The first church in Marlborough was built by the Rev. Samuel Ironsides, at Port Underwood. It was opened on the 5th of August, 1842, when the service was attended by whalers and Maoris from all parts of the Sounds. On the following Sunday, forty couples were united in the bonds of matrimony. The lack of wedding rings was not allowed to bar the proceedings, as Mrs Ironsides produced a number of brass curtain rings, which served the purpose of the occasion. Mr. Ironsides ministered at Port Underwood and the various Maori pas in the Sounds for three years, during which he baptised 613 adults, and 165 children, and married 171 couples. Things have changed since then; the church-going citizen walks on asphalted footpaths, the country settlers drive in in neat and stylish buggies, but, forty or fifty years ago, almost every-one went to church in a bullock dray. From the fact that there is no established or State Church in New Zealand, it follows that the clergymen of the country are hard working men, who lead unobtrusive lives. It has been said by Anthony Trollope that “A colonial bishop should be hale, vigorous, young, and good-humoured; ready to preach, to laugh, or to knock a fellow down at any moment.” In making this humorously true statement, Trollope was thinking specially of his old school-fellow, the late Bishop Suter, of Nelson, whom he describes as a man who could put a collar on his own horse, ride fifty miles at a stretch, or hold his own in any conflict, by word or hand; but the statement is more or less generally applicable to clergymen in the colonies. The churches represented in Marlborough are the Anglican, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Methodist and the ubiquitous Salvation Army.

The Church of the Nativity . The history of the Anglican Church in Blenheim dates back to 1857, when the Ven. Archdeacon Butt resigned his cure in Nelson, and removed to the page 331 Wairau. At the first he conducted his services, alternately with the Presbyterians, in a small building that had been erected by Mr. Sinclair for a courthouse. The Archdeacon built the first Church of the Nativity in 1860, and this building, which stands at the back of the present one, is now used as a Sunday school. The present Church of the Nativity is a large wooden building supported by buttresses, and fronted with a square entrance tower. It was built in 1877, and is surrounded by a large block of ground, laid down in grass, and planted with shrubs and trees. The vicarage, a two-storied building standing in the church grounds, was erected in 1874.

The Rev. Thomas Samuel Grace was born in Lancashire, in 1815, and was educated for the ministry at St. Bee's Theological College. After receiving his education he entered a mercantile firm, in which he remained a few years. He then took up the ministry, joined the Church Missionary Society, and page 332 came to New Zealand in 1850. Shortly after landing in Auckland, he took up missionary work on Lake Taupo, at Pukawa and Tokaanu, where he established native schools, and carried on his mission work, until the war broke out in 1861. During the war the Maoris turned him away from the mission station and he went in 1864 to Auckland, whence he continued to carry on missionary work, in connection with which he travelled to Taupo, the Thames and the East Coast. During one of these journeys, he and the Rev. Karl Volkner were taken prisoners by the fanatical Hau-haus at Opotiki. Mr. Volkner was hanged by the Maoris, but Mr. Grace, assisted by a European settler, escaped to the man-of-war “Eclipse,”

The late Rev. T. S. Grace.

which had come from Auckland to the rescue of the district. Mr. Grace settled at Tauranga in 1870, and still carried on his mission labour. In 1875, he left for England at the request of the Church Missionary Society, and was engaged in deputation work for two years. He returned to New Zealand in December, 1876, and continued to work in the Taupo district until 1879, when he died at Tauranga, leaving a wife and family to mourn the loss of a good husband and affectionate father.

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Blenheim was opened in May, 1868, by the Rev. Mr. Russell, who succeeded Mr. Nicholson, the first resident Presbyterian minister in Marlborough. Mr. Russell was succeeded, in 1870, by the Rev. W. Sherrifs, M.A., who, in 1881, removed to Waipukurau, Hawke's Bay. In time a larger building became necessary, and the present church was erected in the year 1892, on a site in Alfred Street. It is on the banks of the Omaka river, and faces Market Place. St. Andrew's is a wooden building, with accommodation for 350 persons. There is a membership of over one hundred, and services are held three times a week. There are Presbyterian churches also at Picton and Kaikoura, each with a minister in charge, and the churches at Renwicktown and Seddon are worked in conjunction with St. Andrew's, Blenheim, by a home missionary. Old St. Andrew's church is now used as a Sunday school.

