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Saint John's History
MR. WALTER DAVIDSON (1785 - 15/7/1869)
Landowner, merchant, banker,
benefactor of St. John's Cook's Hill
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In 1854, Walter Stevenson Davidson with the then Chairman of the AA
Company invited Anglican shareholders of the Peel and AA Companies to
contribute to the construction of Anglican churches and schools on the
companies' estates for the benefit of the companies' servants. Mr. Davidson
gave £5,000 to which 50 others added £2,95619/0.
The companies gave the necessary land. For the northern area, the fund paid for
the first church at Tamworth, a schoolroom and improvements to the parsonage,
and at both Goonoo Goonoo and Nundle a schoolroom and master's dwelling with
Clergyman's room. |
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For the southern area it provided schoolrooms suitable for Sunday services and
masters residences for Gloucester and Booral, and for St. John's Cook's
Hill,Newcastle a schoolroom, master's cottage attached, a parsonage and the
major contribution towards the construction of the church.
In laying the foundation stone of St. John's school (hall), Bishop Tyrrell in
1856 paid tribute to the generosity of the contributors, Mr. Davidson in
particular. It is unfortunate that the plaque erected a few years ago in the
church wrongly credits the AA Company, rather than Mr. Davidson and the 50
lesser contributors, as financing our buildings.
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Incumbents of the Parish
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1857 - 1858 Revd Lacy Henry RUMSEY |
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1859 - 1861 Revd Bowyer Edward SHAW, B.A. |
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1862 - 1869 Revd George Charles BODE |
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1869 - 1903 Revd Francis Dashwood BODE: Archdeacon from 1894 |
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1903 - 1908 Revd C. T. L. YARRINGTON, M.A., B.D. |
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1908 - 1910 Revd Stephen TAYLOR, B.A. |
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1910 - 1921 Revd Canon William John RITCHIE |
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1921 - 1926 Revd Canon Francis Vivian DRAKE |
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1926 - 1938 Revd Alfred Norman WILLIAMSON: Archdeacon from 1950 |
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1938 - 1953 Revd Charles Elliott THOMAS, Th.L. |
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1953 - 1961 Revd Canon Eric Raymond ELDER, B.A., Th .L |
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1962 - 1979 Revd Canon Frank Walter RUSH, B.A., Th.L. |
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1979 - 1986 Revd Canon Eric Arthur Joseph BARKER, Th.L. |
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1987 - 2000 Revd Robert Price HOWELL, Th.L., M.E.T.I. |
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2001 Revd Garry Charles DODD, B. Soc Sc. (Welfare), B. Th (Hons). |
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