Church, state and people in Eastern Australia 1835-1850

Abstract

Chapter 1: Although religious provision for lower-class persons in the eastern Australian colonies was no worse than in the great towns of England, and although the bulk of the colonists lived in areas where the Churches were fairly active and moderately well represented, religious provision was quite inadequate in the mid-thirties. The Church leaders were, therefore, very worried about the situation, and government authorities also wanted better provision to be made. Chapter 2: Nineteenth century tolerance and the mixture of sects in the colonies gave rise to a very strong aversion to exclusive endowment: hence the passing and popularity of the egalitarian Church Acts. Even Anglican opposition was muted (especially in li .s .w., where the needs were most pressing) because of the huge task of extending religious facilities and because of the overwhelming support enjoyed by the measures. Church progress between 1836 and 1841 was unparallelled, and this was not least because of the Church Acts. Chapter 3: The very success of the Church Acts (i.e. the number of applications for aid) embarrassed the Governments, which were in financial difficulties anyway. This forced the legislatures to impose limits upon assistance to the Churches. Even so, Government assistance under the Acts amounted to over half a million pounds between 1836 and 1850. Government policy was based on denominational equality, non-interference with internal Church affairs, and financial assistance to religion; but a trend towards abolishing state aid was becoming very evident...