No. 1588 - Bridport - Union Church (1873)
Bridport is a small resort town on Tasmania’s north-east coast. It is situated at the mouth of the Brid River. It was once a significant port for hinterland mining settlements during the boom of the late 19th century.
Very little is known about Bridport’s Union Church. While there is no information about the opening of the church, it can be established that it was constructed in 1873 from a brief reference to it published in The Cornwall Chronicle:
“Another accident also happened on Sunday last [9 November 1873] which might have proved fatal but for the intervention of a kind Providence….it appears that as Mr P. Miller was returning to Scottsdale, from Bridport, at which latter place he had been holding divine service in the chapel, lately erected there by the residents…”.
In 1877 there is a further reference to the church made by the ‘travelling correspondent’ for the Tribune of Hobart. The article describes Bridport as “consisting of twelve weatherboard cottages” and that there was “a little place put up on the cooperative principle for Church purposes”. The correspondent goes on to explain:
“All denominations of pastors are equally welcome. The Rev. McDowell, George Town, has offered spiritual consolidation on two or thee occasions, and the Evangelists have done the same thing. Mr. Brewer occasionally reads one of Spurgeon’s sermons, which according to one person at Bridport, are as good sermons as any ‘Religioner’ need want to hear”.
The last reference to the church is found in the Cornwall Chronicle from March 1880 and concerns the third anniversary of the Bridport Sabbath School:
“On the afternoon of the Sunday an address…was delivered at the Bridport Church to an interested and numerous assemblage. A selection of hymns, suitable to the occasion, was creditably rendered by the children and congregation…”.
While there is no further mention of the church in newspaper reports, services were likely to have continued well into the 1880s. It is probable that the church was no longer in use by the turn of the century and the fate of the building is not known.
In 1915 when a public hall opened at Bridport, an article in the North-Eastern Advertiser states that it was:
“Originally intended to build a Union church and Hall, but some of people thought differently, and decided to [only] build a Hall. When any religious body wanted to use it for services they could have it free of charge”.
Indeed the public hall was used by the Methodists between 1915 and 1921 when the Methodists built a church of their own.
Sources:
Very little is known about Bridport’s Union Church. While there is no information about the opening of the church, it can be established that it was constructed in 1873 from a brief reference to it published in The Cornwall Chronicle:
“Another accident also happened on Sunday last [9 November 1873] which might have proved fatal but for the intervention of a kind Providence….it appears that as Mr P. Miller was returning to Scottsdale, from Bridport, at which latter place he had been holding divine service in the chapel, lately erected there by the residents…”.
In 1877 there is a further reference to the church made by the ‘travelling correspondent’ for the Tribune of Hobart. The article describes Bridport as “consisting of twelve weatherboard cottages” and that there was “a little place put up on the cooperative principle for Church purposes”. The correspondent goes on to explain:
“All denominations of pastors are equally welcome. The Rev. McDowell, George Town, has offered spiritual consolidation on two or thee occasions, and the Evangelists have done the same thing. Mr. Brewer occasionally reads one of Spurgeon’s sermons, which according to one person at Bridport, are as good sermons as any ‘Religioner’ need want to hear”.
The last reference to the church is found in the Cornwall Chronicle from March 1880 and concerns the third anniversary of the Bridport Sabbath School:
“On the afternoon of the Sunday an address…was delivered at the Bridport Church to an interested and numerous assemblage. A selection of hymns, suitable to the occasion, was creditably rendered by the children and congregation…”.
While there is no further mention of the church in newspaper reports, services were likely to have continued well into the 1880s. It is probable that the church was no longer in use by the turn of the century and the fate of the building is not known.
In 1915 when a public hall opened at Bridport, an article in the North-Eastern Advertiser states that it was:
“Originally intended to build a Union church and Hall, but some of people thought differently, and decided to [only] build a Hall. When any religious body wanted to use it for services they could have it free of charge”.
Indeed the public hall was used by the Methodists between 1915 and 1921 when the Methodists built a church of their own.
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| An early Bridport scene. No photograph of the Union Church exists. Source: QVMAG |
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| Bridport Public Hall which opened in 1915. The hall was used for church services before a Methodist church opened in 1921. Source: TAHO |
Sources:
Cornwall Chronicle, Friday 14 November 1873, page 3
The Tasmanian, Saturday 15 November 1873, page 4
The Tasmanian, Saturday 19 February 1876, page 5
Tribune, Tuesday 5 June 1877, page 3
Cornwall Chronicle, Friday 5 March 1880, page 3
North-Eastern Advertiser, Friday 19 March 1915, page 2
Stansall, M. E. J and Methodist Church of Australasia. Tasmanian Methodism, 1820-1975 / [by M.E.J. Stansall ... et al] Methodist Church of Australasia Launceston, Tas. 1975
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