Title: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]

Author: Cyclopedia Company Limited

Publication details: The Cyclopedia Company, Limited, 1905, Christchurch

Part of: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand

License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 New Zealand Licence

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Bishop Selwyn paid his first visit to the South Island of New Zealand four years previous to the arrival of the “John Wickliffe” in Otago. He came to Akaroa from Auckland by a little schooner of twenty tons, and left her with the intention of doing the balance of his journey on foot. In this way he visited the natives at Timaru, Moeraki, Waikouaiti and Otago Heads; sometimes travelling on foot and sometimes by means of a large whale boat belonging to the natives. He went as far as Ruapuke, where he found the Maoris had already received some religious instruction by a native missionary sent down from Otaki by Mr. Hadfield, afterwards Bishop of Wellington and Primate of New Zealand; but no European missionary had previously visited that place. The Bishop found 120 Europeans in Foveaux Strait, with half-caste families, and married the Europeans to the native wives and baptised seventy children. Bishop Selwyn again visited Otago in 1848, when he was well received by the new Scotch immigrants. About three years and a half later the Rev. J. A Fenton was sent by the Bishop to organise a Church of England in Otago and a meeting of members of the Church of England was held in the Courthouse in January, 1852. The meeting appointed a committee, with instructions to raise funds for the maintenance of a clergyman, and to petition the Governorin-Council for a site for a church, school, and parsonage. It should be mentioned that, before coming to the colony in 1851, Dr. Frederick Richardson had intersted himself in the establishment of an Anglican church in Otago, and had raised £270 for that purpose. At the meeting referred to a member was appointed to select a site for the church, and he recommended the Octagon, and an application made to the Governor was granted; but so much exception was taken to this by the majority of the colonists, that the grant was never confirmed. Subsequently, in 1855, the courthouse was bought and fitted up as a church. The site was that now (1904) occupied by the Hardware Company's block of buildings in Cumberland Street, and the church obtained in the way described was, after being enlarged, used until the present St. Paul's church was ready for occupation. Bishop Harper was appointed Bishop of Christchurch in 1856. His diocese included Otago, which he visited in 1857. Shortly afterwards churches were opened in Invercargill and several other districts, some parishes having subscribed £50 towards the passage money of their clergymen. During the years 1859 and 1860 the committee of St. Paul's resolved to build a more commodious church in a more suitable position; and the new church was duly consecrated by the Bishop of Christchurch in 1863. The corner stone of All Saints was laid by Bishop Harper on the 11th of February, 1865, though the first contract was only for the nave; and other churches were built in the country. As settlement advanced churchmen thought that Otago and Southland should be made into a separate diocese, and with that end in view Bishops Selwyn and Harper visited Dunedin after the closing of the General Synod in 1865. Bishop Selwyn suggested that he should be requested by the Rural Deanery Board to write to the Archbishop of Canterbury to recommend a clergyman fit to be appointed to the new see. It seems that the Bishop took it for granted that his suggestion would be accepted and wrote accordingly to the Archbishop of Canterbury, although no authority had been given by the General Synod or concurrence expressed by the Rural Deanery Board. However, the request was made, and the Archbishop nominnated the Rev. H. L. Jenner, and advised Bishop Selwyn in 1863 of the selection. The Primate immediately requested Bishop Harper to convene a meeting of the Rural Deanery Board. This was done, and the following resolution was carried: “That, as a sufficient provision has not been made for the support of a Bishop, it is not expedient to take any action at present with a view to confirm the conditional appointment of the Rev. H. L. Jenner, more especially as the appointment has been made without the authority or concurrence of the Board.” This resolution was forwarded to Dr. Jenner, who afterwards stated that, had he been allowed to receive it, he would never have presented himself for consecration. In 1866 Bishop Selwyn paid a visit to Otago and received over £1500 for a Bishopric endowment. During this visit he wrote another letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, urging him to proceed with the consecration. The result of this was that Dr. Jenner was conse crated by a Royal Mandate a Bishop of New Zealand. Bishop Harper then wrote informing him that no formal resignation of that part of his diocese which lay in the provinces of Otago and Southland had been sent in by him. Meanwhile efforts to increase the Bishopric endowment fund went on, and in February, 1867, it amounted to £4,336 7s. About the same time the Rural Deanery Board recognised the duty of making preparation for the reception of Bishop Jenner; but, in the end the whole matter was referred to the General Synod, which met in 1868. After a long and heated debate it was resolved: “That, whereas the General Synod is of opinion that it is better for the peace of the Church that Bishop Jenner should not take charge of the Bishopric of Dunedin, this Synod requests him to withdraw his claim from that position.” At the same session a bill was passed enacting that from the 1st of January, 1869, the provinces of Otago page 181 and Southland should form a separate and independent diocese, to be called the diocese of Dunedin, and the new see should be under the charge of the Bishop of Christchurch until a bishop was appointed to it. Bishop Jenner paid a visit to Otago and addressed meetings in Dunedin, and elsewhere throughout the diocese, but was inhibited from preaching by Bishop Harper. The first meeting of the Dunedin Synod was held in April, 1869, and after a sitting of several days the motion to accept Bishop Jenner was lost by a considerable majority. The diocese thereafter remained under Bishop Harper until the breaking up of the General Synod in 1871, when the second Synod of the Diocese of Dunedin was held, and the Rev. Samuel Tarrat Nevill, M.A., was elected Bishop and consecrated on the 4th of June, 1871. Since then the Church has experienced a steady progress, and St. Matthew's and about fifty other churches have been built. Her endowments, as compared with those of the Church of England in Canterbury, are very small. The total value of churches, land and other buildings amounts to about £30,000, and all but four or five of the churches are free from debt. The general annual offertories amount to £4,600, seat rents £1,205; and the stipends for the sixty-two parishes in the whole diocese aggregate £6,425.