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St Paul's Church was an Anglican church on Pulteney Street, Adelaide, on the northeast corner of Pulteney and Flinders streets.

History[edit]

St Paul's Church c. 1927

In July 1855 Rev. A. R. Russell, rector of St John's Anglican church in the south-east of the city, recognising that his church was located some distance from the centre of population in the north-east, began holding services in the Pulteney Street School at the intersection of Pulteney and Flinders streets. On 15 April 1856 the foundation stone of a church, adjacent to the school, was laid by Governor MacDonnell.[1] Edmund W. Wright was selected to design the structure,[a] in Early English Gothic style, and William Bundy the builder. Construction proceeded as funds became available, commencing with £200 from "Captain" William Allen.[3] The consecration service was conducted on the evening 15 June 1860 by Frederic Barker, the Bishop of Sydney and Augustus Short, the Bishop of Adelaide, assisted by James Farrell, the Dean of Adelaide, together with the Revs. Farr of St Peter's College, and Russell, the incumbent[4] until his death in 1886.

St Paul's was, for reasons not fully explained, Adelaide's most popular Anglican church for weddings. Notable parishioners included Sir John Bray, Sir Henry Ayers and Mrs H. L. Ayers, Sir James Ferguson and Lady Edith Ferguson (who occasionally presided on the organ), Judge Cooper and Lady Cooper, Judge Boothby, Captain Watts (Postmaster-General) and O. K. Richardson (Under Secretary).[5] Ada Ayers, widow of Harry Lockett Ayers, sponsored creation of pair of stained glass memorial windows Angel of Faith and River of Life by Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848–1943), of Tiffany and Co., New York. They were installed in December 1909.[6]

The congregation dropped significantly during the Great War, much due to the number of men who served overseas, but that doesn't entirely explain the reduction of the number of male worshippers dropping from hundreds to around five. The city was becoming a place of business and less a residential district.[5] St Paul's church membership never recovered and continued to decline through the twentieth century.

Sometime in the mid-1970s, St Paul's building was deconsecrated and in the early 1980s was turned into a nightclub or disco. In 1989 the Moore Corporation applied to the Council for permission to demolish the structure but were refused on the grounds that the proposed development would be adjacent to the church manse which, unlike the church, was heritage-listed. In 1991 the church was placed on the City of Adelaide heritage register. For several years the state government leased the building from its owners for use as a music and arts hub.[2]

The "Tiffany Windows" were removed for safekeeping, and later installed in the Art Gallery of South Australia, Gallery 18.[7][8]

Pulteney Street School[edit]

Main article: Pulteney Grammar School

The Pulteney Street School opened in a newly erected 60 by 30 feet (18.3 by 9.1 m) Gothic building on the northern half of town acre 228 at the northeast corner of the intersection of Pulteney and Flinders streets in May 1848. Though sponsored by the Church of England, it accepted pupils from all denominations,[9] and its fees were modest as compared with the Collegiate School. Three months later, 81 students (boys and girls) were enrolled and the teaching staff numbered five ladies and four gentlemen.[10] In 1852 the school was renamed Pulteney Street Central Schools, reflecting its changed status as a State-approved school, receiving financial support from the South Australian government. Major extensions to the building were made in 1897,[11] then during the brief headmastership (1898–1900) of Rev. Donald A. Kerr it again became an independent Church School. In 1919 the Government acquired its site for the Repatriation Building, and by 1921 the school had moved to a Anglican church-owned site on South Terrace[12] and adopted the name "Pulteney Grammar School".[b]

Rectors[edit]

  • A. R. Russell 1860–1886, previously at St John's, Adelaide. He continued there after 1869, when he was appointed Dean of Adelaide, until his death in 1886.
  • J. W. Owen 1886–1890, previously at Mount Barker. Canon Samuel Green of St Paul's, Port Adelaide was offered the position but declined. Owen resigned in 1890.
  • James Sunter 1890–1909, previously at St Anthony's Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
  • Edward Herbert Bleby 1910–1943, previously rector of Melrose, died January 1943
  • Arthur Edwards Kain 1943– , previously organising chaplain of the Bishop's Home Mission Society in the diocese of Adelaide.[15] He was canonized around 1948.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Another reference, not supported by contemporary newspapers, credits James Cumming.[2]
  2. ^ The school had also been known by that name,[13] during the headmastership of W. H. Howard,[14] later Canon Howard.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Laying the Foundation-Stone". South Australian Register. Vol. XX, no. 2976. South Australia. 16 April 1856. p. 2. Retrieved 21 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ a b Sharon Ann Mosler. "From high Anglican rites to disco, St Paul's church in Adelaide city avoids demolition in 1980s heritage marker". Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  3. ^ "Opening of St Paul's Church, Pulteney Street". South Australian Register. Vol. XXVI, no. 4130. South Australia. 10 January 1860. p. 3. Retrieved 21 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Consecration of St Paul's Church". South Australian Register. Vol. XXIV, no. 4266. South Australia. 16 June 1860. p. 3. Retrieved 21 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ a b "Historic St Paul's". The News (Adelaide). Vol. XVII, , no. 2, 557. South Australia. 28 September 1931. p. 6. Retrieved 23 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  6. ^ "Religious". The Register (Adelaide). Vol. LXXIV, no. 19, 682. South Australia. 11 December 1909. p. 15. Retrieved 23 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ Louis C. Tiffany. "Angel of Faith". Art Gallery of South Australia. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  8. ^ Louis C. Tiffany. "River of Life". Art Gallery of South Australia. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  9. ^ "The Bishop and the Pulteney-Street Central School". South Australian Register. Vol. XLVIII, no. 11, 579. South Australia. 24 December 1883. p. 6. Retrieved 24 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia. Praise for teacher W. S. Moore.
  10. ^ "Education for the People". South Australian. Vol. XI, no. 969. South Australia. 22 August 1848. p. 2. Retrieved 23 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "St Paul's School". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Vol. XXXIX, no. 11921. South Australia. 1 January 1897. p. 7. Retrieved 22 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ "Pulteney School Centenary". The Advertiser (Adelaide). 26 May 1948. p. 2. Retrieved 29 June 2024 – via Trove.
  13. ^ "Our Adelaide Letter". The Christian Colonist. Vol. IX, no. 9. South Australia. 26 November 1886. p. 6. Retrieved 29 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia. corporal punishment judged excessive
  14. ^ "Police Courts". South Australian Register. Vol. LI, no. 12, 489. South Australia. 23 November 1886. p. 7. Retrieved 29 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia. corporal punishment condoned.
  15. ^ "Rector Of St. Paul's Inducted". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Vol. LXXXV, no. 26410. South Australia. 28 May 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 22 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
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