ST GEORGE’S ANGLICAN CHURCH, BALLIANG

St George’s church was established within the Anglican Parish of Lara soon after Balliang became more closely settled. After much hard work by a building committee and the designer, Mr Frank Lee, Archbishop Henry Lowther Clarke of Melbourne (4th Bishop and 1st Archbishop), dedicated the church building on 3 July 1912 before a congregation of 70 persons.

The building is in the Early English Gothic style constructed of timber stud walls and an iron roof. It stands on a 1 acre (0.4ha) allotment purchased in March, 1910. Mr Lee was asked to replicate the design of Anakie C of E.

The Bacchus Marsh Express of 13 July described the church as having a distinctly different appearance to that of today:

“Gothic pointed windows and Gothic filling to its four gables, give it a decidedly ecclesiastical appearance, and the outside walls being painted a dark blue, with white trimmings, have a solid appearance. Inside it is lined with narrow boarding, with a dado of Indian red, the upper half a terra cotta, and the ceiling varnished the wood’s natural colour. Two principals, with heavy brackets, showing below the ceiling, are stained oak and varnished.”

The minutes of the first meeting of the congregation held in the school on July 6, 1912 and chaired by the vicar of Lara, Rev Fowler, record that the building fund had a debt of £230/15/3.

The meeting elected: Mr F Lee as Vicar’s Warden;

Mr A Coe and Mr O Burgess as People’s Wardens;

Messrs C W Bird, E H Prime, W Vanstan and C Best as Vestrymen,

Mr A E Whinfield and Mrs H Bissell as Auditors.

Development of the Church

What was perhaps the first ‘working bee’ to be held in the district was organised at 2.00 p.m. on 19 July 1913 for the purpose of beginning the erection of a fence around the Church grounds! A vote of thanks to Mr R Fry for his work erecting the fence at the front of Church was passed at the annual meeting in 1919, six years later – so it took quite a time to finish things in those days!

The vestry bought the oil lamps hanging in the nave of the church in 1920 at a cost of £3/8/-, and a further Alladin lamp was bought to hang in the chancel in 1925 for £6/2/6.

In May 1921 the vestry requested the secretary, Mr E H Prime, to write to the Macedon nursery regarding trees to be planted in the church grounds. A list of botanical names, perhaps these trees, appears in the back of the first service book. Some replacement trees were planted in October 1921 and dedicated to the memory of Mr Nathan Clark, the father of Mrs E H Prime.

A communion table (altar) was bought in 1924 at a cost of £10/17/6 to replace one previously loaned by Mr Lee. This has been loaned to Holy Trinity, Bacchus Marsh and the present altar which is more in the style of the other furniture came from the Anakie Anglican Church (now deconsecrated).

The stained glass window in the north wall of the chancel was donated by Mrs Prime in 1925, the same year that the first special Anzac service was held in the church on 26 April.

The kneelers were made by Mr G Fry in 1926, and curtains at the back, the original chancel carpet (since replaced) and the vestry cupboard were purchased in the same year. Vestry purchased the large wooden cross on the east wall of the sanctuary from B E Purnell in 1958, and Mr J T Fry donated the pedestal for flowers in 1959.

Recent changes

In 1980, the rapidly growing Parish of Lara became two parishes, one based on Lara and Little River (Lara), the other on Corio, Anakie and Balliang (Corio). However the rapid growth in the southern part of the Corio parish during the 1980’s and the distances between the centres lead a further change in parish boundaries. In 1991 St George’s became part of the Parish of Bacchus Marsh to which it was geographically closer and with which it had greater community associations.

An official changeover service was held in March 1993 with Bishop John Bayton, Revd Geoff Traill (Vicar of Corio) and Rev’d Graeme Perkins (Vicar of Bacchus Marsh) officiating. The Bishop planted a commemorative Ironbark tree near the front boundary of the church after the service.

A new building to meet our need for a meeting room and toilets was moved to the church grounds in 2009. Bishop Philip Huggins blessed the building after a St George’s Day Patronal Celebration Service.

75th Anniversary

The 75th anniversary year of 1987 was one of ‘enlightenment’ and greater comfort for St George’s! In that year the electricity was first connected to the church (after an abandoned move in 1960) and carpets were laid throughout. Celebrations during the year included a service of switching on the lights led by Bishop David Shand and a special anniversary service and function attended by many former and current residents of the district. Special anniversary spoons were made and have become quite a collector’s item! Do you have one?

Community Celebrations

In November 1998, a Thanksgiving Service for the 90th Anniversary of the Balliang District was held as part of the community celebrations. Over 130 present and former residents attended the service led by Rev Roy Gabb (Assistant Priest in Bacchus Marsh) with Rev Liz Bufton (resident in Staughton Vale) preaching.

After the bushfires in the Brisbane Ranges and Balliang in January 2006, which affected many members of the community, a Service of Thanksgiving was held on 12 February. Bishop Paul White and the Rev Darrell Couch (Vicar) led a congregation of 45 in prayer.

A Service of Thanksgiving for the Balliang Centenary was held on 2 November 2008. Rev Darrell Couch (Vicar) led the service and Rev Liz Bufton preached the sermon. Ninety present and former residents of Balliang attended.

Service by Balliang families

Many local families have served the Church over the years, and names such as Fry, Bissell, Vanstan, Prime, Griffiths, Dukelow, Davis, Beggs, Wilkie, Bird, Gilmore, Heath and Craig appear regularly over long periods.

Some long contributions of service to St George’s Church noted in the minute books include:

• • 44 years as Churchwarden and Vestryman by each of Mr E H Prime (1912 – 1956), Mr E W Vanstan (1917 – 1961) and Mr C E Fry (1930 – 1974),

  • 28 years as Secretary/Treasurer by Mr H Bissell (1924 - 1952),

  • 35 years as Auditor by Mr Phillip Prime (1961 – 1996),

  • 40 years as Vestryman, Warden and Secretary by Mr Ian Heath (1960 -2000)

Parish records

The Parish of Bacchus Marsh, of which St George’s is now part, retains the records of all parish services and meetings which survived the Lara bushfire in 1969. Some interesting dates extracted from those records is summarised below. The records contained in these books are probably not complete eg marriages seem to have been recorded in other documents not kept at the church.

You may find that these records contain historical records of your family or friends. Please contact the organising committee if you would like to see if more information is available.

MARRIAGES

BAPTISMS

OTHER EVENTS

CLERGY

PARISH TREASURERS AND SECRETARIES