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Reverend George WightPrint Page Print this page

24-October-2013
24-October-2013
Photographs supplied by John Huth

The marble plaque commemorates Reverend George Wight, founder and first minister of the Congregational Church in Brisbane, who died in 1900.  

In a sermon preached at the Wharf street Congregational Church recently, the Rev. Hugh Jones said:— The Rev. George Wight, the first minister of this Church, fell asleep last week in Melbourne, after a long life of 87 or 88 years on earth.

Mr. Wight arrived in Brisbane from Portobello, Edinburgh, in May, 1858, being commissioned by the Colonial Missionary Society, which is a Congregational Society in the home land, to begin a Congregational cause in Brisbane. The first Congregational service ever held in Brisbane was conducted by Mr. Wight on the afternoon of 23rd May, 1858, in a "rickety loft" in Queen-street. Access to the room was by a "rickety trap ladder," and the dilapidated building itself stood over a "dark, sluggish creek." There were fifty persons present at that first service.

After only two years' stay in Brisbane, Mr. Wight returned to England, after having aided the Church in securing a successor to himself in the person of Rev. Edward Griffith, who commenced his ministry in Wharf-street, in September, 1860. After a sojourn in England of two years, Mr. Wight came again to Brisbane to reside, and settled at Eildon Hill, where he held a service, regularly on Sunday in his own home, with, the result that in course of time a congregational course was begun in O'Connell Town, a building being erected on land donated for the purpose by Mr. Wight. Though often occupying the pulpit, Mr. Wight was never again pastor of any church.
The Queenslander (Brisbane), 24 November 1900. 

Location

Address:Creek & Ann Street, St Andrew`s Uniting Church, Brisbane, 4000
State:QLD
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -27.465533
Long: 153.027357
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Plaque
Monument Theme:People
Sub-Theme:Religion
Actual Event Start Date:06-July-1859
Actual Event End Date:29-July-1860

Dedication

Front Inscription

In affectionate memory 

— of —

Rev George Wight

Founder and first Minister of this Church

July 6th 1859 - July 29th 1860.

"I laid a foundation...  which is Jesus Christ."  I. Cor. III..10..11

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