01/03/2023
♦ I’ve upgraded my WordPress account and also brought the domain name “fergusonandurie.com”. The primary reason was to prevent the annoying advertising material from being displayed amongst my posts and also to get access to more storage space and design tools and things. The new domain name does not break any links to my articles or images you may have saved/bookmarked that had “wordpress.com” in the link. It will seamlessly open the page linked to the new .com domain.
15/06/2022
♦ Updated the post about Ferguson & Urie employee John Scott https://wp.me/p28nLD-Mf
28/05/2022
♦ Additional article/clip added to the bio of Frank Clifford Lording http://wp.me/p28nLD-OC
19/07/2021
♦ Updated my post about the history of the Ferguson & Urie stained glass and tablets at St Thomas’s Port Lincoln, South Australia. The three light stained glass window in the chancel and the flanking tablets were installed in 1876 and in 1893 the tablets were either removed or painted over and the window replaced by a figurative one by Montgomery & Grimbly.
01/06/2021
♦ An update to the Burke Museum stained glass window at Beechworth.
20/01/2021
♦ Don’t look for much in my blog posts for 2020. What a COVID waste of a year 2020 was. The best I have done for 2020 is wear the bum out of a pair of Tracky Dacks. I’m hoping 2021 gives me more inspiration.
4/11/2019
♦ I was fortunate to be the guest speaker at the Kew Historical Society last night (Wednesday 13th). Based on the lovely feedback I have had from the members I would say it was enjoyed by all. Thanks to the President, committee, members and guests for inviting me and the lovely gift of the Pinot Noir was much appreciated.
20/10/2019
♦ Paul Saban, author of the “The Medical History of Newmarket” has just completed his article on the history of Dr. Floyd Minter Peck. Paul had requested copies of my images of the Ferguson & Urie stained glass window dedicated to Dr. Peck which is located at the Anglican Cathedral at Sale in Gippsland, Victoria. Pauls article can be viewed at:
https://talkingdust.net/floyd-minter-peck/
29/06/2019
♦ I’m retiring on the 24th July 2019. I’ve been working for the Department of Defence since I was seventeen years old. My first three years were as a reservist when I left school at the age of 17 and then I joined the regular army at age 20. My career then progressed through the Artillery Corps and then to Logistics with many diverse postings and overseas service. In 1995 I was posted as the Tech Sergeant for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda in 1995 (UNAMIR II) during the Hutu and Tutsi conflict and I eventually retired from uniform in 2003 as a Warrant Officer Class One. Another sixteen years ensued as a Defence public servant and on the 24th July it will be the end of a 39 year carrer in with the Department of Defence. From then on I’ll do whatever I damn well like. This will most likely be working towards filling in the blanks of my stained glass research and anything else that suits me. I think the old duck (JFPB) and I will take a holiday first and then I’ll hone my vege growing skills and maybe get a few chooks!
29/06/2019
♦ Just posted a brief article about the Scots Church ‘Leaflet, June 2019’ magazine.
Page 18 of the magazine includes a bio of me! See: https://wp.me/p28nLD-2Xe
22/06/2019
♦ I gave a short talk on Ferguson & Urie stained glass and their history for the ‘Glaas Inc’ event at St Matthew’s Church at Prahran on the 22nd June. I hope everyone who attended had a good time, I did and thanks to Glass Inc for the nice bottle of red wine!
08/02/2019
♦ I’ve updated the images on my post about St Martin of Tours at Muskery after a trip to the Bendigo region today. I didn’t manage to organise to get in but you can see my external church images. See: https://wp.me/p28nLD-1rE
12/01/2019
♦ I’ve been invited to do a presentation on Ferguson & Urie for the Kew Historical Society which I may not be able to fit in until after June/July this year. I’ll keep this page up to date when the times comes and may also post an article on this site detailing timings and location as well.
25/09/2018
♦ I did a PowerPoint presentation and talk about Ferguson & Urie stained glass for the Hotham History Project at the Elm Street Hall, North Melbourne on Tuesday night (25th Sept). It seemed to be very well received by everyone who attended and I received many lovely emails by attendees in the following days. Thankyou to Mary Kehoe and the H.H.P. comitee and members for inviting me. It was a pleasure to share my knowledge.
