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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts]

Ecclesiastical

Ecclesiastical.

The Holy Trinity Church , Greymouth, is a fine wooden building, at the corner of Albert Street and Hospital Street, on two acres of ground, which also contains the Sunday school and vicarage. The church, which has seat accommodation for 600 persons, was designed by Messrs Young Bros., architects, of Westport, and in the year 1905 it was considerably renovated, at a cost of £600. The east end has a very fine stained window, erected to the memory of the late G. T. N. Watkins, who was incumbent for over ten years, and much beloved in the district. Holy Trinity has an excellent pipe organ. There are 300 scholars and twenty teachers on the roll of the Sunday school, of which Mr. Arthur Vickerman is the superintendent.

The Venerable Archdeacon George William York , Vicar of Holy Trinity Church, and Archdeacon of Mawhera, was born at Nelson, and educated at Bishopdale Theological College under the late Bishop Suter. He was ordained deacon in 1885, and admitted to the priesthood two years later. Mr. York's first appointment was as curate at Brunnerton, where he remained five years. From Brunnerton he removed to Dunedin, and was assistant curate at St. Paul's Cathedral. After making a twelve months' tour of the world, Mr. York was offered and accepted his present living, where he is universally esteemed. He is a broadminded man, and a musician of considerable ability. Mr. York was appointed Archdeacon of Mawhera in 1903. He married a daughter of Mr. Joseph Petrie, of the “Greymouth Evening Star,” in the year 1900.

Mrs G. W. York , Organist of Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth, holds a diploma as Associate in Music from the Royal College of Music, London.

St. John's Presbyterian Church stands in Hospital Street, Greymouth. The building is of wood and iron, and, since its erection in 1870, has been so much enlarged, that it now has accommodation for 300 persons. It is intended, however, to erect a new church on a site in Tainui Street, adjoining the manse. This site of three-eighths of an acre has been bought at a cost of £700, and in 1905 £1200 had been promised towards the cost of the new church. The manse is a commodious wood and iron building, and from its verandah one obtains fine views of the town and sea coast. The district extends from Greymouth to Dunganville, where there is a church with accommodation for sixty persons. Services are also held periodically in the school room at Marsden. St. John's church has a Sunday school, attended by 200 children, under the charge of twenty teachers. The ordinary revenue in connection with the Greymouth charge of the Presbyterian church is from £700 to £800 per annum.

The Rev. Robert Stewart was appointed to the charge of St. John's Presbyterian Church in September, 1892. He is a native of Shetland, where he was partly educated. Mr. Stewart came to New Zealand in the year 1867, and arrived at Lyttelton by the ship “Mermaid,” of the White Star line. He was trained for the ministry under the Colonial Board of the Northern Church, in Canterbury, and in Hawke's Bay. Mr. Stewart was subsequently stationed at Rakaia, Canterbury, for three years, and was ordained in the year 1890 at Woodville, where he remained for four years, and was appointed to his present charge in the year 1892. Mr Stewart has been clerk of the Westland Presbytery since 1892, and for nine years had the chief oversight of the Chinese mission. He has also been Moderator of the Brunner charge since 1892, of the Totara Flat charge since 1899, and of the Reefton charge since 1900. Mr. Stewart married a daughter of the late Mr. Robert Stevenson, of Stafford, West Coast, in the year 1885. Mrs Stewart died on the 2nd of November, 1903, leaving four sons and three daughters.

St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church is situated in Church Street, Greymouth. Its foundation stone was laid by Archbishop Redwood, on the 17th of April, 1887, and the church was opened by Bishop Grimes, on Pentecost Sunday, the 30th of May, 1888. The edifice is a substantial one of brick and is 135 feet in length, fifty-four feet in width, with walls thirty-three feet in height, of Gothic architecture. It was designed by Mr. F. W. Petre, architect, Dunedin, and erected by Messrs Arnott and Seabrook, contractors, Greymouth. In the year 1905 a large and beautiful front—including side porches, a fine tower with bells, and a spire 125 feet high—was erected by Mr. Thomas Bell, contractor, Greymouth. The entire cost of the building, including furnishings, was £800. It will accommodate 800 persons, and the interior is well finished. The property of the Roman Catholic Church at Greymouth inclndes the Convent, in charge of the Sisters of Mercy, who conduct the Girls' High School, the parish school, and the Catholic schools at Brunnerton; a monastery for the Marist Brothers, who conduct the Boys' School; and a fine presbytery. The Very Rev. Dean Carew is priest in charge, and is asisted by the Rev. Father Taylor.

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The Very Rev. Dean Denis Patrick Carew, S.M., took charge of St. Patrick's, Greymouth, in 1884, and has been an earnest worker. He was instrumental in erecting the new church and schools in Greymouth, at Brunnerton, and the Catholic chuiches at Reefton and Capleston, the parochial residences of the Catholic clergy in Palmerston North and Greymouth, and the fine club rooms for the young men of his congregation in Greymouth. Dean Carew was born in Tipperary, Ireland, in the year 1849, and completed
Wrigglesworth and Binns, photo. The Very Rev. Dean Carew.

Wrigglesworth and Binns, photo. The Very Rev. Dean Carew.

pleted his studies for the priesthood at the Catholic University School, Leeson Street, Dublin. He was ordained in Ireland in 1874 by Archbishop Redwood, and arrived in New Zealand in 1875. During his residence in New Zealand, Dean Carew has been stationed, respectively, at Napier, Reefton, Palmerston North and Greymouth.

The Greymouth Circuit of the Methodist Church extends as far as Barrytown, twenty miles to the north, to Rutherglen, six miles to the south, and to Taylorville, eight miles to the east, of Greymouth, and now includes the State coal mine township of Runanga. The principal church is situated in Tainui Street, on a quarter-acre section. The building is of wood and iron, with seat room for 275 persons; it is intended to erect a new building at an early date, towards which there is in hand a sum of £300, and the present church will then be used as a school. A vestry adjoining the church is capable of seating fifty persons, and there is also a parsonage of nine rooms. At Taylorville, a wood and iron church owned by the connexion, has accommodation for 200 persons.

The Rev. David McNicoll was appointed to the charge of the Greymouth Methodist circuit in April, 1905. He is further referred to on page 519 of the Otago volume of this Cyclopedia.