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Bishop George HalfordPrint Page Print this page

Plaque Inscription: 20-October-2013
Plaque Inscription: 20-October-2013

Photographs supplied by John Huth
The youth and community centre (parish hall) were erected at St. Alban's Anglican Church to commemorate the diamond jubilee of the Bush Brotherhood and as a memorial to Bishop George Dowglass Halford. The building was opened on the 13th September 1959 and is known as the Bishop Halford Institute. 

The Bush Brotherhood was a group of Anglican religious orders providing itinerant priests to minister to sparsely-settled rural districts in Australia. Halford emigrated to Australia to become the head of the St Andrew's Bush brotherhood in 1897 and then Archdeacon of Mitchell, Queensland, where he remained until becoming the Bishop of Rockhampton. In 1935 he was appointed canon missioner of the diocese of Brisbane. His supporter J. H. F. Fairfax bought him a house at Wilston, where Halford conducted a legendary ministry to men and boys. He died on 27 August 1948 at Grange, Brisbane, and was cremated.
 

Memorial move at Wilston
Wilston Anglicans will launch in October an appeal for a £15,000 memorial to the late Bishop Halford. They intended to erect a Bishop Halford institute — a youth centre and parish hall— at Wilston, where he worked and preached for 14 years. Bishop Halford was a pioneer of the Bush Brotherhood, now celebrating its 50th anniversary. He was appointed head of the first Australian Bush Brotherhood in 1897, with headquarters at Longreach. During that time he served in almost all parts of Western Queensland. In 1909 he was appointed Bishop of Rockhampton. He voluntarily resigned his bishopric in 1920; because he was convinced that his best means of service was on-the-spot" work with the poor of the outback. After 1934, when he was 74, he went to live at The Priory, The Grange, and regularly assisted at services at St. Alban's Wilston. His death took place in1948.

In supporting the appeal, Archbishop Halse said that Bishop Halford had given 50 years of his life in Australia to foster the higher interests of youth. "The institute would perpetuate his memory in the best possible way. and would be the means of continuing the work he loved so much," he said.
Brisbane Telegraph (Qld), 27 September 1952.

Location

Address:Lovedale & Inglis Streets, St Alban's Anglican Church, Bishop Halford Institute, Wilston, 4051
State:QLD
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -27.429474
Long: 153.015899
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Structure
Monument Theme:People
Sub-Theme:Religion

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Wednesday 14th August, 1957
Front Inscription

Bishop Halford Institute

Plaque :

A. M. D. G.

This Youth and Community Centre commemorates the diamond jubilee of the Bush Brotherhood and in memory of George Dowglass Halford (Bishop)

This plaque was set by the Governor-General of Australia His Excellency Field-Marshal Sir William Slim  G.C.B.  G.C.M.G.  G.C.V.O.  G.B.E.  D.S.O.  M.C. on the 14th August 1957.

Reginald, Archbishop of Brisbane

Theo. C. Kernke  Rector.

Plaque :

A. M. D. G.

This plaque was unveiled to commemorate the opening of this building on 13th September 1959 by the Governor of Queensland His Excellency Colonel Sir Henry Abel Smith K.C.V.O.  D.S.O.

Reginald Archbishop of Brisbane

A. R. Smith  G. Lenton  Churchwardens  
Theo C. Kernke  Rector


 

Source: MA, ADB
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au