26/07/2018
♦ I’ve found a new Ferguson & Urie three light window at the former Anglican Christ Church built in 1869 at Moyston, about 18km west of Ararat in Victoria. I haven’t been there yet and have only seen a rudimentary picture from a realestate web site when the church was sold in 2016. I’ve mnaged to get in contact with the owner who has graciously offered to let me in for some photos when we can arrange a date.
Update: Visited 4th Aug 2018 and took the photos. No doubt it’s an F&U whatsoever but in poor condition.
14/05/2018
♦ Working on a presentation for the Hotham History Project to be delivered possibly in late July of September.
[update: Tuesday 25h September at 7.30pm venue not confirmed yet]
06/08/2017
♦ Did a 1,000km trip around Western Victoria’s Wimmera region between 1st to 4th August. The specifics for this trip were to see the Ferguson & Urie windows at the original “Longerenong” homestead built by Sir Samuel Wilson in 1862 and also the church windows at St Mary’s Church at Balmoral, south of Horsham in 1895.
All up it was an outstanding success and the windows were extant and in pretty good condition considering their age.
24/06/2017
♦ Posted a whopping big article about the Ferguson family history on the web site today. It’s about the equivalent of a 33 page Ms Word document. It has been published as a page on the web site instead of a blog post so there are no subscriber notifications. You can see the page here: http://wp.me/P28nLD-2Ps There is also a menu link on the top menu bar under [Other > Ferguson family history]
17/02/2017
♦ Late last year I was contacted by the new owners of Enstone Park at Falmouth on the east coast of Tasmania. They have graciously sent me some magnificent photos of the Ferguson & Urie stained glass window which dates from circa 1868. Once I have assembled my other research notes on the history of Enstone Park I’ll create a new post for the web site. It the meantime you can see my original article here > http://wp.me/p28nLD-aQ
25/01/2017
♦ Help! – I’m looking for a contact person in the small town of Balmoral in Western Victoria in the Grampians region who is associated with and has access to St Mary’s Church in Balmoral. The principal three light window in the church was made by Ferguson & Urie circa 1895 and depicts St Peter, Christ and St Andrew and was donated by the Armytage family in memory of Charles Henry Armytage (1824-1876) of Fulham. This would represent one of a very few rare windows by the company created post 1895.
24/01/2017
♦ Welcome to 2017. This is going to be a strange year at the very least. The world will change significantly and the old saying “History Never Repeats” will be defied I feel.
The latest posts on this site can be seen
I’m still working on many more articles in the background, but they are mostly missing something significant such as photos of the windows or other information to make them a more interesting read.
Articles of note from 2016 include the history of the chancel windows of St Peter’s Church in Sturt Street Ballarat donated by James Fry. The famous Melbourne Caterer, Charles Doyl Straker, who catered for the Ferguson & Urie employee dinners, and the memorial windows to John Dixon Stodart at the South Yarra Presbyterian Church.
26/12/2016
♦ Merry Christmas to all my site followers and those who found a family history gem amongst my posts. I hope 2017 brings more exciting research opportunities to everyone. Forget about wishing the ‘World Peace’ thing as that is never going to happen, but look to the positives that are achievable. If you aim a little lower in your expectations of mankind you will inevitably be surprised now and then.
06/08/2016
♦ Another Ferguson & Urie employee has been found!
William Henry Lacey (1868-1920) was born in Dunedin new Zealand to William Henry Lacey Snr & Martha “Minnie” Barclay. He was apprenticed to the Ferguson & Urie company in Australia circa 1882. His cameo photo appears in the 1887 Ferguson & Urie company dinner portraits. In 1891 he married Alice Sarah Lake and they had eight children. William only maintained laboring jobs aligned to decoration, painting and glazing after the closure of Ferguson & Urie in 1899. William died in 1920 aged 52 and was buried at the Kew, Boroondarra cemetery. There were an extraordinary number of people of this exact name in this era, but the required proofs eventually came from his Will & Probate documents in 1920 which reveal two other Ferguson & Urie Employee’s named Charles William Hardess and Frank Clifford Lording were witnesses to his Will. [A significant article will follow later…]
15/06/2016
♦ I’ve found the existence of another Ferguson & Urie triple light window. This one is located at St Mary’s Anglican Church in the tiny township of Balmoral in Western Victoria. No photos yet until I can organise a trip over that way.