The Rev. William Officer Robb, Minister-in-charge of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Blenheim, was born in Belfast, Ireland, and for some years followed mercantile pursuits in his native town. He subsequently decided to enter the church, studied at Belfast, and afterwards spent three years as a student missionary in Queensland. In 1881, Mr. Robb came to New Zealand. For a time he was stationed at Waipawa, in Hawke's Bay, where he was ordained; and in 1882 he received his present appointment.

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Blenheim was opened on the 14th of September, 1878, by the Rev. Father A. Seauzeau, S.M. The old church, which had been in use since 1864, became too small, and plans for a new building were prepared by Mr. Thomas Turnbull, architect, Wellington, whereupon the present handsome church in Maxwell Road was erected at a cost of 62,500. It is now (1905) being placed on a concrete foundation at a cost of £100; the sanctuary has been renovated, all the ordinary windows have given place to stained glass windows at a cost of £220, and a new porch with double doors, facing Maxwell Road, has been built at a cost of £120. The church has accommodation for a congregation of 600, and the mid-day services are regularly attended by fully 400 people. There are 1,800 adherents in the district, which extends from Forsyth Island to Clarence Bridge, and from Blenheim to Top House. Churches have been erected at Blenheim. Picton, Tua Marina, and Havelock, and in the year 1904 a church was built at Seddon, at a cost of £340. The church property in Blenheim comprises six acres on the eastern side of Maxwell Road, on which the church, presbytery, new convent, and boys' school are built; and of one acre and a-half on the western side, where the old convent and girls' school are situated. The presbytery is a handsome two-storied residence, is comfortably furnished, and stands in the midst of tastefully laid-out grounds. At the rear of the church there is a large paddock, with stables for the three horses used by the clergy.

The Rev. William Donoghue Goggan, S.M., took charge of the parish of Blenheim in May, 1896, Father Goggan was born in the United States and educated at St Stanislaus, Tullamore; St. Mary's Dundalk; and the Royal University, Dublin; and he pursued his philosophical studies at Agen, France, and his theological studies at Barcelona, in Spain. Father Goggan was then sent out as Professor of Science and Mathematics at St. Patrick's College, Wellington. page 333 He took up his duties in June, 1885, and filled the position for seven years and a-half. Father Goggan then joined Father Devoy at Te Aro, where he laboured for four years, and was promoted to the charge of the Blenheim district in 1896. He is now (1905) in charge of the Roman Catholic parish of Napier.

Rev. W. D. Goggan.

The Methodist Church in Blenheim was established in the year 1860. The first building, which had accommodation for about 150 persons, was erected on Grove Road. Twenty years later, a site was secured in High Street, on which the present handsome church stands. The minister then in charge was the Rev. G. T. Carr. The church has accommodation for 400 persons. There is a well-appointed up-to-date Sunday school, which contains a library, eight separate class rooms, an infant room, a young men's room, secretary's room, and church parlour. The main hall seats 250 persons. A parsonage adjoins the church and school. In addition, there are three other churches within ‘a’ seven-mile radius that are under the pastoral care of the Rev. G. W. J. Spenee, the minister in Blenheim. Mr Spence has been stationed at Auckland, Oamaru, Punedin, Napier, Greymouth, and a few smaller centres. He is assisted in his work by the Rev. B. J. James, who is serving in his first circuit as a minister.

The Salvation Army began its campaign in Blenheim on the 3rd of August, 1884, when Captain McMillan and Lieutenant Teasdale conducted the opening services in Hewitt's Hall. Not long afterwards, the present “barracks” (a term that has recently been officially changed to “hall”) were erected. This building, which is of wood, faces Wynen Street, and has seat room for 550 persons; Towards the rear, a Junior Soldiers hall has been built in brick, at a cost of £600. The Salvation Army in Blenheim is in a flourishing condition, and has between seventy and eighty soldiers, in addition to recruits. Good work is done in connection with the Young People's Bible Class, which is well attended. The Blenheim district extends to Onamalutu, and the amount raised for the Self-Denial Fund in 1904 was £200. The corps has had seventy-nine officers since its establishment. Ensign H. P. Sharp is the present officer-in-charge.