mid-1871 his political activities were being hampered by his declining health. He drew up his last will and testament on the 23rd of June 1871[9] and died five months later on the 2nd December 1871 at his property “Warra Warra[10]” station near Stawell in Western Victoria, aged 56[11]. He left an estate valued at £12,709.

The memorial date on the stained glass window indicates his date of death as the 3rd of December 1871. Newspaper reports of the time, his probate documents, and the family gravestone at Stawell have this recorded as the 2nd December 1871.

The Argus, Melbourne, Vic, Monday 4th December 1871, page 5.

“News of the death of the Hon. William Henry Pettett, M.L.C., one of the members for the Southern Province, reached town on Saturday. Mr. Pettett had been ailing for some time past, and on that account had not taken an active part in political affairs. During the last three months of the late session he was absent from the Council on leave. Mr. Pettett’s connexion with the colony dates from an early period. The following reference is made to him in Mr. Wither’s ‘History of Ballarat’: “Messrs. Pettett and Francis in 1838 (as managers for W. H. T. Clarke) took up the country at Dowling Forest, so called after Mrs. Clarke’s maiden name. Shortly after they had settled there Mr. Francis was killed by one of his own men with a spear-blade at one of the stations on the run. Before Mr. Pettett took up the Dowling Forest run he was living at the Little River, and a native chief named Balliang offered to show him the country about Lal Lal.” Mr. Pettett was elected a member of the Legislative Council in October, 1864.[12]”

The Argus, Melbourne, Vic, Monday 4th December 1871, page 4.

“PETTETT.- On the 2nd inst, at Warra Warra, Hon. W. H. Pettett, M.L.C., aged 57 years.”

Foot notes:

[9] Vic Probate file 9/523, W.H. Pettett. 1871.

Feb 24 2012

04-10-1869: St Matthew’s Uniting Church, Scallan Street, Stawell, Victoria.

St Matthew’s Presbyterian church at Stawell was designed by Architect R.A. Love, formerly of Sandhurst (Bendigo). The foundation stone was laid on the 21st of May 1868 and officially opened in 1869. The apse stained-glass window, created by Ferguson & Urie, cost £120.

St. Matthew’s also contains a chancel window and a single light window in the nave window by Ferguson and Urie which is a memorial to the infant Florence Grant, The the subject of the nave window being “Suffer little children”.

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Illustrated Australian News for Home Readers, Melbourne, Monday 4th October 1869, page 195.

 “THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, PLEASANT CREEK.”

 “Another instance of our architectural progress is presented in the new Presbyterian Church which was opened at Pleasant Creek in May last …”

 “… The building is lighted by a double row of windows containing diamond lights, with variously colored borders; of these there are fourteen on either side, in addition to one beautifully stained window, inserted in the apse immediately behind the minister’s platform, which is placed in a recess, at the extreme end of the edifice…”

Florence was the two year old daughter of Edmund Craigie Grant and Elizabeth Ann Parkinson. She was born at Pleasant Creek (Stawell) in 1867 and died at the age of 2 years and sixteen days on the 2nd of October 1869.

The Argus, Melbourne, Friday 8th October 1869, page 4.
“GRANT.-On the 2nd inst., at the Quartz Reefs, Pleasant Creek, of inflammation of the lungs, Florence, infant daughter of Edmund and Elizabeth Grant, aged two years and 16 days.”

The Florence Grant window was one of the first stained glass windows to be erected in the nave of the church and has the following text:
“Suffer Little Children to Come Unto Me”
“SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF FLORENCE GRANT”

An entry in the St Matthews church  booklet about this window has (as at 2010) incorrectly recorded Florence as the wife of Edward Grant instead as being his  infant daughter.

Her father, Edmund Craigie Grant, was a wealthy gold miner who formed the firm of Grant, Lamont & Co in 1856 and was the first to erect a Chilean Mill quartz crushing machinery at Concongella Creek in 1857. He also had built their now heritage listed home “Alvie” in 1868 and was also generous patron of St Matthews Church in Stawell to which he donated the funds for the Spire and the organ.  He is also remembered by a marble memorial plaque in the church.

Florence’s’ younger brother William was born the year after she died. William was Brigadier-General William Grant who led the famous charge of the 4th Light Horse Brigade at Beersheba in World War I.

As personally seen on the 11th of June 2011, the Ferguson & Urie apse window can only be partially viewed as an organ has been installed directly in front of it and a brick wall has been erected behind it which has completely obscured any outside light whatsoever. It would have been much more palatable if the church had considered donating the historical window to a state museum rather than bricking it in and obscuring completely.  The current property manager understands the historical significance of the apse window and has made his own attempts to try and install flood lights behind the window in the brick cavity but as a noble attempt this is, it’s essentially fruitless unless the entire organ gallery is removed from in front of the window.

The clerestory windows with simple colored borders all look to be original by Ferguson & Urie.

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