I found this article below in Trove on the evening of 13th June 2016 but nothing further known yet other than the window supposedly depicts St Peter, Christ and St Andrew and was donated by the Armytage family in memory of Charles Henry Armytage (1824-1876) of Fulham and it was erected in the church in late 1894.
Hamilton Spectator, Vic, Saturday 26th January 1895, page 3.
“NEW CHURCH OF ENGLAND AT BALMORAL.
THE OPENING CEREMONY.
On Thursday last, 24th inst., the Bishop of Ballarat opened the new brick church erected at Balmoral, from designs by Rev. R. M. Fulford, modified by Mr. Hill, architect, of Coleraine. It has cost (reckoning the value of furniture and ornaments donated) some £550 in all, and a debt of only £100 remains on it. The church consists of a kind of porch (partly available for baptistry and vestry), nave and chancel in early English style, with handsome triple east window (presented by the Armytage family in memory of the late C. Armytage, Esq., of Fulham), by Ferguson and Urie, much tasteful furniture in kauri pine and cedar; and presents a most complete and attractive appearance. The contractors are Messrs. C. Parker and Sons, of Melbourne, who made handsome contributions to the structure…”
C. H. Armytage was the owner of “Como House & Gardens” from 1864 and donated to the national Trust by his descendants in 1959.
02/09/2015
♦ I’ve updated the post 30-03-1882: David Relph Drape, Stained Glass Artist, (1821-1882). This is a complete re-write of Drape’s biography utilising new research of his life in Carlisle prior to 1858.
05/08/2015
♦ I’ve updated the article 27-07-1885: St Paul’s Pro Cathedral, Flinders St, Melbourne, Victoria. I’ve included a transcription of a new article I found published in the Church of England Messenger from Sept 1885 which contains the best description of the Prince Consort window I have seen.
27/04/2015
♦ I’ve removed all the categories in the web sites drop down menu list that were years/dates and they have been added as tags on individual posted articles. This should make it much easier to navigate the categories list and will be even better when I’ve nested the churches or building names below the town or city they can be found in.
24/04/2015
♦ This is an interesting link from the National Library’s “Trove” traces.
http://trovespace.webfactional.com/traces/top-pages/ Somehow this web site ranks as the third highest domain that has citation links to historical newspaper articles on Trove.
24/04/2015
♦ I’ve done a small update to the article about St Katherine’s Church at St. Helena.
A scanned copy of an article from The Australian Women’s Weekly, 6th November 1957. Page 12-13. (Vic edition) has been contributed by Steve Whatmoug (22nd Apr 2015) from his original copy of the magazine. The footnote reference to this now loads in a new window to display the relevant pages.
17/04/2015
♦ I finally got into St Margaret’s Anglican Church at Bulla near Sunbury on Friday 17th April. Third time lucky!
The liturgical east chancel window is a Ferguson & Urie masterpiece as I suspected so stay tuned for the history post and photos on this one.
A sneak preview of the window can be seen here on my Twitter account
13/02/2015
♦ I’ve eventually found a newspaper article from the ‘Advocate’ of 18th March 1871 which specifically mentions Ferguson & Urie by name and I’ve updated the post to include a transcription of it: 1871: St Patrick’s Catholic Church, Wangaratta, Victoria.
22/01/2015
♦ On the 22nd of January I received a surprise email from Janice in New Zealand. She has found two more Ferguson & Urie stained glass windows at the former St John’s Wesleyan Church at Nelson. There is absolutely no doubt whatsoever as to the craftsmen of these windows which are dedicated to John Honeycomb Cock and his wife Mary Webber Cock (nee Chigwidden).
Further information, correspondence, and photos are in progress for an article on these windows.
12/01/2015
♦ The article about John Lamb Lyon has been updated. New detail, which includes a painting of his wife Elizabeth which was done aboard the ‘Great Britain’ 13th Feb 1872 has been included courtesy of Phil & Lisa from England.
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