The life of a missionary is far from luxurious. Not everyone is called to give up the comfortable life they are accustomed to for a life in a foreign country. Now imagine a country where there are no established homes, hospitals, stores, schools, let alone a church. To top it off, the majority of inhabitants are convicts or natives. Trying to keep law and order would have been no easy feat for the first Australian settlers.
The newly wed Reverend Richard Johnson, who was born in Welton, Yorkshire in 1755, and his young wife, Mary, took on that very challenge. John Newton, author of the song Amazing Grace, and William Wilberforce, who helped abolish slavery in the British Empire, believed Reverend Richard Johnson was the right man for the role. They advocated to appoint Richard as Australia’s first chaplain of the New South Wales prison colony in 1786.
National Christian Heritage Sunday
National Christian Heritage Sunday is celebrated on the first Sunday of February each year in Australia.
On the 13th of May 1787, the First Fleet set sail from Portsmouth, England, bound for Botany Bay, colony of New South Wales. All eleven ships: two Royal Navy ships—HMS Sirius commanded by Captain Arthur Phillip, and HMAT Supply, six transport ships—Alexander, Friendship, Scarborough, Charlotte, Lady Penrhyn and Prince of Wales, three store ships—Fishburn, Borrowdale and Golden Grove, with Reverend Johnson and his wife Mary on board, miraculously made the 36-week voyage without disaster.
Australia’s First Church Service
Reverend Johnson brought 2,000 Bibles with him from England and other Christian books.
“It is my duty to preach to all, to pray for all, and to admonish everyone,” Richard said.
The very first church service on Australian soil was ordered by Captain Arthur Phillip who decreed, “No man was to be absent on any account whatever.’’
The service was held under a ‘great’ tree near Sydney harbour at 10am on Sunday, the 3rd of February 1788, where Reverend Johnson preached from Psalms 116:12-13:
‘What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.’
Richard continued to hold open-air worship services every Sunday. He was a man with a mission, concerned about the souls of men and women.
It took five months before he was able to house his wife, Mary, in a little cottage built from cabbage tree palms and thatched rushes. They relied on the arrival of fleets from England for supplies. Richard did not waste any time in growing his own vegetables.
The colony was growing and by the end of 1788 his ministry extended to Rosehill, near Parramatta, which he visited monthly, then fortnightly by boat. His ministry included visiting the sick, of which there were many. In the first five years he conducted 226 baptisms, 220 marriages and 851 funerals. The most unpleasant task was being present with those who were to be executed. He prayed with them on the scaffold before they were hanged.
Losing Their Firstborn Son
First pregnancies can be stressful. A young woman is dealing with a new experience where she has no control of the changes occurring in her body. It is physically and mentally challenging to experience the unknown and especially difficult without the support of family and close female friends. Add to that the primitive conditions, it would have been devastating when in October 1788, Mary gave birth to a stillborn son.
Mary must have been an incredible woman of God to endure such a major change in her life as a young bride, migrating to the unknown, as well as suffering such losses. On the 3rd of March 1790, she and Richard were blessed with a daughter. They named her Milbah Maria—Milbah being an indigenous name—a beautiful tribute to the Aboriginals they welcomed into their home. One such was Abaroo, a 15-year-old girl who lived with them for a number of years. Abaroo and three others had been very sick with smallpox. Two of the males died and the other, named Nanbarry, was left in medical care and later recovered. Mary and Richard taught Abaroo English, how to read, and the Lord’s Prayer in the hopes that she would spread Christianity to her people.
After three years, Richard, Mary and their daughter moved into a new brick house in Bridge Street. Their son, Henry Martin, was born on 19th July 1792. By the end of 1790, he had begun to hold regular services for the settlers at Parramatta. The following year Richard began travelling to minister to the convict community at Toongabbie.
Newly Appointed Governor Grose Opposes Reverend Johnson
When Arthur Phillip returned to England in December 1792, due to ill health, Major Francis Grose assumed control as Acting Governor. Grose hated Johnson, and the Gospel, and set out to make life as hard as possible for the chaplain.
Richard had been promised a church building, but after continued government inaction on its construction, Richard built it mostly himself in Macquarie Place Sydney. He began building it in 1793, using his own money, despite intense opposition from the Rum Corps. It opened on the 25th of August 1793, and while the construction was not solid, it was big enough to hold 500 people. The building also doubled up as a school site, hence becoming the first Christian school in Australia.
Major Grose decreed that the only church service in Sydney Town be at 6 o’clock in the morning, and the service be cut down to 45 minutes.
Making church services compulsory came with difficulties. Those forced to attend were sometimes drunk and walked off halfway through the service. Some convicts and soldiers treated Richard with contempt, hurling insults and stones as he walked down the street. The river transport he relied on for his frequent trips to Parramatta were sometimes denied.
Under Governor Grose, the Colony descended further and further into the gutter as the Rum Corps took control.
Reverend Johnson’s Achievements
Besides building Australia’s first church, Reverend Johnson’s tireless work included the establishment of a fund to care for orphans. With the arrival of the Second Fleet, hundreds on board had died en route and hundreds of others were sick and dying on arrival.
Three years after the first settlement, Johnson started Christian schooling for both convicts and free men. He established the first schools in Sydney, Parramatta, and Norfolk Island. These schools were funded by the Christian church, not the government. This meant that the curriculum was not influenced, nor under government control. The staff were committed Christians, and the curriculum was Bible-based.
By 1799 his schools, with three school masters, showed 526 children enlisted in Sydney, with 239 at Parramatta and 166 at Hawkesbury.
By the time Reverend Richard Johnson and his family left Australia in 1800, some 12 years after his arrival, a firm foundation for Australia’s Christian heritage had been established. His disciple-making mission was a huge success, don’t you think?
Related articles:
Arthur Phillip’s Missing Tooth Unites Him With Aboriginal Community – Vision Christian Media
What is National Christian Heritage Sunday? – Vision Christian Media
